Monday, May 16, 2011

American Express New Policy Regarding Credits

I just received this from a small business owner who forwarded the message below.

For those of you accepting American Express cards this could be of interest to you. For those of you accepting other credit cards it would seem to me that it is just a matter of time until they will adopt the same policy.

--If you accept Amex cards pay special attention to your mail in the next week or so. I just received a letter from American Express updating our credit card processing agreement with them. It says that as of July 1, 2011 they will no longer refund the Discount (the credit card fee) when we issue a credit (refund) to a customer. If you don't like this you can elect to have your Discount Rate raised by 40 basis points (0.40%) instead. Does anyone else feel that this is a rip off. My suggestion is that when you get this letter call them up and let them know you are not happy and are considering not accepting their card. If they get away with this I can promise you that Visa, Mastercard and Discover will not be far behind.--

To all of you that are incorporated I suggest you review your records to make sure you are keeping proper documentation to protect your corporate veil in the event of a lawsuit.

Are your minutes up to date?

Are you keeping the corporate activities totally separate from your personal activities?

In the last few years I was a party to a lawsuit and my wife and I were named individually. The lawsuit was frivolous but our records were thoroughly reviewed. They also looked closely to see if there was an alter ego. You might want to consult a professional on this and make sure your records are up to date.

Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188

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