Fully electronic data-flow helps in reducing the physical cash hold, makes book-keeping simpler and opens up a heavily used source of funding to your business – capitalise on impulse buyers who may not be carrying the cash but almost always have plastic on them.

In most cases, your Decimal Factor service will be up and running 7-10 days after we have received your signed application and supporting documentation. This is subject to satisfactory completion of our risk assessment procedures.

The risk of accepting card payments in your business is minimal. Banks take security very seriously and constantly address the security needs of both business and consumer. Chip and Pin makes it very difficult for fraudsters to steal cards as they won't work without a 4-digit "pin". All transactions are securely handled on an encrypted network.

You should receive funds within your business bank account 3-4 working days after the transaction, if the settlement is made in sterling.

"ClientLine" provides you with secure web access to your merchant account. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As well as giving you access to your monthly statements, ClientLine has the following benefits:

• Helps reduce chargebacks
• Helps reduce administrative costs and resources
• Provides an additional fraud prevention tool
• Gives you the ability to download data onto standard spreadsheets improving management analysis and control
• Helps identify operational improvements If you wish to have a look at the site please go to www.myclientline.net and click on the demo.

Yes, Decimal Factor we can arrange for you to accept card payments via Mail Order.

Yes, Decimal Factor can arrange for an e-Commerce facility which enables card acceptance on your website.

When you have decided to join Decimal Factor we will talk you through the documentation required. It is our job to ensure this process is straight forward and if you have any questions, our team will be more than happy to answer them for you. Your application form will be submitted on the same day for processing.

You need 3 things to take card payments from your customers:

• A merchant account
• A current business bank account
• A credit card machine to facilitate payments or Payment Service Provider (e-Commerce)

There are a multitude of benefits which can be summarised as follows:

• Cards are now your customers preferred method of payment
• New sales opportunities by phone, mail and online
• More customers can come through your door
• Increased sales as customers are no longer cash limited
• Opportunities for impulse buying as browsers become buyers
• Simple and fast automated banking
• Improved cash flow as money is in your account promptly
• No bounced cheques and payments are more secure
• Less cash handling for staff which can reduce simple mistakes
• Allows you to accept card payments from commercial customers

Yes. It's a fact: using cards to make payments is the No1 choice for the majority of your existing and potential customers. Most consumers and businesses simply expect to be able to use cards to pay for their goods and services. Taking card payments means you can benefit from the total payment market opportunity, rather than just restricting your business to the amount of cash that your customer's have in their pocket.

Merchants can contact Decimal Factor between 09:30 to 17:30. For any terminal related queries, the Hypercom helpdesk is available between 08:00 – Midnight.

Decimal Factor will happily arrange this, please contact us on 0800 612 6961

No. Each Entity must have their own dedicated Merchant Number to process card payments.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard The PCI Data Security Standard represents a common set of industry tools and measurements to help ensure the safe handling of sensitive information.

The PCI Security Standards Council encourages all businesses that store payment account data to comply with the PCI DSS to help lower the brand and financial risks associated with account payment data compromises.

For more information, please refer to www.pcisecuritystandards.org

Why does the merchant have to undergo Anti-Money Laundering checks Like most financial institutions, we also must perform due diligence by verifying a customer's identity and, if necessary, monitoring transactions for suspicious activity. This is often termed as KYC -- "know your customer." This means, to begin with, knowing the identity of the customers, and further, understanding the transactions and businesses the customers do.

No, this is classed as dual acquiring and each merchant must have only one acquirer