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The Hanoudi Letter
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A week after those attending the Republican National Convention the Democrats opened theirs in the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte in North Carolina, they met for three days during which they nominated President Obama for a second term, they adopted their party platform, listened to a long list of speakers which included the first lady, ex-president Clinton and on Thursday night they listened to President Obama accepting their nomination as their choice to face the Republican nominee exactly two months before the November 6 election which already looks like a very close and tight race ahead. Cheering delegates also heard plentiful criticism of Republican challenger Mitt Romney as they launched their response to last week's GOP convention, which sought to frame the November election as a referendum on Obama's presidency amid high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and mounting federal deficits and debt. Facing a tight race and Republican attacks that they have made things worse while in power, Democratic organizers responding by trying during their three-day convention to emphasize the tough decisions Obama has made so far and the additional steps needed to bolster the middle class.
The primary season for the Democrats was a much less hectic affair than that of the Republicans, there was never any doubt about their choice for a candidate to face Mitt Romney, but by a well-established tradition of American politics a sitting president can have the nod without opposition if he so desired, so on Tuesday September 4th they started their convention in Charlotte. Charlotte is one of the largest city in the U.S. The city is a major financial center; Bank of America is headquartered there. The more than 70,000 attending Democrats including the 6,000 delegates who assembled in the Time Warner Cable Arena on the first day of the convention nominated by an overwhelming vote president Obama and adopted their party's platform which was to bring chaos to the meeting the next day there was no mention of GOD and neglected to repeat their last time's commitment to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, because even before the day's end the Republican's created a storm of protest about those two omissions from their opponents platform, so on the next day they put the document for a new vote which had to be repeated three times before the article was updated and the two controversial items were corrected with the behind the scenes efforts of the president himself, but the controversy was to outshine the meeting until its end in spite of the great efforts which were spent to resolve the controversy.
During the three days the convention heard a flood of talks which derided Romney and the Republicans, accusing them of being out of touch and politically divisive at a time requiring national unity. Seeking to further strengthen Obama's advantage with women, Hispanic Americans and young voters, the Democratic speakers hailed the president for promoting health care reforms, supporting gay marriage, and ending deportations of some young illegal immigrants. There were some very interesting names amongst the speakers, one was the democratic nominee for the senate seat of Scot Brown who was able few months ago to win the seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy who died August 2009 from a brain tumor, MS Warren astounded the convention when she described the middle class now as being chipped squeezed and hammered and there was the young women's rights advocate Sandra Fluke who was attacked very harshly few months ago by Rush Limbaugh because of her position on the use of contraceptives for women but there was three star speakers, on the first night it was the first lady, on the second it was ex-president Clinton and the last one was the president himself who during his acceptance speech made a strong and a very passionate defense of his performance during his presidency.
First Lady never once mentioned Mitt Romney's name. But in her speech before the Democratic National Convention speech Monday night, she offered a dramatic contrast between her husband and his Republican opponent, insisting he understands the struggles of average Americans because he's himself lived through those tough times.
"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity no matter who he is where he is from, or what he looks like" Michelle Obama said. "He believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed."
It was a speech meant to bolster her husband's performance as president and it did, as the first lady touted the president's push for health care reform, the auto industry bailout and efforts to keep down student loan interest rates.
With tears in her eyes, she spoke of her father, a pump operator at a Chicago water plant, and how her husband was raised by a single mother and by his grandparents.
She added, "We learned about dignity and decency, that how hard you work matters more than how much you make, that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself. We learned about honesty and integrity, that the truth matters; that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules, and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square," she said. "We learned about gratitude and humility; that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean, and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect." Her husband, she said, "is thinking about folks like my dad and his grandmother" and is "thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work which offered a subtle contrast between her husband and Romney, who came from a well-off background. He just keeps "getting up and moving forward," she said. "He reminds me that we are playing a long game here, and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once," she said. "Many of us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice, and longing, and steadfast love because time and again, they swallowed their fears and doubts and did what was hard."
She finished by saying, that has been the story of the American dream, "That is what has made my story, and Barack's story, and so many other American stories possible."
On the second night it was ex-president Clinton who is frequently described as perhaps the most prominent Democrat after the president himself, in his speech he was charismatic and serious and he brought the crowds alive For years now, conventions have been carefully organized for television without any real energy or excitement, one of the reasons that so few people are watching them anymore
But Clinton turned the convention into a real conversation about policy, about politics, and about the future. His viewers might not agree with much of what he says, but his speech was still an event of the campaign. But it is not clear whether his speech will lead to a more honest way of arguing about ideas and policy. In the end Bill Clinton's speech reminded many Americans why he remains the country's most beloved and naturally talented politician, for all his faults.
On the third night it was the president. He said after almost two minutes of uninterrupted applause: "With profound gratitude and great humility I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States" and then went on acknowledging his debts to his mentors friends and colleagues and then he followed by telling the story of his own simple family whose son was able to reach the highest office in the land because of the American dream, but he also said that our country at the moment is passing through a defining moment with very serious economic hardships and war which he blamed on what he called the failed policies of George Bush, he went on to talk about his wife and the great sacrifices she suffered walking with him the long journey. The speech lasted 40 minutes and 8 seconds which he ended by saying this election is not about me it is about you, it was a very interesting talk but it is difficult to imagine to what extent is it going to influence the choice of the American people on November 6.
Najeeb Hanoudi
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Southfield, MI


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KARL LAGERFELD has hit back at US magazine Newsweek and its editor, Tina Brown, after one its journalists - Robin Givhan - described him as "overrated" in a profile piece published in January. Brown previously worked as editor-in-chief at Vanity Fair, before joining Newsweek in 2010.
"First of all, Tina Brown's magazine is not doing well at all," he said in a press conference on Friday, WWD reports. "She is dying [professionally]. I'm sorry for Tina Brown, who was such a success at Vanity Fair, to go down with a shitty little paper like this. I'm sorry."
Brown shrugged off Lagerfeld's comments, responding with a Tweet: "The Kaiser doth protest too much! 'Diet issue?' Newsweek ads up 27 percent for Q1."
Newsweek also offered an official statement, defending its recent success.
"In the past year since Tina Brown took over as editor-in-chief of Newsweek, newsstand sales have increased 30 per cent year-on-year; advertising pages have seen a 27 per cent increase for the first quarter of 2012; we have over 2.2 million people engaged in our social media communities and, perhaps the most telling indicator of the renewed vitality of Newsweek, subscription renewals - in a consistent state of decline since 2005 - rose by 3 per cent last year," a spokesperson for the publication told Stylelist.
YOU SHOULD SEE: Karl's style evolution...
YOU SHOULD SEE: Lagerfeld's wittiest quotes...

