credit card fees Archives - Lucid Payments

November 17 2022

Is the Canadian Government Really Going to Regulate Interchange Fees?

We’ve been in the payment processing industry for well over a decade, and throughout all those years, we’ve watched as small business owners in Canada have been forced to pay exorbitant interchange fees. Time and again, we’ve been told that these fees are a necessary evil, required to help mitigate the risks associated with credit

July 22 2022

Why It’s Impossible to Calculate the Cost of Payment Processing

Here at Lucid Payments, we get a lot of people who call us demanding to know exactly how much they’re going to pay for their payment processing. One example of this is when our VP of Operations, Steven, had a conversation with a guy who sells furniture, who demanded to know exactly how much his

What our clients say about us

Michael Nelson from Lucid Payments was great to work with. He set everything up and trained me how to use the machine, process payments, voids, refunds and settle to the bank at the end of the day.

Quick and painless. I would refer any small business owner to use Michael as he is local (Central Alberta) and available if you are having issues.

Sandy Woitas

Janelle was amazing to work with and compared all options and provided all the information to help us make the best decision. We decided on Lucid as their rates could not be beaten and the service after has been great too.

Damian Marshall

Fantastic machines, great rates, and fantastic customer service. Michael Nelson has been more than accommodating when it came to setting up the machines and following up with any questions or issues I’ve had!

Justin Bouchard

Excellent customer service from Janelle Cumiskey with Lucid payments. If you need help with your POS system, she’s the one!

Braden Leystra

The staff at Lucid payments consistently go above and beyond for their clients. I would highly recommend them!

Michael Atkinson

Janelle was amazing to work with, everything was so streamlined and easy, with the switch from our previous provider. Plus, the rates cannot be beaten!

Highly recommend Lucid Payments and their team for payment processing.

Cottonwood Auto Glass

Michael has provided excellent service for us at Action Automotive, highly recommended.

Gordon Lemke

Janelle is easy to talk to and makes the whole sign-up process easy. We always like supporting local, family-run businesses.

Luna Float

Janelle hooked us up with a better processing rate than our current provider. Saving us thousands on our merchant services. Highly recommend the lucid team for any processing requirements.

Dave M.

So far so good… Janelle is very easy to work with, helpful, accommodating and thorough… Excellent customer service !!!

Cathy Frith

Lucid Payments has exceeded our expectations in every possible way since our initial point of contact. They have been incredibly quick to respond to all of our emails and calls and their service has always been personalized and professional.

I am so glad I found this company, they have saved us hundreds of dollars each month on fees and it’s such a great feeling knowing that we are supporting a local company. I highly recommend Lucid Payments!

Quiring Trucking

Janelle was great and went above and beyond to get the deal done, the rates are good and we get answers to questions quickly without waiting on hold for hours.

Cecil Bond

Once upon a time, there were two gentlemen who were living in the stone age and had no idea how to operate their payment machine (mostly due to another provider not assisting at all and setting it up on dial-up).

One day Janelle comes by and shows us neanderthals that there are better payment providers out there. Within three days, we were set up with a new machine and saved money in the process. 10/10 would recommend Janelle and Lucid Payments for bringing your payment processing into 2019.

Tyler Melnyk

Mike was excellent to work with, If I’ve ever had any issues they have been helpful and quick to get things done!

Brandon Fancie

Jenelle contacted us and was much less pushy than most salespeople who will call you out of the blue. She basically showed how we can save money by switching over and made it clear and a seamless transition.

We are now good to go with both an online terminal and a keypad terminal in the office.

J. Vanderh

Micheal is great! Always so helpful and friendly. Highly recommend them!!!

Pure Hair

Can’t say enough about Janelle Cumiskey with Lucid payments. Great lady, she helped me immensely with the setup of my new POS. I like having a local company linked with my local business.

Stacey Pearce

My rep Michael Pivitol is amazing. Always very helpful and quick at handling situations. I am new to the business and he was very thorough and explained things so that I completely understood. He checks in with me on a regular basis to ensure that things are good.

Lucid is very lucky to have such a dedicated employee who knows his work!

Tanya Healey

Professional and personable! The Lucid team is awesome. Highly recommend them.

Danika Holmes

Janelle Cumiskey is excellent to deal with she gives good hospitality and answers your questions quickly and friendly. Great prices and fast service.

I would recommend them to a friend which I already did.

John Cook

Janelle and the team at Lucid Payments have been nothing but professional! They got us a great rate compared to where we were with our last provider & we couldn’t be happier!

Lucid Payments has kept in communication with us, something we’ve never gotten from our old provider.
Making the switch was one of the best decisions we made, both financially and professionally!

Auguston Coffee

Michael from Lucid Payments is wonderful. He genuinely cares about his client and their concerns. Not once did I feel sold to, he was simply providing value. Thank you Michael.

Jillian Vukovich

It’s hard to trust merchant services companies but when it’s a family you know you can, they are honest, upfront and their pricing is transparent.

