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Increasing Merchant Markets One Check at a Time
B
anks love bounced checks. The $56 billion a year they collect in returned check fees more than makes up for the costs of additional handling. And then some. The 1.1 million checks that bounce every day do cause a lot of heartache for the merchants and businesses that unwittingly accept checks written on accounts with non-sufficient funds.
Galaxy Payment Solutions wants to change that. Co-owner Jim Morelli said that since checks are still the preferred method of payment in America, his company's programs are designed to help take the insecurity out of the transaction when merchants accept checks. "Eighty percent of Americans with buying power use checks. We say businesses should give their customers another option," he said.
Morelli and his brother Frank started Galaxy Payment Solutions in April 2001. They have come up with programs for electronically processing checks and recovering funds from returned checks as well as ideas for merchants interested in expanding their customer bases.
"Very few people are offering payments solutions like we are. We offer our customers' clients expanded options, expanded marketplaces and cost savings," Morelli said. The company provides a number of new services and products that will change the way businesses collect their accounts receivable. Merchants will increase their markets and profits.
Clients all over the country, in a range of industries and sizes, are utilizing Galaxy's full line of services. Electronic check processing, including check recovery, conversion, online and telephone check acceptance, automated payments and e-commerce Web site design and hosting are all part of Galaxy's line of payment-processing services.
Galaxy is based in Berkeley, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and has 10 to 15 ISOs, mostly based in Chicago and Houston, who work with these merchants across the country. The company is hoping to get more ISOs on board as it signs on more and more larger volume clients.
CHEXpedite is the trade name for services supplied for and licensed through National Bank Drafting Systems in Fort Worth to move money through the Federal Reserve.
Through its association with NBDS, which also licenses 2500 additional companies, Galaxy is able to take advantage of the benefits of a big corporation and pass the savings to its customers. CHEXpedite covers several options for electronic check processing and recovery.
Another advantage Galaxy has over its competitors is that it will design a payment solution system for the way its merchants do business. The programs can be customized, yet they have all the pluses of working with large processing companies.
Galaxy will tailor a program combining one or more of the services it offers based on the needs of each business, not on the volume of transactions processed each month.
Morelli said, "We'll process 10 transactions or 1 million. The dollar amount doesn't matter, the volume doesn't matter. We ask, 'How do you do business? How many orders per month do you take? What's the average ticket size?'
"Our point is that we help people with cash flow to improve the bottom line."
Morelli said Galaxy Payment Solutions operates with four main goals in mind:
"Cost savings for the merchant is number one. The expansion of their marketplaces and giving our customers' clients more payment options is next.
"Getting the money from the transactions into the business as quickly as possible - within 24 to 48 hours, max - follows that. Providing accounts-receivable outsourcing for the customers kind of wraps things up. We're doing the work for them and cutting their costs for them at the same time."
CHEXpedite Electronic Recovery service is free to the merchant. Morelli said that with this program Galaxy is competing against other check recovery services, but the process is much faster and more convenient than any other method available. It will work on any bank in the U.S. and its territories and makes collecting on out-of-town checks easier than ever before. Seventy percent of bad check funds are collected before sending to collections, and CHEXpedite eliminates the need for businesses to make uncomfortable reminder phone calls or send threatening letters. When the merchant's bank forwards a bounced check directly to CHEXpedite, it gets entered into a database and is resubmitted electronically via the ACH network.
If the check bounces again at that point, Galaxy's processing center calls the bank to verify funds before a third and final attempt to collect is made. When the funds are collected and released, merchants receive 100 percent face value of the check paid twice monthly.
CHEXpedite's Online Electronic Checks option lets online businesses accept payment by check from the millions of Americans who prefer to write checks rather than use a credit card. With CHEXpedite Online Electronic Checks, merchants accept and process electronic check payments directly from their Web site. Customers select the online electronic check option and enter the requested bank account information; the interface is designed to look like a regular check.
CHEXpedite Electronic Check Conversion converts a traditional paper check into an electronic item at the point-of-sale and processes it through the Federal Reserve's Automated Clearing House (ACH). Electronic Check Conversion saves time and money while reducing the risks of NSF checks, making them as hassle-free as a credit card transaction.
The Electronic Phone Checks option gives merchants access to a huge customer base. Some estimates put the number of people who have checking accounts but no credit cards at 75 million. It makes sense to be able to accept payment for goods and services from them.
This program allows merchants and businesses ranging from mail order/catalog sales, travel agencies and advertising sales departments to charity fund-raisers, Internet service providers and utility companies to accept checks by phone or fax. The bank routing and account numbers are forwarded to the processing center and will be originated for deposit within 24 hours.
The processing fee for electronic phone checks is determined by the volume processed. There is no minimum with Galaxy - it will process one or 100,000 transactions for deposit the next day.
CHEXpedite Automated Payments provides an instant cash-flow system, using "Pre-Authorized Checking" to ensure that all monthly payments are received on time. Instead of wondering when and if they are going to receive payment, merchants get a pre-authorized check on time each month for every customer on the program. The pre-authorized checks are deposited like regular checks.
For larger clients, automated payments can be processed through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system. With proper authorization and assuming that funds are available, merchants collect money from their customers in two banking days, no matter where they bank in the United States (given funds availability). Most software for entry of business orders can provide the information needed to "originate" an electronic payment. Data gets converted to the required format, and Galaxy's processing center serves as the gateway to the Federal Reserve Banking System.