subset: commoncrawl


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Prince Charles launches youth volunteering campaign
The Prince of Wales has launched a campaign to get more young people interested in volunteering, in a bid to tackle unemployment and gang violence.
Step Up 2 Serve aims to increase those aged 10-20 involved in social projects from 29% to 50% by 2020.
The prince said he was inspired to act after meeting the parents of children who had been violently killed.
He was joined by the three main political leaders for the launch at Buckingham Palace.
'Huge challenge'
Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and opposition leader Ed Miliband joined Prince Charles - along with 50 young people - to start the #iwill pledge campaign.
The prince described the initiative as "a huge but exciting challenge" - but admitted "it may look as though we have bitten off more than we can chew".
He told 200 guests that youth organisations can help "transform lives" but said it required a "giant, unique and collaborative effort".
Earlier this week, the prince told the Mail on Sunday that listening to families who had lost children to street murders had inspired him to find "solutions to a problem which has blighted too many lives".
He said such tragedies were the "extreme result of too many young people no longer guided through a rite of passage" and believed part of the solution was in providing "more structured activities for young people".
He also praised the "bravery and courage" shown by Barry and Margaret Mizen, whose teenage son Jimmy was murdered in south-east London in 2008.
Mr and Mrs Mizen, who have been campaigning to end violence in London through the Jimmy Mizen Foundation, spoke at the launch.
"We have always said since the early days after Jimmy's death that the changes that we need to certain areas of our society will only come when we all take responsibility for our own actions," Mr Mizen said.
"There is a part for everybody to play and for everybody to be part of improving society."
Mrs Mizen added: "Today is about is not giving up on our young people."
Step Up 2 Serve will work with groups including the The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, the National Citizen Service and the Scouts.
If successful, it would create almost 90m extra hours of volunteering each year.
At the moment fewer than 30% of 10 to 20-year-olds volunteer, according to research by think tank Demos.
And figures published this week by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that a fifth of young people aged 16-24 - about one million - are currently unemployed in the UK.
'Cross-party support'
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which has pledged its support to the campaign, said that increasing involvement in social action could help tackle the issue of youth unemployment.
CBI chief policy director Katja Hall said: "Community volunteer work helps builds the skills and habits that all young people need for success in work and life - like teamwork, enthusiasm and resilience."
In 2012, a report commissioned by Mr Cameron revealed that an estimated 80,000 young people were waiting to get involved in social projects.
But it found that many were being held back because organisations like the Scouts, Girlguiding and DofE (Duke of Edinburgh's Award)needed more adult volunteers to satisfy the young people on their waiting lists.
Ahead of the launch, the prince praised the "complete cross-party, cross-sector support" that he said would "help youth organisations across the country increase opportunities to help young people get more actively involved".
Mr Cameron said that a key element of the campaign, National Citizen Service - which encourages 16 and 17-year-olds to spend a short time away from home and take part in a team project to help their community - had already been a "massive success".
"I want to see more volunteering, more philanthropy and more of the Big Society - people stepping up and taking part," he said.
Mr Clegg said that 150 companies had signed up to the Business Compact - a scheme calling on businesses to offer mentoring, work experience and internship opportunities.
He said that combining the initiative with Step Up 2 Serve would provide an "essential piece of the jigsaw" to harness young people's energy, enthusiasm and ambitions to build a better future.
"Through social action young people can see for themselves the powerful difference they can make to their own lives, and the people around them in their wider community," he added.
Mr Miliband said he wanted to see volunteering become an "accepted and central part of the experience of growing up in Britain".
"We have the chance to unlock so much potential in this country," he said.
The campaign is calling for adults across the UK to visit www.stepuptoserve.org.uk/iwill or to pledge their support on Twitter using the hashtag #iwill.


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Joint replacement claims are becoming more frequent in workers' compensation and proving compensability remains challenging. As the aging working population has expanded so has been the need for workers' compensation to pay for the cost of replacing aging joints.
Jon Gelman is investigating cases involving Paxil users who have a child who suffered birth malformations after being exposed to Paxil within any trimester of pregnancy. Paxil and Paxil CR® are antidepressants manufactured by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
Jon L. Gelman joined a distinguished to panel of attorneys to discuss employment discrimination claims. The seminar, was presented by the NJ Institute for Continuing Education, and was moderated by David H. Ben-Asher.
A vaccine has been demonstrated as safe for potential use against mesothelioma. The research, conducted by Netherlands scientists was reported in an advance publication of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care.
Alice in Wonderland has been released in the movie theaters today. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been quick to remind us of the Mad Hatter and mercury exposures.
Legal Talk Network Host and Attorney Alan S. Pierce welcomes Jon L. Gelman to discuss health care and workers' compensation and the Occupational Disease Pilot Program:
As the US flu vaccination program rolls out, the numbers are also growing for those who have reported adverse consequences from the H1N1 vaccine.
Significant progress has been made by the NJ Division of Workers' Compensation (NJ-DWC) in carrying out the legislative mandate for the newly enacted emergent medical care motion practice.
While workers' compensation was envisioned as a summary and remedial social insurance program, the challenges facing the workers' compensation system to deliver benefits as promised may be seriously burdened.
FDA requires manufacturer of Botox® to post warning on its product of potential adverse reactions.
This seminar will provide practitioners with new strategies and techniques to handle workers' compensation cases in the changing economy.This fast-paced program features a panel of some of the most respected New Jersey Workers' Compensation Judges and attorneys, who will review and provide insight on the top issues and cases that have emerged during the past year.
On July 10, 2009, Medtronic, Inc., announced a defect in the Paradigm® Quick-Set® Infusion Sets. The company identified a potentially high rate of failure of the system to function properly and deliver medication to the patient in an accurate manner through the pump.
In July 2008, the FDA announced a mandatory black box warning label for fluoroquinolone drugs that highlights and strengthens the warning for increased risk of tendonitis and tendon rupture
Jon L. Gelman LLC is investigating cases involving individuals who have suffered the loss of taste and smell (anosmia) after using Zicam®. Zicam® is an over-the-counter nasal spray used to relieve the symptoms associated with the common cold and flu and is manufactured by Matrixx Initiatives. Matrixx manufactures a range of products under the Zicam® name, but the name Zicam® is generally used to refer to its over-the-counter nasal zinc solution spray.
The spread of influenza A has now reached pandemic proportions. The focus has now been directed to creating a vaccine to halt the rapid community spread. The next challenge to workers' compensation systems may be claims resulting from adverse reactions to employer sponsored vaccination programs.
The St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc. announced that it has executed an agreement resolving substantially all common law asbestos-related direct actions pending against its Travelers Property Casualty Corp. subsidiaries ("Travelers"). These actions allege, among other things, a general, non-statutory duty to disclose to the public the hazards of asbestos. The settlement, if it receives court approval, would also bar similar future direct actions against Travelers.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has again reported higher death dates for Hispanic workers in the United States. Hispanic workers are one of the fastest growing segments in the US workforce and their death rate has been reported as consistently high.
PPG Industries (Pittsburg Corning Corp.) and its insurers plan to pay out millions of dollars to victims of asbestos disease. In a bankruptcy reorganization plan filed with the Court for its approval, it was announced that PPG intended to pay out $825 Million in cash over the next 15 years.
An employee who is laid-off may also collect workers' compensation benefits. Because the economy that is doing poorly that doesn't necessarily mean that an injured ordisabled worker is excluded from other benefits.
We are investigating cases in which Raptiva® users have experienced neurological changes including unusual weakness, loss of coordination and changes in vision.
On April 8, 2009, the drug manufacturer Genentech announced a phased withdrawal of the psoriasis drug Raptiva® (efalizumab) from the U.S. market.


text: Hearty Lives Glasgow and Inverclyde Childhood obesity in Scotland is a big social issue. Obese children are more likely to be obese adults, increasing their risk of conditions like heart disease and stroke later in life. Hearty Lives North West Glasgow and Hearty Lives Inverclyde are both £100,000 partnerships with Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board to help young people aged 16-18 manage their weight and improve their lifestyle. Aims The projects will set-up a weight management programme for young people aged 16-18 to support them manage their weight and improve their health by: Providing weight management support for at least 80 young people aged 16-18 during the first three years of the project Working with existing voluntary organisations and youth projects to maximize engagement with young people and develop longer term participation in physical activity and healthy eating activities Embedding the weight management programme into the range of weight management services provided by Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board. More info For more information about Hearty Lives Glasgow & Inverclyde please contact Area Development Manager Richard Forsyth on [email protected].


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Laser Optics Matter
The Master "Laser optical material" (LOM) addresses the major areas of optics, light-matter interaction and properties of matter (atoms, molecules, solids, plasmas). It focuses on the aspects of nonlinear physics (lasers, nonlinear electromagnetism) and the quantum properties of matter interacting with light. The programme addresses both fundamental, theoretical and experimental aspects, and applications. The programme is constructed on a common core (from September to December) to allow students to take elective courses and a second period(period Jan-February based on) more specific courses in major areas such as ultra-intense lasers and X-ray sources, nanophotonics and optoelectronics, atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics, biophysics, imaging ... the second semester is devoted to an internship with a minimum duration of 4 months.
Job openings
Students are mainly expected to carry on with a PhD (about 75% of the students). The other job openings are in Research and Development (R & D),
Year 1:
- Track Physics for optics and nanosciences (PON)
Prerequisite: open to the best national and international students with a bachelor, licence (L3), or Engineer students completing their training in the field physics.
Language: English
Location : Palaiseau
- Track Irène Joliot Curie – École polytechnique
Prerequisite: open to the best national and international students with a bachelor, licence (L3), or Engineer students completing their training in the field physics or equivalent with a high preparation in quantum physics or statistical physics
Language: French
Location : Palaiseau
Application timeline
Session 1 : January 8th until February 15th, 2016
Session 2 : March 15th until May 15th, 2016
Admissions may be accorded for late applications received after the deadline of the 2nd session. In every case, you will receive an answer by the 15th of July 2016, at the latest.
Contact for application in year 1
Year 2
Prerequisite: high level Graduate students (1st year or equivalent) in Physics or equivalent in the field of optic or nanosciences.
Language : English
Location: Palaiseau, Orsay, Paris
Validation rules: The Master Diploma is delivered on validation of 120 ECTS (60 ECTS in 1st year and 60 ECTS in 2nd year)
Costs: registration fees (256€ in 2015-16) + social security affiliation (213€ in 2015-16)
How to apply
Master's website
Scholarships program:
Paris-Saclay Scholarships for international Master students arriving in France (10k€)
Cooperators :