B. H.

Among all the terminal machines we’ve tried for the past couple of years, they have the fairest price and most helpful reps, Michael Nelson was very accommodating and helpful in assisting us especially in dealing with our previous terminals machines as they were trying to charge us unreasonable prices. Kuddooss!!

HK Minimart

Extremely quick to respond to any questions, issues or concerns. Rates are competitive and fair. Customer service is clearly a priority.

4th Meridian Brewing Co

This is our second business that we dealt with Michael for our debit and credit processing system. He always takes the time to help with any issue or questions that we had. Professional at all times and with a cool head. We highly recommend Michael for any of your processing needs.

Cynthia Morton

We recently switched to Lucid Payments from one of the big, well-known companies with the typical high rates. From the time we filled out the application, answered all our questions, ordered us different machines without hesitation and not to mention the savings we will have, dealing with Janelle has been awesome to say the least!

And, the fact that Lucid is a local family-owned business is the cherry on top! We are very happy to have made the switch!!

Abbotsford Physiotherapy

Janelle Cumiskey is so knowledgeable and helpful! She explained the way payment processing works so thoroughly, and when we were having issues during our initial setup, she was on it right away and had the issue resolved so quickly.

Her customer service is above what we could have hoped to expect!

Anita G.

The Representative in my area, Michael Nelson has great customer service, he is approachable and knowledgeable, he is the most helpful rep I have had in 10 years of being in business. So far my experience with Lucid is impressive and from start to finish setting up my system has been simple and every step resourceful.

I would recommend Lucid and if you are in Central Alberta please look up Michael N. and you wouldn’t be disappointed. Thanks Lucid for understanding and providing great service for a business located here in Canada.

Jerome Vollmin

We are very please with our services provided through Lucid payments. Mike went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of.

Malissa Jervis

Very happy with our new system. Much more reliable than our last terminals. We had some initial teething problems but Janelle was great – came out and kept coming out until it was fixed. Great customer service!

Rachel Bolongaro

We had been going back and forth on getting a terminal for card payments but everyone was so not helpful and fees were crazy! Then Janelle contacted us and we have been clients for a year now!! She came to us and was super helpful.

So happy we decided to go with Lucid.

Cruz Studios

Great rates and really quick response time. What more could you ask for?? Thank you Janelle

Sheri Braaksma

Great Company to work with. Amazing People.

James Alexander

Excellent service!

Chris MMS

Using this system for the last 6 months – working flawlessly!
Wonderful people to work with if you have any issues.
And…….we are saving money!!
Thanks so much.

Bea Doucet

We love Lucid Payments because they truly care about their customers. They are quick to respond and care about all of the small details.

Getting started with them was quick and easy and we are grateful for their support. They care about the businesses they work with! Thank you Lucid!!!

The Habit Project

Janelle was very easy to deal with and got the info I needed out to me very quickly. She was happy to answer any questions I had! Definitely recommend.

