Payments with Cards?

[Keith Holman]

We've been approached several times about the possibility of accepting cards (credit/debit) for electronic payments instead of requiring a check for reunion reservations or memberships or ship's store items.
We've done some preliminary investigations and recognize there are conveniences for the association as well as the payer. But there are also costs imposed on the association to accept that type of payment.
Some providers charge a flat monthly fee and others charge based on volume of payments. Generally, the costs are about 3% (or fractionally less) when figured on volume/amount which would need to be passed along. A similar amount would likely come from a flat fee solution but we need some estimate of volume to figure which would be most advantageous to us.
The board will be required to weigh those costs and benefits in making a decision whether to accept and what solution to use if we decide to go that route.
So we need some information from you. We're looking for opinions and predictions. Would you prefer to have the option of making electronic payments for transactions with the association?