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I live near Geneva in Switzerland, and speak English (mother tongue) and French. I enjoy talking at conferences and meetups.
|Microsoft's Xamarin is open-source, cross-platform, a joy to use.
|MCE Conference, Warsaw, Poland
|Jun 2018
|iOS and Android and C# and Xamarin These are a few of my favorite things
|App Builders, Lausanne, Switzerland
|Apr 2017
|Building cross-platform native apps with Xamarin
|.NET Users Group Geneva
|Sep 2016
|When buzzwords collide:
Combining Wearables and Virtual Reality on Android
|App Builders, Zurich, Switzerland
|Apr 2016
|Wearables- What Worked? Where are we now? What's next?
|Mobicamp, Bern, Switzerland
|Nov 2015
|What is it like to build for Wearable devices?
|Soft-shake, Geneva, Switzerland
|Oct 2014
|Evernote and Wearables: A Perfect Match
|Evernote Conference, San Francisco
|Sep 2014
|Extending your app to your wrist: lessons from the front
|Droidcon, Paris
|Sep 2014
|Under the covers of a successful wearable app
|33rd Degree Conference, Krakow, Poland
|Jun 2014
|Keynote panel on wearables
|Open Mobile Summit, London
|May 2014
|Evernote and Wearable devices – what have we done, what could we do?
|Mobile Central Europe, Poland
|Jan 2014
|Constraints foster creativity: Pebble watch app development
|Softshake, Geneva
|Oct 2013
|Hacking with the Evernote API for fun and profit
|Reaktor, Helsinki
|Oct 2013
|Keynote on Evernote (blog post)
|by:Larm Tech, Oslo
|Feb 2013
|Evernote: Where has it come from? Where is it going? Can I build on its success?
|Geneva Tech Meetup, Geneva
|Oct 2012
|Building Awesome Apps with Evernote
|Le Web 2011, Paris
|Dec 2011
|Developing the Evernote Windows Phone Client
|Evernote Trunk Conference, San Fransisco
|Aug 2011
|Enhance Your Web Applications by Using and Building ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders
|.NET Users Group, Geneva
|Feb 2007
|Enhance Your Web Applications by Using and Building ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders
|.NET Users Group, Zurich
|Dec 2006
|Microsoft "Speaker Idol" finalist
|TechEd Barcelona
|Nov 2006
|J2EE Interoperability through pure Java .NET Remoting
|Microsoft Architect's Roundtable, San Fransisco
|Dec 2003
|J2EE to .NET Remoting
|Microsoft J2EE Interoperability Boot Camp, Seattle
|Nov 2002
|Embedded Java Access to COM-Based Enterprise Systems
|Embedded Systems Conference, Stuttgart
|Oct 2001
|Using J-Integra with AppServer to Integrate COM-CORBA-EJB Applications
|12th Annual Inprise/Borland Conference
|Jul 2001
|Using J-Integra with Inprise AppServer to Integrate COM/CORBA/EJB Apps
|11th Annual Inprise/Borland Conference
|Jul 2000
|Using J-Integra with JBuilder to Integrate COM/Java Applications
|11th Annual Inprise/Borland Conference
|Jul 2000
|Advanced WWW Development and Integration (4 day course created and delivered by myself)
|30-40 times, world-wide.
|Introduction to Java (2 day course created and delivered by myself)
|20-30 times, world-wide.


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Krispy Kreme Factory Tour, The Fort, Manila
For playgroup we toured the Krispy Kreme Factory in The Fort. Having friends who also like to explore and are planners is a win win! They were very accommodating for our two groups of small children and their parent. The tour itself is max 25-30 minutes. You get to see the equipment and then decorate a donut. The children each get a hat, take home a box with 3 donuts and a cute certificate. It was 150php per child. I highly recommend this activity as the price is very affordable, location is easy and the duration is perfect for small children. While we were waiting for our tour we played at the grounds on High Street. We lived in The Fort pre-kids and now it is fun to see our old stomping grounds turned into playgrounds. My middle son waiting for his Krispy Kreme official cap. The tower of donut caddies found all over. I was having a heart attack trying to keep little hands from touching all these donuts. The frying bed and conveyer belt. We saw more machinery such as the frosting machine and donut shaping/cut out. All gloved up and ready to decorate a donut!The frosting bowl. The chocolate frosting was surprisingly more thick than I had suspected. Your donut could lay on top and spin around. Yummy! A giant bowl of sprinkles where the chocolate donut will take a bath.Voila! Finished product. The largest whisk I have ever seen! I couldn't get over it. Naturally, I had to take a dorky photo with it.
Things to know:


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Here's a great article on focusing our energies on our children while they are young. If we are mothers, God has called us to care for our young children and to raise them for Him. If your children are young, now is the time to minister to them.
1 thought on "Stay On Mission"
I loved this article. My "season" has moved now from active mothering to active grand-mothering as I care for two of them three full days a week. Maybe it's because now I'm in a real position to know how "soon" our own children grow up and leave the nest but I feel the same urgency to "stay on mission" with the grands in the things that really matter. Another "season" that I juggle at the same time is helping my legally blind and widowed mom, who is in her 80's. This season will also pass and I need to stay on mission. I'm posting the link to the article on FB…thanks!


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Tatjana Farkas
Wire Sculpture 1
Sold Out
Introducing our limited selection of artwork from an international artist! An abstract portrait of a woman hand-formed using wire. This beautiful delicate wire sculpture adds a distinctive modern accent to your home or studio.
- Material: Powder coated metal.
- Size: Approx. 13.75" H x 9 " W measured at widest
- Color: Black Wire
- One-of-a-kind artwork.
Tatjana Farkas is an artist living in Budapest, Hungary and has created a limited one-of-a-kind series of wire sculptures for our shop. She creates beautiful abstract wire sculptures showcasing the female form and faces.


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When you think of refreshing your furniture with fabric upholstery, you most likely think of chairs, couches, or vintage furniture. But have you ever considered your options beyond that? There are a number of ways to personalize and update almost anything to create a fresh, unique look that's suited to you.
Choosing fabric and upholstery will not only refresh the look and comfort of your older or second-hand items, but is a great way to personalize almost anything! Think beyond couches and chairs for a fresh take on upholstery.


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College students sew sleeping bags for the needy
Students at Keystone College in Pennsylvania spent a day learning to sew -- and then making sleeping bags to donate to those in need.
It was perfect timing for the charity project as the area has been dealing with snow and cold temperatures.
The students made nearly 20 sleeping bags from recycled fabrics, which were delivered to homeless shelters.


text: The weather's just been so grotty and grey and depressing lately, I've been craving some colour. I had a flash of inspiration to use wallpaper as a backdrop for photos - it comes in a big roll, so there's plenty of length - and it rolls away neatly when you're finished. So a trip to B&Q later - voila! More to come too - haven't cracked open all the rolls yet :)