C R

Payment Processing Articles

For most of us, the holiday season tends to be a particularly positive time of year. We get to spend time with family and friends, give gifts to our friends and loved ones, and enjoy all the festivities that this time of year has to offer. For business owners, the holidays are also filled with positive vibes, not least because they tend to be the most productive and lucrative time of year. Unfortunately, the holidays are also a time when things like theft and payment fraud become more prevalent. According to a report from Visa, during last year’s holiday season, the merchants who tend to be most targeted by fraud, including home improvement and supply, telecommunications, business-to-business, healthcare, automotive, entertainment, education, government, lodging, insurance, airlines, drug stores, and pharmacies, saw a significant increase in this kind of nefarious activity. For these unlucky merchants, payment fraud increased by 11 per cent compared to the rest of the year, and actually went up 8 per cent compared to what we saw during the 2021 holiday season. Clearly, the incidence of these crimes is becoming more common, and sadly, most businesses have pretty much come to expect this sort of thing around this time of year. A survey from Trustmi confirms this, as it found that the vast majority of businesses are more concerned about payment fraud during the holiday season. We’ve also been seeing this happening more frequently in our own backyard, and it breaks our hearts to see small business owners getting scammed like this. According to an article from Global News, Exile Electronics, which is a Vancouver-based music store, was hit by three fraudulent transactions last year, totalling more than $20,000. The article reports that “the credit card owner disputed the charges and was granted refunds, even though the equipment was long gone. The credit card company then came after Exile for the money.” At this point, they’re on the verge of bankruptcy, but thanks to a GoFundMe they started, they’ve been able to raise even more than their goal of $13,955 thanks to about 250 generous donations. All things considered, we want to offer some advice on how you can protect your business from payment fraud during the holidays, so we can do our part to help prevent these heinous crimes. So, if you’re looking to learn about fraud prevention and want to protect your business against fraud this holiday season, then this is an article you’re not going to want to miss. Why Does Payment Fraud Increase During the Holidays? https://depositphotos.com/photo/man-using-smartphone-at-home-175137208.html If you want to understand how to prevent payment fraud during the holidays, it’s important to know why these crimes are more common at this time of year. That being said, there are many reasons why payment fraud tends to increase during the holidays, and this includes things like: Increased Transaction Volume The holiday season sees a surge in shopping and transactions, both in-store and online, and this higher volume of transactions creates more opportunities for fraudsters to exploit vulnerabilities. eCommerce Growth Online shopping continues to grow, especially during the holiday season, and this increase in online transactions provides more opportunities for cybercriminals to execute various types of fraud, such as card-not-present fraud or account takeovers. New Account Openings Some people open new accounts (credit cards, store accounts, etc.) during the holidays to take advantage of discounts or offers, and this presents an opportunity for fraudsters to create fake accounts or steal identities. Fraudulent Gift Cards Criminals may tamper with or use stolen credit card information to buy gift cards, which can be used for personal use or sold for cash, making them a target during the holiday season. Lack of Vigilance With the holiday rush and excitement, people may let their guard down or overlook suspicious activities, making it easier for fraudsters, as they can exploit this lapse in vigilance. How to Protect Against Payment Fraud During the Holidays https://depositphotos.com/photo/man-wearing-blue-sweater-eyeglasses-using-laptop-home-christmas-tree-175136978.html All this talk about holiday payment fraud can be pretty depressing, especially if you own a business. But the silver lining to all of this is that there’s actually a lot you can do to protect against payment fraud during the holidays, including: Password-Protecting Refunds We’ve heard horror stories of business owners hiring a new employee, only to find out after they’ve quit that they were handing out refunds to their buddies left, right, and centre. With that in mind, make sure to password protect the ability to give refunds, and only provide that password to people whom you know you can trust. Otherwise, you’re leaving yourself open to a scam that seems like it’s becoming increasingly common. Prioritizing Card-Present Transactions For some businesses, this won’t be possible, but one of the best things you can do to protect against payment fraud is to prioritize card-present transactions and limit card-not-present transactions. Card-present transactions are one of the most secure forms of payment, as they utilize chip-and-PIN technology, so whoever’s using this form of payment will need to have the card in their possession and also know its PIN. Again, this may not be practical for some businesses, but, if at all possible, you should try to limit the number of phone and online orders you’re doing, and if it’s applicable, you can even incentivize customers to make in-store purchases by offering them discounts if they make a purchase from your store in-person. Batching Out More Frequently Some merchants are used to only batching out their terminals once a week, but this can expose your business to serious risks, especially during the holidays, when you’ll probably be doing a much higher volume of sales. Because if someone decides to steal your terminal before you’ve batched out, the transactions that are still on there probably won’t get processed, and you’ll lose all that money. Moreover, all the payment data will remain on your terminal until you’ve batched out, and this puts your customers at risk for fraud, as well, as criminals can steal their information. That being said, during the holidays, or whenever you’re doing a significantly higher volume of sales, make sure to batch out every day, as once the information is sent to your processor, it's essentially locked in, and you don't have to worry about anything being taken or lost. Using Multi-Factor Authentication If you enforce multi-factor authentication for online transactions, it can add an extra layer of security by forcing customers to use a combination of passwords, SMS verification, biometrics, or one-time codes. Regular Security Updates and Patching One thing that you’ll want to do all year round, not least during the holiday season, is to ensure software, systems, and applications are updated with the latest security patches, as outdated software can have vulnerabilities that criminals can exploit. Using Advanced Fraud Detection Tools Another thing you can do to protect against payment fraud all year round is to employ robust fraud detection systems, which can use machine learning and AI to analyze patterns, detect anomalies, and flag potentially fraudulent transactions in real time. Monitoring Transactions and Setting Up Alerts Something else you can do to prevent payment fraud is make a point of monitoring transactions regularly for any unusual or suspicious activity and setting up alerts for large transactions, multiple purchases within a short time, or transactions from new or unusual locations. Customer Verification Processes Implementing strong identity verification methods for new accounts or high-value transactions offers another way to protect against payment fraud. This could involve verifying personal information, sending confirmation emails, or requiring additional documentation. Educating Employees No matter what time of year it is, you should also make sure to educate your employees so that they can recognize potentially fraudulent activity, and create protocols for handling suspicious activities and reporting them promptly. Secure Payment Processing Systems It’s unlikely that you’ll ever come across a company with payment processing systems that aren’t secure, but it doesn’t hurt to ensure your processor is using secure and encrypted systems that comply with industry standards and protect customer data, both during transmission and storage. CTA: The holiday season is here, and that means now is a great time to weigh your options and get a reduction on your fees! Give us a call today to find out how much you can save with Lucid Payments.

November 22 2023

How to Protect Your Business from Payment Fraud During the Holidays

For most of us, the holiday season tends to be a particularly positive time of year. We get to [...]

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Lucid Payments

In B.C.: 604.744.8100
Toll-Free: 1.855.775.8243

Unit 705B, 30711 Simpson Rd,
Abbotsford, B.C, V2T 6Y7, Canada

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Payment Processing Articles

What our clients say about us

Payment Processing Articles

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