The internet is filled with information and misinformation. Both legitimate facts and inaccuracies and complete falsehoods can travel far beyond their original intended audience. The best way to combat misinformation is by spreading accurate and legitimate facts. The Crescent Processing Company is dedicated to presenting truthful and verifiable information in order to combat a number of inaccuracies that have spread about the company.
1) The first inaccuracy is that the Crescent Processing Company is not legitimate because merchants who sign up do not receive a hard copy of their application. Identity theft and fraud are major concerns with every processing company today, and the Crescent Processing Company has found that the best way to protect sensitive information is to avoid paper documents altogether. Credit processing companies normally use Independent Sales Agents, or ISAs, to help sign up small businesses for services. Paper documents are a huge security risk and pave the way for fraud by allowing agents to alter terms and rates after obtaining the merchant’s signature. Paper documents can also be lost or fall into the wrong hands.
The Crescent Processing Company uses an innovative new technique to avoid paper documents altogether and thereby avoid the problems they can cause. Instead of a stack of applications, each Independent Sales Agent is given a laptop computer and an electronic signature pad. Once the merchant’s signature has been captured, all rates and fees are automatically locked and cannot be altered without deleting that signature. The application is uploaded to a secure server where the information is encrypted. To further enhance security and protect merchant interests, the Crescent Processing Company also requires agents to call a third party confirmation line where the call will be recorded. The merchant will also confirm their information and the terms and rates agreed upon with the operator.
2) The second inaccuracy pertaining to the Crescent Processing Company is that Independent Service Agents must pay for the use of their application laptop. The Crescent Processing Company values Independent Service Agents and wants them to succeed, so each agent is issued a laptop computer for the duration of their relationship with the company.
The agent is required to pay a $300 on this equipment, but that amount does not come out of the agent’s pocket. Instead, the deposit is payed in increments from the agent’s first dozen sales. When the agent no longer wishes to work with the Crescent Processing Company, return shipping is provided by the company and the deposit is refunded as soon as the laptop computer is returned. The normal deadline for the return is two weeks from the end of the business relationship, but exceptions can always be made and the deposit or charge is always refunded as soon as the equipment is returned.
3) A third inaccuracy is that merchants must pay for the equipment that the Crescent Processing Company advertises as “free.” Many merchants choose to do business with the Crescent Processing Company because, unlike other processing companies, Crescent does not require merchants to lease or purchase credit card terminals or equipment for PIN-based debit transactions, receipt capture, or check service.
If a merchant wishes to keep the equipment after ended the business relationship with the Crescent Processing Company, the merchant will be charged for that equipment. Otherwise, the equipment will be free for the merchant to use for the duration of their business relationship with the Crescent Processing Company. Any merchant who is charged for equipment will receive a full refund as soon as the equipment is returned, and the Crescent Processing Company will also pay the return shipping charges for their equipment.
4) The fourth widespread inaccuracy is that the Crescent Processing Company deliberately holds merchant funds from sales. To understand why a processing company might hold merchant funds, it is important to understand how security works in credit card transactions. A processing company is the first line of defense against fraudulent credit card transactions, and each company carefully examines transaction histories in order to remain vigilant. If a transaction does not match the normal pattern for a given merchant, it may be flagged for investigation and the funds held while the processing company checks with the merchant and cardholder to insure that the transaction is legitimate.
An suspicious transaction may be for an unusually high amount well above the merchant’s normal maximum charge. An unusual location or a change in how the card information is entered may also be cause for concern, and more than one of these factors is certainly cause for investigation. Like any processing company, in this situation the Crescent Processing Company will hold the funds until the transaction can be confirmed as legitimate. The cardholder may be contacted, and the merchant may be asked to show proof that the transaction is authorized before the funds can be safely released.
5) Lastly, the fifth inaccuracy is that the Better Business Bureau has rated the Crescent Processing Company poorly. To understand the Crescent Processing Company’s rating with the Better Business Bureau, it is important to understand how the BBB rating system works. The BBB is not a government organization, and the ratings system is largely unknown to non-members. While many have trusted the BBB for years as an unbiased source of information, the truth is that the organization has come under fire recently for essentially allowing members to buy higher ratings while automatically giving non-members lower ratings.
In several states the Better Business Bureau is now under investigation to determine whether the organization is guilty of using unfair business practices. While the BBB currently has over two hundred complaints about the Crescent Processing Company, many of these have already been resolved. The company is currently working hard to resolve all remaining customer issues. It is important to remember that the Crescent Processing Company has had over 65,000 since opening its doors in 2006, and those complaints represent less than %1 of the small businesses that have worked with Crescent.