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Graduate Career in Accountancy at DTE:
Businesses of all sizes rely on the skill and expertise of accountants. At DTE we strive to ensure that our clients receive the best possible advice and support.
We have a diverse client portfolio and you will be involved in various types of work, including:
- Company Audits, Charity Audits and Pension Scheme Audits
- Accounts Preparation, both for unincorporated and incorporated entities
- Corporation tax computations
- Preparation of management accounts
There is also scope for you to work within our Corporate Finance team and be involved inother ad hoc assignments.
We believe that our work based training methods produce well rounded accountants with a knowledge and understanding of key financial matters affecting businesses in the UK. You will study with our external training provider. Attendance at college is under a fully funded block release scheme.
Successful candidates will enter into a challenging and rewarding career at DTE and will gain the opportunities and experience to reach their ultimate goals in the accountancy profession.
- Area of vacancies: Audit and Accounts department - Trainee
- Number of vacancies: 2
- Area: North West - Bury Office
- Minimum UCAS tariff: 280
- Accept work permit: No
Applicants should have a minimum of five GCSE's at grades A* - C (including at least a grade B in Maths and English Language) or equivalent. Plus at least 280 UCAS points(excluding General Studies) from the top 3 grades and a minimum of a 2.1 expected or obtained degree.
A competency with numbers and an ability to problem solve are key attributes.
The successful applicants will, however, demonstrate more than just academic success,we arelooking for enthusiastic individuals with excellent communication skills and a desire to succeed.
As part of the audit team, travel to clients' premises is required and as such, the ideal candidate will hold a valid UK Driving Licence.
If you are interested in applying for a position, please email your CV and cover letter to email@example.com.
As the first step in our selection process, we will be holding an assessment day in March 2019 (attendance will be via invitation only). This will be followed by a face-to-face interview.
Company Profile:
DTE is a leading independent firm of chartered accountants and tax advisers in Manchester and North West England.
Offering a range of services including auditing, accounting and tax advice to a diverse range of clients, we are a forward-thinking company who can help clients realise thefull potential of their business.
With 2 offices situated in the heart of Bury and Manchester, we have over 80 years' experience aiding a variety of businesses. Our expertise extends to working with owner-managed businesses, small to medium sized companies, business start-ups, and UK subsidiaries of large international groups.
All of our advisers are commercially minded and can help clients to effectively work towards their long term goals.
Application deadline: 28 February 2019
Vacancy start: September 2019 (potentially earlier, subject to mutual agreement)


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Through consulting, representation, management and production, BRENDING supports artists and cultural organisations in projects that are artisticly correct and financially viable.
BRENDING quantifies and qualifies the value of creativity, building bridges between the arts, media, politics and business - with an emphasis on a marketing model which we call A2B2C (Arts to Business to Consumer)
I'm a Belgian, born in Britain who studied in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and France. It's easier just to say that I am European.
As a musician I felt the urge to do more than just play the cello. I wanted to be part of a cultural revolution, to find new ways of linking music to the world. It was a great surprise to have been accepted for an MSc in International Management at ESCP Europe (ranked 1st worldwide by FT), which was a major step towards finding new ways of doing business with, and in the creative industry. I consciously gathered professional experience in marketing, finance, sales, operations, HR and consulting so that I could then link it back to the cultural sector.
It is my passion to help the cultural industry survive and grow in today's global economy. With BRENDING that's exactly what I'm going to do!


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Food & Drink
Serve your guests the finest delights from our splendid menus and proprietary cocktails.Explore
Watch the afternoon sun trace its path across the Victorian Courtyard, your own secluded haven in the heart of the city. Revel late into the night, and be waited on hand and foot with a host of delicacies and delights. Our Master Planners work tirelessly for weeks before your big day to ensure that every detail is perfect. Victorian Bath House is as unique as you are, so our expert planners will create the perfect package based on your individual requirements, to make your big day as special as possible.
You will be provided with and be contacted by your own dedicated contact as well have access to our expert wedding team. The sky is the limit, tell us your wildest dreams – we can make them come true.
We will provide you with a bespoke and personalised quote based upon the discussions you have had with our weddings team.
You will be given a tour of the venue, discuss further about your requirements and how the space can work for you, and be introduced to the people who will be with you on every step leading up to your special day.
Once the contract is signed, the fun begins! Start planning with your team of caterers, a Chief Booze Engineer and AV & Production team, and see your dream wedding become a reality.
Serve your guests the finest delights from our splendid menus and proprietary cocktails.Explore
We had the most amazing day and I can't thank you all enough for the fantastic service and food.


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Defender of Texel: an accidental new game addiction/
So I play this game called Pocket Frogs, in which players collect and breed various color-combinations of frogs. It's a Mobage game -- Mobage makes freemium app games for iOS and Android. There's a pretty good play/cost balance, where you can get a lot out of the game without ever spending any money, but I really want to baby-proof another one of my habitats (you start with one nursery) so that I can breed more frogs at once. That costs 499 MobaCoin, or $4.97.[1. I would have some more MobaCoin left over after that transaction, but since they're sold in batch increments, that's the smallest amount of money I could pay to get a sufficient quantity of MobaCoin.] Instead of paying that, I'm just taking their pop-up offers, to download and start playing various other Mobage games in exchange for MobaCoins. I'm up to 175 through these promotions, and I've started spending a lot more time playing one of the games, Defender of Texel (D.O.T.)
In D.O.T., players control a three-by-three grid of fighters, with which they explore linear dungeons full of random encounters. Players have a high degree of control over the arrangement of their fighters, and reasonable control over their stats -- and during combat, choose the order of attacks, by drawing three tic-tac-toe style lines across the grid, forming three self-managing waves of attack against the enemy lineup.
There's also a semi-complicated system of evolution, to improve fighters, but I won't get into that. The point is, Mobage's business model appears to be successful. They have now enticed me into regularly playing two of their games, to the point where there's stuff I meant to have done by now today, that I haven't started on. Like getting dressed.


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Saxlund International GmbH, a subsidiary of Opcon, the energy and environmental technology Group, has been awarded the exterior material handling contract for the bioenergy power plant being built by Viessmann for Prolignis Energie Consulting GmbH Co.KG, Ingolstadt, Germany. The biomass-fueled power plant will produce electricity and steam to be used in sterilising of medical equipment manufactured by B.Braun in Melsungen.
The scope includes the delivery of Saxlund's solid and well-tested floor discharger systems, chain-, belt-, vibro- and ash conveyors as well as separation systems. Saxlund's customer is HKB Ketelbouw B.V. – a subsidiary of the Viessmann Group, one of the leading international manufacturers of heating technology. Installation is expected to start in January 2014. Total order value amounts to about 7,5 m SEK.
"I am happy to see that the environmentally friendly biomass power production concept is starting to take root in more parts of industry. With the German "Energiewende", we expect biomass to grow in order to increase the renewable element in Germany's power production. Saxlund has around 60 years of experience mainly in biomass, recycling and treatment of wastewater. With extensive operations in Germany, the UK and Sweden, we can offer innovative and well-tested solutions within most applications and we know that we can be instrumental in ensuring high availability and efficiency for our customers", says Christoph Groffmann, Managing Director of Saxlund International GmbH.
Saxlund and SRE are leading bioenergy brands and a part of Opcon's Renewable Energy business area and its Waste To Value initiative with a special focus on Waste Heat Recovery and bioenergy. Within the bioenergy sector, Opcon offers everything from the design of complete combined heat and power (CHP) plants to handling systems and incineration plants under the Saxlund brand. Under the SRE brand, systems are supplied for treatment and improved energy efficiency for bioenergy-powered district heating plants, sawmills, pellets producers and commercial greenhouses. The offer also includes flue gas condensation equipment for industrial activities. The Opcon Group also supplies Opcon Powerbox for production of green electricity produced from hot water or wet steam.


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Welcome to Happy Kampot Pizza & Guesthouse
Households are very hectic nowadays and also going in many directions. Occasionally it is just also time taking in to take pleasure in making dinner. A good alternative is to buy pizza and have it delivered. You could call it in or in some instances also purchase your pizza online. A lot of will enable you to pay with a credit rating or debit card when you position the order too. This is extremely hassle-free due to the fact that not everybody has cash on hand to pay for the pizza when it appears. This is a great means to get more achieved throughout that structure of time you would certainly or else be making supper then cleaning it up.
They will certainly provide your hot and also fresh pizza to your doorway. They have actually insulated bags that hold the heat in. Of course throughout optimal dinner hrs you several need to wait a while to obtain your pizza. During football season Sunday afternoons frequently have a longer delay also. This is due to the fact that nobody wants to miss the game to prepare or to go pick up the pizza.
The majority of pizza dining establishments have a particular span when it comes to where they will certainly deliver. If you live exterior of that location they might not deliver in any way or they could decide to demand you a cost. In some instances you have to get a certain dollar amount before they can validate the distribution of the food to you.
For some people, supplying pizza is a fantastic work. You will certainly need your very own vehicle, evidence of a vehicle driver's license, as well as proof of insurance coverage. They usually get paid a hourly wage, mileage, and after that pointers from consumers when they deliver the pizza. Numerous youths locate this to obtain a wonderful initial job too.


