Networking Meeting

§ May 13th, 2010 § Filed under Events § Tagged § 1 Comment

In March, the first member networking meeting was held. National City Bank sponsored the event. Representatives from the bank provided various options available to business clients for assistance in their day-to-day operations. The following summarizes the material presented:

Wendy Bernth, PNC Merchant Services, spoke about the benefits of having a Gift Card Program for your business. Having a gift card program can increase your receivables as customers generally spend at least 30% more than the value of the card. Gift cards can also be used to reward frequent customers or acknowledge a customer’s special occasion or birthday. A monthly business card drawing and reward with a gift card or team up with an area business and solicit your business with a gift card. These are ideas to market your business and grow revenue.

Debit card processing was also discussed. It is beneficial for a business to have a pin pad attached to their credit card processing equipment if their normal transaction amount is greater than $34.00. When debit cards are processed with a pin number the transaction cost is generally no higher than .90 per transaction most much lower. By investing in a pin pad device, this can greatly reduce your processing costs especially if your average transaction amount is much higher.

PNC Merchant Services has a two promotions targeting credit card processing. The $500 Meet or Beat offer is available to review your monthly merchant statement and discuss credit card processing. If we are unable to beat your overall processing costs, then you would receive a $500 Visa Gift Card. Another promotion that is available is a $250 credit if you open up a National City business checking account along with a PNC Merchant Services account within 30 days of each other. You will receive the $250 credit into your checking account.

By coupling the PNC Merchant Services account with a National City business checking account, come June when the National City branches switches to PNC Bank, you would receive next day credit for your daily batch deposit. This will speed up your cash flow.

Contact Wendy Bernth, PNC Merchant Services, 574-975-0300 if you are interested in having your merchant processing reviewed.

Brenda Bulger, National City Bank, spoke about the many different accounts and services that the bank has to offer to small businesses. There are many different business needs that the bank can help with in making your business run smooth. The bank can also assist you in estate and investment planning for your business. They offer free financial reviews and consolidation to help in planning for your future. Contact Brenda Bulger, National City Bank, 574-658-4151.

Following the presentations, members were given the opportunity to network among themselves. Thirty minutes were available for these discussions. Attendants utilized all the time available.

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