First National Merchant Solutions NPC Lost over $10,000 and closed my account so they can continue their assault on my business Omaha, Nebraska

As a former employee of First National Merchant Solutions I'm comfortable saying I have a fairly decent understanding of their processes as they relate to sales and service.  As a seasoned veteran of the industry I'm willing to bet there are a few more facts about this filers situation that they are not sharing.   Because I no longer work for tFNMS my opinion should be viewed as being unbiased.  That said, it is my opinion the filer of this complaint is wrongly blaming FNMS for their chargeback issues as FNMS (the processor) doesn't decide the final outcome of consumer disputes (a/k/a chargebacks); in fact, FNMS doesn't gain anything but an unhappy customer when their merchant's loose these disputes so it's not in their (FNMS's) interest to not fight on behalf of their customer.  The card brands have very clear rules regarding card acceptance procedures for the lodging industry.  Chances are great that if this merchant continues business as usual without changing procedures they will incur the same issue with Capitol One, or any other processor they partner with.

To the filer....

You may want to check the terms and conditions of your agreement with Capitol One as they, like all processors, will also have something similar to FNMS's 180 day clause.  This is a standard in merchant contracts to protect the processor from financial loss because, depending on the situation, consumers often have up to 6 months to dispute a transaction for one reason or another.

When a cardholder disputes a charge to their card, a "Chargeback Inquiry" is opened in the system.  Card association (V/MC/D/AX) rules define what the merchant (the B&B) and the Acquirer ("processor") must do--and establishes a deadline for responding to their demand for information supporting the validity of the charge. 

The Acquirer and the Merchant are on one 'side' of the dispute; the cardholder and Issuer (bank that issued the card to the cardholder) are on the other 'side'. 

The rules give all decsion-making authority to the card Issuer , not the Acquirer (since they are the instiution extended credit, to the cardholder.)  In other words, your 'processor' does not decide who wins a disputed charge; when you lose, they lose, too.

180 days is a significant number, also another card association rule.  Cardholders are given 180 days from the date of the original charge to dispute it.  Merchant accounts with a predefined high level of chargebacks are required to have funds held in reserve to protect 'the system' against potential future chargebacks.

Finally, over 95% of the 'percentage and constant fees' goes to the card Issuer, not the Acquirer.

Merchant Guidelines on www.Visa.com will provide details of all the rules mentioned.