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Never Overpay for Credit Card Processing Again
Did you know that a Merchant Account contract is one of the most important documents you can sign for your business? Why? Because a bad processor can literally take you out of business. Predatory fees can destroy your profit margins and switching providers can cost you thousands of dollars in cancellation penalties. Many of this industry's practices are unethical but legally enforceable (for now). You don't have to be another victim.
In this guide you will learn how to:
- Avoid getting scammed by deceptive processors and agents.
- Eliminate hidden and junk fees.
- Pick a great provider.
- Negotiate the lowest possible pricing to achieve huge savings.
Get "Fee Sweep" now for free when you join our free Industry Updates Newsletter. Offer ends soon!
How it works
- Enter your information in the fields below or click here to fill out the newsletter request form.
- We will send you an email to confirm your subscription.
- Once you have confirmed your subscription, you will receive an email containing a download link for your free copy of "Fee Sweep."
*You must use your real email address to receive the discount. Please allow up to an hour for each email. Be sure to check your spam folders for delays longer than one hour.
Did You Know:
- Accepting card payments is now the second highest operating cost for most small businesses in the U.S.?
- A merchant account contract is one of the most important documents you will sign for your business?
- Merchant account fee quotes are almost never a true representation of the actual rates and fees you will experience? The quotes are basically lies by omission because they leave out the "hidden fees."
- Most merchant account providers sell the exact same service as their competitors? There is no reason to pay a premium price for credit card processing services unless you are getting something for it. "Fee Sweep" will tell how to get a fair deal.
- Most credit card processors bury fees in difficult to read contracts to get you to sign up quickly? Find out which ones so that you don't get burned too.
- You can get the same low rates normally "reserved" for multi-million dollar companies? This secret rate tier can save you thousands in fees, but you have to know how to get it.
- A merchant account contract can actually work in your favor? Only if you know what to demand during negotiation.
Protect Yourself Today!
Get "Fee Sweep" now for free when you join our free Industry Updates Newsletter. Offer ends soon!
How it works
- Enter your information in the fields below or click here to fill out the newsletter request form.
- We will send you an email to confirm your subscription.
- Once you have confirmed your subscription, you will receive an email containing a download link for your free copy of "Fee Sweep."
*You must use your real email address to receive the discount. Please allow up to an hour for each email. Be sure to check your spam folders for delays longer than one hour.
About the Author
My name is Phillip Parker and I sold merchant accounts and credit card processing services as an Independent Sales Agent (ISA) for nearly a decade. As an independent agent, I could sell the services of any provider with which I had commission agreements. I will leave out the names of the companies to avoid implying accidental bias, but I sold the credit card processing services of both small Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) and large direct processors.
Upon entering this industry, it did not take long before I began hearing stories from business owners about the poor treatment they had received from previous credit card processing companies. Not only had many experienced bad customer service, but most had also lost thousands of dollars in excessive fees. During my time as an agent, I saw hundreds of merchant account statements from different credit card processors and the common theme among them was that most business owners were grossly overpaying for credit card processing services. Many were desperate to switch providers but were faced with paying outrageous "early termination" fees if they cancelled before their contracts expired, and this is still the case for the majority of card accepting businesses today.
Most business owners are completely unaware of how credit card processing rates and fees are calculated and assessed. New business owners often get the worst deals because they are oblivious to the risks associated with credit card processing. Even seasoned merchants are often clueless on how to get a good deal and often wonder how their current provider is just as expensive as their last, even though their new processor quoted lower rates and fees.
I left the merchant services industry to pursue an opportunity in a different field but felt compelled to write this ebook to help guide merchants through the credit card processing minefield. In the following pages you will gain knowledge that can literally save you thousands of dollars in fees. "Part 1" will give you the knowledge needed to get the lowest rates and fees possible, "Part 2" will tell you how to pick a provider, and "Part 3" will give you a step-by-step guide for setting up your merchant account. Included on the last page of this guide is a cost comparison worksheet to help you keep track of the rates, fees, and final costs of each processor that provides you a quote. I have also included my email at the end of this guide and welcome any feedback or testimonials that you may have. Now continue on and prepare to save!
It's Your Money…
If you process over $10,000 a month in credit card sales, I can promise that the contents of this guide will save you thousands of dollars in merchant account fees in as little as 12 months. I'm so confident in this statement that I'm offering a 60 day, no questions asked, 100% money back guarantee for the cost of Fee Sweep. If you process less than $10,000 a month, this guide will still save you thousands over the life of your business.
"He took a complicated and confusing subject and made it entertaining, easy to understand and extremely informative."
-Deb Johnson
Download Your Copy Now!
Get "Fee Sweep" now for free when you join our free Industry Updates Newsletter. Offer ends soon!
How it works
- Enter your information in the fields below or click here to fill out the newsletter request form.
- We will send you an email to confirm your subscription.
- Once you have confirmed your subscription, you will receive an email containing a download link for your free copy of "Fee Sweep."
*You must use your real email address to receive the discount. Please allow up to an hour for each email. Be sure to check your spam folders for delays longer than one hour.
Read a Sample from "Fee Sweep"
If you are having a hard time believing that Fee Sweep can save you such a large amount in fees, then have a free look at the first few pages:
Introduction to Merchant Services
What You Need to Know
This section is largely informational, but absolutely essential if you wish to avoid getting "scammed" into a costly multi-year contract.
"Pitfall" Isn't Just an Atari Game
The credit card processing industry is complicated, confusing and unfortunately attracts a lot of unethical sales organizations and agents. There is very little regulation on what providers and agents must disclose to business owners during the merchant account setup process. There is even less regulation on how providers must quote rates and fees to business owners, which is the reason this industry is notorious for being known as having "hidden fees."
Due to this lack of regulation there is almost no uniformity in how different providers structure their rates and fees. It is almost impossible to truly compare the costs between different providers because the quotes that merchants receive are almost never "apples-to-apples" comparisons. Nearly all providers purposely do not disclose every single fee that business owners will experience during the signup process, except for in a difficult to understand contract that is left up to the business owner to interpret. All too often business owners end up experiencing a transaction fee that is almost twice what the agent quoted. Upon attempting to cancel a merchant account, too many business owners learn about a three to five year contract with a $250 to $1,000+ early cancellation penalty that was never mentioned during the signup process. As you can imagine, there are a lot of business owners embittered about the credit card processing industry.
Sadly, many unethical sales organizations and agents that take advantage of naïve business owners by duping them into expensive, long-term contracts. It's even more common for rookie sales agents to inadvertently sign up business owners for outrageously expensive contracts because they had no more knowledge about what was in the contract than the business owner did.
The following pages of this guide will arm you with the knowledge you will need in your merchant account search. The information provided in this section puts the power on the business owner's side and strips away the potential of getting "scammed" into an overpriced merchant account with a long-term service agreement. To make it an easy read, I have included only the details that will matter to business owners. This is meant to be a simple "how-to" guide, not a textbook on the credit card processing industry.
The $100 Dilemma
Merchant account quotes often look like this: "Only 1.5% + $0.15/per transaction" or "2% + $0.25 per transaction for e-commerce"
Here are some examples found during a quick Google search:
(Advertisement Examples)
The problem with these types of rate quotes is that they only reveal the lowest of several possible transaction fee rates, which makes them the root of the "hidden fee" problem of this industry. Before we dive into the rest of the possible fee rates, we need to understand who is getting paid by these fees.
First, we need to define a couple merchant account terms: A transaction rate usually comes in two parts, the "Discount Rate" and the "Transaction Fee." For example; in a quote of 1.5% + $0.15 per transaction, the 1.5% part is the "Discount Rate" (think of it as the percentage being discounted from the money you will get from the sale) and the $0.15 part is the "transaction fee" (a flat fee per sale). To illustrate who is getting paid the fees from the transaction rate, let us pretend that we are examining two separate $100 credit card transactions by the same customer at two different businesses: Bob's Jewelry Shop and Jane's Jewelry Store.
