Credit card processing is a vital part of any business that wants to accept credit cards as a form of payment.

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Credit card processing is a vital part of any business that wants to accept credit cards as a form of payment. Whether you run a brick-and-mortar store or an online business, you’ll need to find a reliable credit card processing solution that will work for you. In this article, we’ll give you an overview of what credit card processing is and how it works, as well as some tips on finding the right solution for your business.

What is Credit Card Processing?

Credit card processing is the process of accepting credit cards as a form of payment for goods or services. This can be done either through a physical point-of-sale (POS) system or online. Credit card processing solutions typically include a merchant account, credit card reader, and payment gateway.

In order to process credit cards, businesses will need to apply for and be approved for a merchant account. This is a type of bank account that allows businesses to accept credit card payments. Once you have a merchant account, you’ll need to set up a credit card reader. This can be either a physical device that’s attached to your POS system or a virtual terminal that allows you to process payments online. Finally, you’ll need a payment gateway. This is a software that connects your merchant account to your payment processor, which is the company that actually processes the credit card payments.

How Does Credit Card Processing Work?
When a customer makes a purchase with a credit card, the credit card processor will authorize the transaction and send the funds to your merchant account. This usually takes a few days. Once the funds are in your account, you can then transfer them to your business bank account.

There are typically three parties involved in a credit card transaction: the merchant, the customer, and the credit card processor. The merchant is the business that’s selling the goods or services. The customer is the person who’s using their credit card to pay for the purchase. And the credit card processor is the company that’s responsible for processing the credit card payment.

When a customer makes a purchase, the merchant will send the credit card information to the credit card processor. The processor will then either approve or decline the transaction. If the transaction is approved, the processor will send the funds to the merchant’s account. This usually takes a few days. Once the funds are in the merchant’s account, they can then transfer them to their business bank account.

Tips for Choosing a Credit Card Processor
There are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind when you’re looking for a credit card processor. First, you’ll want to make sure that the processor can handle the volume of transactions you expect to process. You’ll also want to make sure that they have a good reputation and are known for providing good customer service. Finally, you’ll want to compare the fees charged by different processors to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

When you’re looking for a credit card processor, it’s important to compare the fees charged by different processors. You’ll want to find a processor that charges a flat fee per transaction, rather than a percentage of the total sale. You’ll also want to make sure that the processor doesn’t charge any hidden credit card processing fees.

It’s also important to make sure that the credit card processor you choose can handle the volume of transactions you expect to process. If you’re a small business, you might not need a processor that can handle a lot of transactions. But if you’re a larger business, you’ll want to make sure that the processor can handle your transaction volume.

Finally, you’ll want to make sure that the credit card processor you choose has a good reputation. You can check out online reviews to see what other businesses have to say about the processor you’re considering.

The Bottom Line
Credit card processing is essential for any business that accepts credit cards. When you’re choosing a credit card processor, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind, including fees, transaction volume, and customer service. By keeping these factors in mind, you can be sure to find a credit card processor that’s right for your business.

As a business, self-storage real estate is not for everyone. However, the need for commercial mortgages, construction loans, cash-out leveraging, refinancing loan vehicles, CMBS, bridge lending, mezzanine financing, preferred equity, and real estate private equity for private investors, small/middle market real estate entities, and family offices who are into it generates a lot of activity for us.

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As a business, self-storage real estate is not for everyone. However, the need for commercial mortgages, construction loans, cash-out leveraging, refinancing loan vehicles, CMBS, bridge lending, mezzanine financing, preferred equity, and real estate private equity for private investors, small/middle market real estate entities, and family offices who are into it generates a lot of activity for us.

You’ll need money whether you want to develop, buy, expand, or repair a self-storage facility.

Fortunately, self-storage is and has always been, an industry with strong fundamentals and consistent development. For nearly 30 years, the self-storage market has earned 3.5 percent annual returns, according to the New York Times.

Many lenders are interested in funding self-storage developments as a result of these encouraging results. Business loan lenders, on the other hand, are not all the same. To properly finance your project, you must first understand your storage loan alternatives and how self-storage financing works.

Self-Storage Loan Options
Self-storage loans are available through SBA lenders, credit unions, and banks, as well as alternative lenders. You’ll learn about the financing options available from these three types of lenders in the sections below.

SBA Loans
The SBA offers self-storage financing through its SBA 7 (a) and 504 loan programs. The structure of SBA 7 (a) and SBA 504 loans for self-storage financing is the same as it is for any other permitted use.

The SBA partially guarantees the loan, which is made by a financial institution. Because of this partial guarantee, lenders can make SBA loans to applicants who would otherwise be ineligible. However, because of the low-interest rates on SBA loans, the application procedure is quite competitive.

Purchase property, extend or repair an existing self-storage facility, or restructure existing debt using an SBA 7(a) or 504 loan.

