Why Settling your Day's Transactions is Important

You may choose to settle or "batch" your terminal once a week or every other week because you wish to be efficient. While this may save a few seconds each day, the consequences of not settling your terminal can be costly and result in issues between you and your customers.

First, the only way that funding is initiated from a credit or debit card transaction is when the terminal is settled. Therefore, if you do not settle your terminal, you simply will not get paid for any of the credit or debit card transactions in your terminal.

Second, the major card networks and issuing banks do not like to have "open" transactions for an extended period of time. To encourage merchants to settle their terminals in a timely fashion, they will surcharge transactions within that terminal once they do settle. For example, a 1.49% transaction if not closed in a timely fashion could downgrade to a higher rate of 2.95%

Third, not settling promptly can create problems for your customers. Keep in mind that nothing happens in terms of you getting funded or your customer's card being charged until you batch. So, let say you wait 2 weeks to batch out your terminal. That means that your customer's card will be charged 2 weeks after the actual transaction at your store. Your customer may end up disputing the charge and initiate whats called a chargeback. A chargeback will cost you up to $35 per occurrence.

The bottom line here is settle those terminals! It's good for your cash flow, saves you money and good for your customers' peace of mind.