Jane got a great deal with her merchant account because she read this guide. For simplicity, we're going to say that her $100 sale cost a total transaction rate of 2% for the transaction (combining the discount rate and transaction fee together) and the customer used a Citi Bank VISA credit card. For this sale Jane will get $98 and the remaining $2 will get split three ways:
- $1.75 will go to bank that issued Jane's customer's credit card, Citi Bank in this example.
- This portion of the fee is called an "Interchange" fee and it varies in cost depending on the credit card that is being transacted
- $0.18 will go to VISA
- This portion of the fee is call a "Dues & Assessment" fee and is fixed at 0.0925% for all VISA transactions.
- MasterCard's Dues & Assessment fee is fixed at 0.0950%
- The remaining $0.07 will go to Jane's merchant account provider as a provider markup, or margin
Jane's $2 Transaction Fee Breakdown
As for the $100 sale at Bob's Jewelry Store, unfortunately, Bob did not read this guide and got what most merchants get: an expensive merchant account with no added value over Jane's. In other words, Bob pays a lot more for the exact same service that Jane gets. The $100 transaction will cost Bob 3.5% of the sale, a full 1.5% higher than Jane's fee. How could this be?
The answer is quite simple; Bob's merchant account provider is rolling in Bob's money. Not only that, Bob's merchant account provider uses commission-only sales people who also get a piece of the transaction rate. The higher the rate they get Bob to agree to, the more they get paid. Of course, Bob is unaware of all of this. Bob's rate breakdown looks similar to Jane's, but with a couple major differences
- $1.75 Interchange Fee
- $0.18 Dues & Assessment Fee
- The remaining $1.57 will go to Bob's merchant account provider as a built in margin
Bob's $3.50 Transaction Fee Breakdown
It doesn't take an Economist to see that almost 50% of Bob's $3.50 fee is going to a markup by the merchant account provider. In contrast, only about 6% of Jane's fee is going towards a provider markup. Interestingly enough, the provider markup is the only portion of the rate that can be negotiated by the business owner and the merchant account provider. The Interchange fee and the Dues & Assessment fees are outside of the merchant account provider's control. Multiply the difference Bob and Jane's rate for several years, and Bob will be paying thousands of dollars more in fees than Jane. Simply put, Bob is getting screwed.
So how does a merchant avoid getting screwed? It's not as simple as just asking for a lower provider markup. To answer this we need to understand which fees merchant account providers are leaving out in their rate quotes.
You just read the first six pages of this 26 page guide. The rest of the of Fee Sweep will teach exactly what you need to know about rates and fees, and how to get the best services at the lowest costs. Not only that, included on the last page is the "Merchant Account Cost Estimations Worksheet" which you can use to keep track of how much each provider will cost as you are making your comparisons.
Again, do not sign a merchant account agreement without reading "Fee Sweep" first. It's guaranteed save you a huge amount in fees. If it doesn't, the cost of Fee Sweep is refundable for up to 60 days – no questions asked. There is no risk and you have nothing to lose! Download "Fee Sweep" now!
What are you waiting for?
Get "Fee Sweep" now for free when you join our free Industry Updates Newsletter. Offer ends soon!
How it works
- Enter your information in the fields below or click here to fill out the newsletter request form.
- We will send you an email to confirm your subscription.
- Once you have confirmed your subscription, you will receive an email containing a download link for your free copy of "Fee Sweep."
*You must use your real email address to receive the discount. Please allow up to an hour for each email. Be sure to check your spam folders for delays longer than one hour.
92 Reviews Leave Your Review Below
Does your e-book address PCI compliance fees? About 2 years ago we switched from B of A merchant services to Vantiv, because our bank suggested the change, and we have been very happy with the reduced rates we've been paying. They recently changed their PCI compliance fee from $7.50/month to $19.95/month, so we are now considering a switch to another merchant services provider.
I'm just wondering if your book addresses this issue, although I may purchase it anyway, since we are considering another provider move.
I had a big problem with PayPal, was signed up since 2001, all of sudden they closed our account. They said we had too many refunds. There was no one to resolve the issue just spoke to low level clerks. We were doing about 20K a month. also lost our ebay account. What is aggravation is the loss of biz because we no longer offer PayPal, I think we lost 20% of orders. We continue to use Authorize.net & our bank. With great success.
One other point is how do we really understand how to read our credit card costs in the multi page billing statement?
It combines our online ans retail store transactions about $150,000 a month.
Our company uses Global Payments "Global Transport Virtual Terminal" for transactions. I'm about to call our sales rep for fee descriptions which are not available when I log into their VT. Are these types of services covered in your "FEE SWEEP" eBook?
Hello Phillip,
I am an accountant who reconciles Sales, thus credit card processing fees, for clients In NYC as a part of NY State Sales Tax filings.
I have a couple clients who complain about their agents, especially from EMPS – Express Merchants Processing Solutions and FirstData. I decided to look into the practices of the card processing industry and bought your Fees Swap E-book. Gush, I leaned so much!Thank you. I figured that I could expend my services and become an ISA. Would you give me a hint how to chose an ISO that I would want to develop longer term relationship? Many thanks!!
thanks for this
Hi Phillip,
This is a great post. I deal specifically with high risk solutions. Some legit businesses like e-cigs and cbd oil cant get with a low risk solutions because major banks won't take and the underwriters deny. In these cases, rate is much higher usually 5.5-20% depending on the type of business and the merchants trust rating (CB ratio, history etc..). It is important to negotiate rate in these cases but also important to look at other factors especially when dealing with the offshore merchant solutions. Things to look for are the approval ratio as some offshore banks can have as low as 50% approvals for cards. The other thing to look for is trust rating of the PSP as there are a lot of scams and reports of people frauding innocent merchant. Unfortunately, this is what the high risk banking industry has become and more and more industries are becoming high risk. Two examples are tech support and debt consolidation. Most of these types of businesses are considered high risk just because of the service they are offering. This is why it is important to work with an agent who has vast experience and knows the ins and outs of the high risk banking industry
I work in an industry that has several CC processing providers that claim us as a specialty group. One of the most popular, called Guardian Financial is a reseller, which uses Total Merchant Services, which uses Authorize.net, which uses Global Payments. And Wells Fargo is the Member bank. I have two questions here: One is that I don't see a review for Guardian Financial Services; and Two, that I have no idea who to trust in this enormous chain of folks who carry the CC information from me to the CC companies. I just want a company that takes the transaction and processes it through the CC companies. I don't need to be paying a lot of middle men to take a slice of the pie before the money gets to me.
So who did you finally choose? I feel as though I am in that same boat and the merchant world is a whole different language!
Hi Phillip,
Since you were so helpful with your fee sweep document for me as a start up back in 2012, I have come back to ask another questions. My business is in the financial services sector. I use Authorize to process my e-commerce transaction. Due to my industry, they indicated that they would not allow us to sign up for billing or recurring billing using their E-Check module.
Do you have any experience or recommendation specific to E-Check / ACH processors and the financial service sector? If so can you provide feedback?
Please let me know.
Hello Sir,
We are in a bit of a different situation from most people here. Our business has been online since 2004 and with the same "merchant provider" for all that time. We have grown it into a $1million+ per year business. However a few years ago the company we used for CC processing was bought out by someone else. Since then the services has gone down hill very fast. Our own testing has shown massive problems being able to support their clients. We do not get our phone calls returned (instantly go to voice mail), our emails are ignored and the service has dropped badly. (it seems their network/gateway (private) can't keep up.) So we are looking for a new processor. The problem we are running into is the current process will not provide statements. All the new companies have insisted on statements. But we only get transaction reports. We have tax returns, we have financial statements, we have a chargeback rate of .05%, we have 5 years of 1099Ks and still all the companies have refused to accept our business because we don't have "statements."
All the new companies have said "it's the law, they have to provide statements" but no one can provide the citation for that law and the current company has 100% refused to provide them.
Do you know if there is a legal requirement for a merchant account provider to provide the statement?
Do you know of any merchant provider that will accept our business without "statements?"
Thank you.
Is it really necessary to pay for card compromise assistance plan for a small business where I the owner process through web filing. It seems pretty expensive at 34.95 a month . I have never knowingly paid for this in the last 15 years of processing with other companys. The survey form through Trustwave "funny name " is opting out customers for TSYS processing if you can pass a ridiculous survey regarding our networks & firewalls. I honestly do not think we are at a high risk . Please advise. What is the cost of your monthly newsletter?
