FocusPayment FAQ

FocusPayments is the payment processing & transaction arm of the FOCUS suite. FocusPayments can serve in two capacities, as a payments gateway or as a payments acquirer.

As a Payments Gateway FocusPayments enables you to use your chosen merchant service processor or credit card processor sales organization, while still being able to accept electronic payments directly through your FOCUS system.

As a Payments Acquirer, FocusPayments connects your FOCUS system to the card brand (Visa, Mastercard, American Express & Discover) payment networks and allows for a fully integrated and serviced electronic payment system. With FocusPayments as your acquirer, you'll receive the same level of award winning technical support that you've come to expect with FOCUS for your payment processing, as well as a wide range of customer analytics data that we're able to obtain since FOCUS is directly processing your credit card transactions.

Q: What is EMV? 
A: EMV is the term for the new worldwide way of transacting, processing, securing & handling credit card data. 

FocusPayments Gateway

Q: Is FocusPayments Gateway required to process any credit cards with FOCUS?
A: The FocusPayments Gateway is required for compliance with the most recent PCI Compliancy requirements (PCI PA-DSS 3.2) and is also required for chip card processing with FOCUS version 10.1 and newer.

Q: What features does FocusPayments provide?
A: FocusPayments allows for seamless credit card processing built directly into your FOCUS system. Credit cards can be swiped or dipped (for EMV) into the FOCUS system and your checks can be closed out automatically when those cards are approved. In addition, FOCUS provides for credit card transaction reporting, including a lists of processed cards, amounts and approval/declines. This reporting data can be integrated into popular accounting systems, if those system integrations are enabled in FOCUS.
Depending on your backend payment processor, FocusPayments may also allow for popular functions such as Offline Card Acceptance, Payment Reapply and Payment Adjustment just to name a few.

Q: What is the cost for FocusPayments Gateway?
A: FocusPayments Gateway is priced at $60 per store per month, plus a $0.02 per transaction fee. 

Q: Will credit card deposits still show up in my bank account as normal when using FocusPayments Gateway?
A: Absolutely. When using FocusPayments Gateway, your credit card deposits will come into your account however you have them setup with your merchant service processor.

Q: How am I charged for FocusPayments Gateway?
A: FOCUS will automatically charge you on a monthly basis on or around the 10th day of the month for the previous month's FocusPayments Gateway service. This will appear as a separate charge to your bank account/credit card from your other FOCUS charges.

Q: What happens if I cancel my FocusPayments Gateway service?
A: Since your FOCUS system relies on the FocusPayments Gateway for credit card processing, your credit card processing service may cease to work. Authorizations may be obtained, but you would be unable to settle any credit card batches, meaning that you would stop receiving credit card deposits into your bank account.

FocusPayments Acquiring

Q: What is FocusPayments Acquiring?
A: With FocusPayments Acquiring, the FOCUS system is both your credit card gateway and your backend processor. We take the guess work out of the entire credit card processing world by providing you with a one-stop-shop for everything related to your payment processing system.

Q: Are there any Gateway fees when using FocusPayments Acquiring?
A: No. When using FocusPayments Acquiring, you have zero gateway fees for in-store transactions. There may be gateway fees for eCommerce (online ordering) transactions, but that depends on how your account is set up.

Q: What are the advantages of FocusPayments Acquiring?
A: In addition to no Gateway fees, FocusPayments Acquiring gives you a streamlined source for all payment processing, our award winning 24/7/365 technical support and enhanced customer analytics information. In addition to these unique advantages, you also get all of the features provided in FocusPayments Gateway including fully POS integrated credit card acceptance, full featured reporting, Offline Payment Acceptance*, Payment Reapply* and Payment Adjust*.

Q: What is the cost for FocusPayments Acquiring?
A: FocusPayments Acquiring does not have any fixed monthly subscription fees. The cost of FocusPayments Acquiring is based on your credit card processing rates. The team at FocusPayments will analyze your current credit card processing statements, or projected credit card processing volumes and provide you with a competitive merchant service processing rate. Most FocusPayments Acquiring clients have an effective rate around 2.3%.

* - Some payment service functions & features may not be available to all accounts or to accounts processing EMV Payments due to industry regulations.