Hugh, The Maze Master

Hugh's Reviews

Each week Hugh reviews something, anything really, that has provoked a thoughtful insight.

Banc Certified Merchant Services (BCMS)
If you aren't taking credit cards, you are missing a big opportunity. We started taking cards years ago, but plastic is getting more important each season.

Here's why: Many people get paid by direct deposit, than they use debit/credit cards to access the money. They never see cash!

Taking cards. I used to get angry to pay the percentage, up to 3%, charged by the processors for the right to take cards.

My new theory, as we've grown, is that the percentage is a small price to pay for the convenience.

-Credit card receipts cannot be stolen.
-Credit card receipts do not need to be counted, merely transfered.
-Credit cards increase sales. Guests can keep spending after they run out of cash.
-Credit cards are convenient for guests and they like using them. I like for it to be easy to spend money at the farm.

Shop around. The best thing about credit card processors, the companies who provide processing services, is that their services are very similar. Price is very important.  As you can imagine, as a Scottish farmer I like to find the best deal.

The trick is total cost of ownership. We found that many processors charged us monthly fees no matter if we were in or out of busy season.

We also had trouble with phone access for the machines dialing out. We now use IP, or Internet Processing, machines.

We used to have phone-dialing machines. The IP machines allow transactions processed in 7 seconds instead of 27 second.

Not everyone has good access to the Internet, so BCMS has some cool programs for farm marketers like us.

BCMS Farmer Programs.
-Seasonal set-up: No set-up, close down fees for seasonal businesses.
-Cellular terminals: Take your credit card processing anywhere and process over the cellular network.
-Battery powered terminals: Swipe cards and process them later with a tiny swiping device.

I like that the fees are low and the money processes into the account fast.

I should say that we are not in the credit card processing business, BCMS is just a vendor we use, and offers good programs that fit for us.

If you want to check it out here's the information. Just ask for our rep Cindy, She's in charge of the farm market program there. Tell her you heard about it from us if you like.

Cindy Kaufmann, Regional Manager BCMS

Office 888-697-1017
Fax 888-377-1018
Mobile 406-465-9701
Banc Certified Merchant Services
23 South Last Chance Gulch
Helena, MT 59601


Call Hugh anytime at:

1-866-935-6738 ext 102
hughmc@mazecatalog.com