We were needing to change merchant service companies recently and after reading Fee Sweep we were so much better off. All the people we dealt with could tell we knew what we were talking about concerning all the fees and rates. The ratings of all the various companies that we read helped a lot in narrowing down the choices. I think we got a great deal with the new company that we signed with. We are getting a great rate and no early termination fee. Thanks so much for all the helpful information.
Hi, Phillip
Thanks so much for the information regarding merchant accounts. I was completely in the dark about acquiring a provider for services to run my fairly new business. With several of my colleagues raving about what a great concept the smartphone apps are, I wanted to delve into this for my business. After reading Fee Sweep, I am implored to educate my friends and business owners that they need to renegotiate their current merchant accounts. Thanks again for the great information.
Joe McVay, FinishLine Construction Services, Inc.
thank you
it did help me
amazing guide!!
Consumers Be Ware. In my experience, the worst company that engages is "bait and switch" tactics and predatory contracts with hidden fees is the Merchant Services arm of Wells Fargo Bank. Their focus is not providing excellent customer satisfaction but strictly signing on small businesses, exploiting them by collecting hidden fees and non transparent agreements.
I have recently had an experience with Wells Fargo ( Merchant Services) and all the hidden fees, horrible customer service from the sales reps, once you're baited in, no help!!! I am a very small business trying to get started in accepting CCs, I asked for the square but was told that, that was very unprofessional to have, so he signed me up for this wireless CC machine, and later found out about all things ridiculous fees!! I don't know much about accepting CCs, but I needed to be able to accept them. I need some help in trying to get something without all the fees. Is there any help?
Also, what can I do about getting out of this 3year contract for this CC machine with First Data? I used the machine 2times after seeing all these fees that came through my account.
Quick question Phillip. I see that all of your good reviews (ex. Merchant Warehouse) are linked to affiliate links to track leads to landing pages. I think you should tell the public if you are getting compensated by the companies you are reviewing. It made me lose trust in everything I am reading here.
Don't be like the scammers you are looking to stop. Most sites place a "advertisement" next to a paid link on a review site. Im sure you just overlooked it. If not your site will be submitted for review by Google, Bing, FTC.
Hi Philip,
Can you provide any links or info as to how to get out of a deceptive contract or "non cancellable" lease on equipment. Specifically, we are in the State of Texas and the ISO is in California. Are there magical dates like 30 days or 45 days that any credit card processing agreement can be torn up ? My friend really got suckered bad on rates (doesn't look like anything near the savings they promised) AND equipment he didn't even need (18,000 over 4 years). He has not started processing with them yet, and everything was signed 25 days ago.
Hi Robert,
Many states have laws that allow customers to cancel service contracts without penalty within a specified time frame. Unfortunately, providers rarely abide by these rules. Below is an article that lists tactics for getting out of a predatory contract. There are no guarantees, but one of them may prove effective. Good luck!
Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
Hi I have been reading all the horrible things that have happended and I am now one of those statstics: (I was approcahed by prodigy as a prosseor and since my old account and processor was not working and they had not replaced it i was listening to these two women one keeps you talking the other got on my computer and I have no idea what she did but i was offered a 60 opt out well they never mentioned northern leasing sytems and I signed a paper saying I would pay over$4000.00 for a piece of equipment that is usually free. I wondered about it and its only been two weeks i have since changed my bank account and am contacting a lawyer to write a letter as I am sending the equipment back with his letter stating that I am returning new unueed equipment due to I had no idea I was signing up with them and so here it is and have it certififed and so when they open the box there will be a letter from my lawyer stating i was not in a lease with them and since they recieved the new equipment back new unused the contract is now null and void due to the scamming they are doing or he will word it better but it sounds like the things to do for me I cant beleive I ell for it I feel so dumb and taken advantage of:(( by doing this they will have to contact him not me and I am hoping they will drop and cacel the contract but i can only hope!!
Wonderful booklet! You did a GREAT JOB of clarifying so much of the "mystery" involved in credit card processing! Thank you so much for your hard work & time given up to write this concise little gem and then to offer it free of charge is unheard of in this day & age (truly refreshing!)!!! I believe that old saying "what goes around, comes around" and know that you will at some point be blessed for your gift!!! :)
Thank you SO much for writing this guide! It has been tremendously helpful!
I wondered if you have any suggestions for negotiating tactics if the sales' rep isn't playing ball?
In my case, she appears to be outright lying to me (or is misinformed herself). For example:
My PayLeap sales rep is offering me Interchange + .35% and $0.15 per transaction for e-commerce/virtual terminal transactions (these will be 100% of our transactions). Plus a $19.95/month service fee (but contract is month-to-month which is nice).
Our expected volume is $1M in the first year. But we are a start up, so these are projections—we don't have the business P&Ls to prove this, etc.
What is bothering me is:
1) When I asked for Interchange + pricing, she said "That is the very best pricing we offer, and of course, everyone WANTS it. But we can only offer it to our highest volume customers. Luckily, you qualify." Which rubbed me the wrong way right out of the gate, given that that directly contradicts what you say in Fee Sweep.
2) There are a bunch of additional fees (all fairly small, but still) that you say in Fee Sweep are usually easily eliminated or reduced—i.e. Batch Fee, AVS Fee & Chargeback Fee. When I asked her about eliminating these, she told me that AVS fees cannot be removed on interchange Plus pricing, and that Chargeback Fees were fees charged by the credit card companies, and not PayLeap, so those can't be removed either. She did not even address the Batch fee.
3) I thought I had a pretty good deal until I read Ray's June 6th comment about MLS pricing he is receiving for about half of the volume we are predicting. Should I press for a better deal? And if so, any suggestions for how to do that, when she's trying so hard to make it sound like she is doing me a favor, and telling me fees that should be negotiable are not?
I have a proposal from MLS Direct Network.
They are offering .07 basis points over interchange and .07 cents per transaction 6.75 statement fee.
My nephew WAS in the credit card business for years, he looked at the contract and told me everything is in order.
They have given me a signed and recently noterized letter confirming that there can not be any cancellation fees.
Is this as good as it gets for 50k month swiped ?
All my other 7 cost plus proposals are more than 10 basis points and .10 cents over interchange.
does your "free sweep" include credit card processors who do not have hidden fees or commissioned sales personnel?
I was approached today from a company called "National Processing Company", which is apparently the ISO of First National Bank of Omaha, processing through Retriever Merchant Solutions. They offered a flat rate, not a tiered rate, of .25% over the interchange rate, regardless of what type of card is processed (excluded Am Ex). In addition, they have an .08 per transaction fee (or .05 for a debit card with a PIN entered by the customer), and a $5.00 monthly statement fee. There are no monthly minimums, no annual fee, and they agreed to waive their early termination fee in writing. Is this a good offer, or should I run the other way?
I recently got approached by Axxess Payments for a terminal. He proposed 1.39% qualified transaction + 0.60 for mid-qualified transactions (which he said is rewards cards) + 0.45 for non-qualified transactions. Plus $5 fee/month for online reporting, $79/anniversary fee per year. I know nothing about this as we don't have a machine but really want to start. Are these legitimate fees since I read that there are so many scams. Also in order to open my account and proceed they want 3 full months of my bank statements.
I came across a Processor that is offering me FIXED RATES at 1.0% Credit + .18 per swipe, Debit is .019 + .10 per swipe, Mid / Nonqual is 1.8%….is this a good deal ? The ISO is direct with First Data. Showing me a savings of $183.00 a month over my current processor. Is there anything else I should be looking at ?
Downloaded and read the Fee Sweep guide. Well done. Accurate and straight-forward. Minimal advertising, maximum solid information.
Hi Philip,
Thank you so much for making this information (freely) available in such an easy to understand format. I haven't been able to find anyone (except you) to explain how Merchant Accounts work aside from the sales agents. The business I am starting is considered high risk because of the high value of each transaction.
The underwriter for one processor is asking for a 10% holdback from each transaction until I build a reserve of $32K and a "Grant of Lien" on the account that appears to give them the right to hold the $32K indefinitely.
I am being offered a no reserve agreement by the merchant services department of the bank we have been with for years…but I have read terrible reviews about them on your site so I am worried about what I might be getting into…too good to be true?
Thank you for your ebook, Fee Sweep. It has informed me very well on the types of fees associated with credit card processing. I knew that there were some fees, however, not to the extent of your informing. We are a young company (exterior/interior painting and wood finishing) and unsure of the extent that the card payment option would actually be utilized. However, for certainty, those fees and charges would have been disheartening, especially when no card payment option was utilized for that month. We have received offers for this service, and I was ready to enroll in a particular service, but I decided that there was not enough info and to do some research. Boy, am I glad that I did. Thank you very much!!