Galaxy's CHEXsite Services has complete e-commerce solutions, including designing and hosting Web sites and integrating CHEXpedite payment options. The CHEXsite Services team will build into any Merchant's Web site the ability to take orders online, using the CHEXpedite Payment Gateway. The gateway allows the use of Online Credit Card acceptance or the use of the CHEXpedite Online Electronic Check as payment options for a customized shopping cart.
The team is comprised of professional designers and programmers, each with years of experience in design, hosting, and marketing Web sites on the Internet. They are committed to working closely with the client in order to create a site that precisely meets their needs and projects their desired image to visitors.
CHEXsite Services also offers a wide variety of hosting packages designed around individual needs. Galaxy will host sites designed by its own team or those "transplanted" from another Web provider. Three levels of hosting allow for the perfect blend of options and pricing, including permitted space, audio/video and e-commerce capabilities.
Galaxy Payment Solutions ISO contact: Jim Morelli Phone: 708-540-4174 E-mail: jmorelli@galaxypayment.com
Company address: 5714 Saint Charles Road Berkeley, IL 60163 Phone: 708-540-4174 Fax: 708-540-4164 Web site: www.galaxypayment.com
ISO benefits: _ Galaxy programs bring cost savings to merchant accounts. _ Account-receivable process can be outsourced and automated so employees can focus on other job functions. _ ISO marketplaces are expanded through the flexibility to provide greater range of options to merchant customers. _ Programs designed to get money into your business account the fastest way possible.
Good Things Come in Small Packages Mini-Bank 1500 TRANAX An innovative design that packs a lot of features into a compact ATM makes the Tranax Mini-Bank 1500 an ideal choice for any retail location.
The 1500 is the latest in the Mini-Bank line; this new machine incorporates the line's proven reliability and simple maintenance features with some new and improved enhancements and design elements.
The machine's industrial design is the most obvious element. One of the Mini-Bank 1500's enhanced features is voice guidance for compliance with existing and proposed Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Another new feature is an encrypted PIN pad that meets all PIN security requirements, including Triple DES. The new ATMs also have 56K modems.
The Mini-Bank 1500 has a highly configurable platform, making it easy to customize for any retail location. For example, the machines can be upgraded for higher volume locations and vault cash. Customers have options to choose different screens, cassettes and security levels.
Tranax Technologies 1901 Royal Lane, Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75229 Phone: 877-602-8183 www.tranax.com Helping ATMs Become Web-Enabled Nexus INvolve and Infonox glu-on NEXUS SOFTWARE and INFONOX Web-enabled ATMs are offering customers more options all the time, and a new partnership between two companies will make deploying these state-of-the-art machines even simpler. Nexus Software Inc. and Infonox have partnered to facilitate the functionality of the advanced ATMs.
Glu-on provides connectivity to Infonox's Active Payment Platform and also offers extensive capability to deployers for managing events, notifications, transaction flows and healing of devices without human interaction.
The open standard XFS capabilities of Nexus' INvolve provide portability to install glu-on onto any device that supports XFS.
Nexus' open standard, XFS-compliant INvolve middleware and Infonox's glu-on plug-in technology provide a flexible infrastructure solution to suit consumer needs. Glu-on works with most open, proprietary extensions for future devices from major deployers.
"Traditionally, institutions have been limited to solutions offered by ATM hardware vendors. Now, with glu-on coupled with INvolve, deployers can choose the hardware that best meets the needs of their end users," said Safwan Shah, CEO of Infonox.
The alliance is expected to speed up the transition from legacy ATMs to Web-enabled ATMs. ATMs using glu-on and INvolve already have been rolled out in gaming and retail markets.
Nexus Software 2501 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 390 Raleigh, NC 27607 919-788-8665 www.nexussoft.com
Infonox 2350 Mission College, #250 Santa Clara, CA 95054 408-980-9888 www.infonox.com Connect the Applications .NET Payment Solution PARADATA SYSTEMS INC. Paradata Systems Inc. has a new payment solution supporting the Microsoft.NET framework. For merchants building and improving commerce solutions, the new release offers flexibility, easy integration and a short learning curve.
The solution's main component features a .NET class library that supports all of Paradata's payment solutions offerings as well as sample applications written in such languages as C#, VB.NET, J# and ASP.NET.
Microsoft .NET comprises a set of software technologies for integration through the use of XML Web services. Small building-block applications can connect with each other, and with larger applications, via the Internet. Developers can create XML.NET connected software.
The .NET program interface gives merchants a range of integration options to choose from and can be tailored to suit individual needs. This creates a simple integration process and allows them to take advantage of important .NET features, such as stability and error handling.
Paradata Systems provides real-time payment services for financial organizations and businesses in North America and Europe. Its Web-based payment solutions allow its customers to integrate payment throughout various front- and back-end systems.
To learn more about Paradata's Microsoft .NET solution, visit the Merchant Integration Kit online at www.paygateway.com/tech/# and click on Payment Plugs.
Paradata Systems Inc. 201-1010 Alpha Lake Road Whistler, BC V0N 1B1 Phone: 800-604-3282 Fax: 604-905-0252 www.paradata.com
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Copyright 2002 The Green Sheet, Inc. |