Credit Union and/or Bank Loans
A credit union or bank can help you fund self-storage projects with a line of credit, a regular loan, or a construction loan.

It’s worth mentioning, however, that many credit lines have limit amounts ranging from $100,000 to $250,000. Depending on the scope of your self-storage project, you may require a higher sum to fund it.

In addition, a company line of credit is typically used for short-term financial requirements. The majority of credit lines have terms of seven years or less. That means you’ll have to pay off your line of credit promptly, which some borrowers may not be able to do. This will, of course, be less of an issue if your self-storage project is tiny.

Credit union or bank business loans are substantially more suited for larger self-storage projects. According to Federal Reserve data, the average small company loan amount is $663,000, with loan amounts ranging from $13,000 to $1.2 million.

Self-storage construction loans are used to fund the building of self-storage facilities. To qualify, you’ll typically need a 25% down payment and a loan term that matches the length of the building project. You’ll owe a balloon payment for the remaining around the time the building job is completed.

Most borrowers have permanent financing lined up before their construction loan term finishes, thanks to the balloon payment.

Going once… Going twice… Going… well, will it go for a third time??? That is the BIG, BIG question as Bitcoin plummets -by 54% from its recent all-time high to the $30,000 mark.

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Going once… Going twice… Going… well, will it go for a third time???

That is the BIG, BIG question as Bitcoin plummets -by 54% from its recent all-time high to the $30,000 mark.

These are incredible times and who is to say the revolutionary coin won’t suddenly soar back up to another all-time high as it has done already TWICE this year?

As it is, the markets are in something of a freefall and are literally brimming with amazing trading investments opportunities as FEAR and FOMO continue to reign!

CRYPTO NEWS
Why is Bitcoin’s dramatic fall so HUGE? Well, you can find out in our latest Trades Of The Week for in-depth analysis – but, in a nutshell, this time around, Bitcoin’s drop was actually caused by TERRA LUNA.

As you may know, Terra Luna’s stablecoin was recently pegged to the US dollar – i.e. 1 stablecoin = 1 dollar. But what happens when you don’t have enough cash reserves? You get unpegged!

The big thing here was Terra Luna then sold all its Bitcoin holding to get re-pegged!

Wow!

Then everything came down like dominos!

It means, for us investors, there are some very enticing propositions available right now, not only with Terra Luna but ETHEREUM, CRYPTO.COM, AVAX, MATIC, HEDERA HASHGRAPH, and ENJINCOIN which is down a whopping -82%! The others are sitting at between -50% to -75%.

BUT that was not the only surprise this week… as SOLANA found itself in the middle of an investor storm which lasted 7 hours. Let’s just say it had something to do with 4 million transactions per second!

As shocking as this was, it’s all part of cryptocurrency’s evolution – so don’t panic!

What else?

Oh yes… with high fashion house Gucci now accepting various cryptos as payment, including one notorious “joke” coin, it has left our founder Marcus contemplating capitulating and buying “some of the damn stuff!”

Can you guess which one it is?!

BUFFALO
We have been short and long for a while now – but there is a reason for that, it’s called hedging and we believe you must always be hedged.

And being short when the markets go down is when we make our money, as we will do with TMCI, AIRBNB, MBI, TWI and MTDR which are all locked in for guaranteed profit.

MARKET NEWS
As mentioned earlier, there’s still extreme fear in the markets, bearish moves in the major indices, US30, US 100 – US30 had Black Thursday, dropped nearly 1000 points to 2%, NASDAQ dropped 5%, largest moves since 2020 and start of the pandemic.

Why? Inflation, increase in interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and Covid lockdowns in China, are all combining to cause fear.

US30 really dictates where the market is going because it’s the top 30 companies in the US. When the US30 drops, it means big Blue Chip companies are taking a hit. When the US30 falls below 30,000 then Blue Chips may fall further… this is all great of course for our VCA opportunities!

BUT, as ever… be aware! If the market falls don’t be scared, our strategies are there to buy as the market falls and sell when the market rises.

It sounds simple to do – but it’s not easy because one has emotions when money is involved.

That’s why we never look at the money, we always look at percentages.

And talking of BLUE CHIPS… more great news as these are fantastic times to be buying a part of some big-name firms, some of whom are down -20% to -30%.

Names to entice you – COSTCO, BEYOND MEAT, ADOBE… and wait for it… even AMAZON!!

Down -36%

Have you ever heard of this before? No! It’s just too good… and we even made healthy profits with our VCA’s JOHNSON & JOHNSON and ACTIVISION.

RESULTS
Stock Market:

Buffalo: +56.5% on total portfolio (+3%)
VCA: +1,025% on money invested (+30%)
Cryptocurrency Market:

CCA: +1,510% on money invested
Small-Cap: 4,320% on money invested