Your customers count on their credit cards being accepted wherever they shop, whether it's a hotel or restaurant, a telephone marketer, a mail-order fulfillment warehouse, a service agency, a Main Street store, a mall storefront, an online website, or any other type of business. Total Merchant Services of Wisconsin (TMS of WI) is the one place for you to go as a business to establish a low cost merchant account that will enable you to accept payment via credit card. It only takes a few minutes to apply, and your company will be accepting credit cards within only a few days. TMS of WI is not limited to Wisconsin -- business merchant accounts can be set up for any business anywhere in the United States.

There is NO application fee, and NO annual fee. You get 24x7 one-on-one telephone support services, and a free credit card terminal/reader -- you do not have to lease or purchase a terminal, as required by certain other merchant services companies that offer a cheap merchant account that seems too good to be true. If you prefer, rather than a terminal, you can have Internet-based software installed on your computer to create a virtual terminal on your business computer's desktop.

You can apply by faxing a completed Contact Request Form (available online at www.tmsofwi.com), or you can call 1-888-909-0098 to talk to a service consultant. You'll soon be able to take Discover, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club/Carte Blanche, and American Express cards as payment for anything, whether the transaction is over the telephone, in person, over the Internet, or by mail order.

You'll also be able to take debit cards with MasterCard or Visa logos, online checks, and purchase cards. All funds received for these transactions are automatically transferred daily to your business bank account.

Your only cost will be the normal merchant fees for accepting credit cards, different for each credit card company:

• The "discount rate" is a processing fee that is a percentage of your gross sales for that card.

• The "per transaction" fee is a small processing fee for each transaction.

You should also be aware of "charge backs," when a credit card holder refuses the charge because it was not authorized, or the goods or services bought were not delivered. You will have use of the fraud screening systems provided by all credit card companies, and seven days to prove authorization and/or delivery.

You can set up your low cost merchant account within your business in two ways:

POS

A Point-of-Sale (POS) credit card terminal (hard-wired or wireless) allows the customer's credit card account information to be taken directly from the credit card, or manually entered on a small keypad. This type of terminal is perfect for hotels, restaurants, and storefront businesses where the customer is physically present for the transaction.

Virtual

A business computer that has access to the Internet can be loaded with software which sets up a virtual terminal that can be used in the same way as the POS terminal. A virtual terminal is perfect for an Internet merInternet merchant account, chant account, or for a business that accepts orders via mail or telephone.