To address article written by Mr. Philip Parker- It was extremely well thought out as to value of content and clarity of order of presentation.
The presention of most facts are so well hidden from customers.
I used to sell cars and as for the protection of the vendor's profits there, some of car lot ownership's profit is represented on the car's price break-down sticker "ADP", which means "additional dealer profit". If a customer asked what that means we were instructed to say, "Oh it is just factor stuff- everybody has to pay."
This totally protected at least that much of Dealer's profit. Which also meant that the "dicker or bargining" room was money taken from salesman's pocket, as we were guatanteed $100., and often that's all we got on a sale we worked pretty hard on. Dealer always got "ADP" and most of the actual commission built-in to the sale.
Of course, that was many years ago, but I doubt owner profit is any less sacred these days.
Good job, Phil!
MJ Kolb
Wow. Finding this has been very enlightening. I have been spending weeks trying to compare pricing and now I know why it is so confusing. Time to go back to everyone with my new information and start negotiating all over again.
Thank you.
we use ipayment. I must say on the whole they're reasonable. I've had a couple of problems but beat them up until they were fixed. My question: when you reference 2% – is that for total costs? So like you take the total charged to the retailers bank account and divide that by total processed sales for the month and it equals 2%? Or, do you also throw in the $40 annual PCI fee and prorate that back to add into the monthly fees to get the 2 percent? We don't have huge amounts of processed sales, usually less than 20K per month. I'm at 2.23 and that includes every anciliary charge. If I thought I could reduce by .5% and get it to around 1.8 I'd consider switching, but from what you've written here that doesn't seem possible. Is 2 about as low as a small retailer can go.
I'm really pleased that I stumbled upon your ebook and will highly recommend it to business colleagues. Just an hour ago I was on the phone with a merchant account provider pushing me to sign up but I got squeamish as I was reading the fine print and discovered several charges we hadn't discussed. I decided to postpone the decision and do some more shopping but really didn't understand the industry and how to compare providers. Your book quickly gave me the knowledge I need to negotiate a fair agreement and ensure that I won't be ripped off. THANK YOU!
I have no use for facebook but would have liked to been able to read your publication. Too bad.
Hi Phillip. Great information & hopeful direction. Now I know why I get the feeling that each credit card processor promises me something better, and they tend to **always** disappoint this promise. I ran into something like this a year ago online and figured I would look at it more closely when I got closer to the end of my 3-Year Contract. About a year. But then a nice woman came through the door (still 6 months before the end of the contract) and pitched me this really low rate. When I said I may be interested when my current contract ends, she said No Problem, if you sign up with us now, we will just reimburse you for any Early Cancellation Fee. Further, if you sign up with us, there will be no contract period, and you can leave at any time if you are unhappy with no fee or penalty.
This sounded good, and I wrote it down. But I did not get her to sign it, or be certain that was in the contract. Well, now I regret it. The first company charged me the $295.00 Early Termination Fee and I have that in my records. Every time I call the company about getting reimbursed, they would have some excuse. Oh, you have to wait 6 months, then no problem. Oh, just fax us the details and we will send a check right off to you. But now, 6 months after I signed up they say that I must "qualify" for that rebate by doing at least "5 grand" of credit card business for 3 months in a row. That is 10 times over the average credit card sales, as listed on the sign-up contract. And this is the first time it was mentioned.
Plus, I now notice that while there is no mention of a time-based contract for using their services in the basic contract, I do see that their Terminal Placement Program, which was agreed to at the same time, says that the Terminal agreement is for 36 months, and renews automatically, plus the fee for early termination of that is $595.00. Yikes!! How did they slip that by me at the same time the woman was telling me there was no contract to worry about, that I could leave at any time with no penalty?
I am now trying to get in touch with the woman who signed me up, and trying to see if the company will agree to reimburse me as she promised. Any other hints for how to negotiate? I see your steps for filing a complaint and can try to use that for a bit of leverage when it seems like the best time. I just want to get out of this and go on with finding a good processor as you suggest. But it sounds like that will not be easy.
Hi Phillip,
First of all, thanks for hosting this great site of info! My business is considering switching credit card processors to reduce our fees. However, after we got all the paperwork in place and accounts set up for the switch, we find out that the new merchant services organization has put a cap on our monthly processing which is very close to our average per month total. Any amount over the cap that gets processed, the merchant services organization will hold those funds for 180 days before we get them! That seems excessive to me and gives me pause to use them. Your thoughts?
Mr. Parker:
You should have the name Fee Buster added to your name. As a one man (pop) carpet cleaner I stayed away from modern gizmos. Then I stepped into a neighbor hood bank to open a new business account. When I was told to "get with it" – a credit card processing machine. Well, he must have seen a tiny glitter in my eyes.
The following day an affilitate called. And, Wham! Bam! Via faxes I was signed up that same day. Had I read your EReport eleven months ago, my response would have been – Thanks, but no Thanks! Well, to cut the chase, pun intended, the shake down started within weeks. My checking was "held up" by this 21 century mob/gangster organization. Within the months of receiving the CPM: fees, fees, and more fees were withdrawn from my account. I then called to querry the plethora of charges with no apparent success. The fees just kept pilling on. Never did i imagine such a financial abuse was about to ensue on the day I signed and faxed back that contract. My now nine month checking account is now on hold to be reviewed. Currently I am unable to make deposits, withdraw at the ATM, get credit for my end of day sales batch. This I found out when my card was denied at other retailers. Consequently, I walked in to a branch to make a complaint. There I was given an 800 number to ask why. If the bank chooses to close my checking, and the leasing company decides to come after me, what do i do to avoid breach of contract fees? What are my options?
I need some serious help against this unregulated powerhouse.
Please don't call me stupid to make such a rush decision. I feel bad enough already.
Fee Sweep is very concise and easy to understand. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs a merchant account; I just wish I had come across it a year ago!
Phillip what do you consider to be a fair interchange pass-thru rate for merchants as well as ISO agents?
Thanks Phil.
The link is still not working for me. You have my email. If you can forward a copy to that address that would be helpful. My "like" did register on your facebook page.
Per the instructions, I liked on Facebook and no link appeared as promised. It is April 23 and your offer expires April 30. An interesting result. Lot's of good reviews yet I can't seem to get the download version as promised on this screen.
Is the offer still active?
I am just starting out in business and have already encountered more than my share of fraud. There are potential nightmares every place you turn. This guide saved me from at least one.
FeeSweep is a great read–not only illuminating, but simply organized and well-written. Obviously not the last word in this kaleidoscopically complex industry, but a great–if sobering–introduction.
Wow! Thanks for all the time and energy you put into educating me and others. The thousands you are saving us is a gift. Happy to suggest your services to others. I now know how to negotiate a great rate for our new company and save money in the process. Bless you!
Hans Phillips
Phillip I think you are from the same DNA that I am from :) The difference I had 15 years or so in finance world brokerage, banking, real estate, and so on…..my little bit to help is give the price that IS fair take less and share asking for referrals. Try to live on the twelve dollars a month or twenty dollars a month and have more folks getting that fair pricing. You are correct of course the processor and the interchange make the lions share, they also (some) allow cost plus pricing and the "agent" or ISO or ISO rep can price from cost. I choose to make that difference for everyone and hope that thru referrals I will also be able to continue helping and make enough to have a small business plan support me as well. There are very very few that will do what you and I do. Probably none. Maybe we are the only two. I know for a fact that I price so well I have virtually saved thousands and thousands of dollars for Customers by doing exactly what you wrote about. Pricing interchange (cost -plus) and literally showing maybe $12.00 (24.00) total as I have to pay half to the processor just to do this for folks.
I wish there was a way to advertise that but there probably is no way except word of mouth., so I ask for referrals. I just this month finally made $600.00 that was it !! The dedication it takes to make a difference is like your book I think it all pays in the end. I need a free one though LOL !!
Your E-book "Fee Sweep" was very helpful. It is easy to understand, organized, yet very comprehensive. I was able to negotiate a .07 percent + .10 Transaction fee on an interchange pass thru and .25 on debit, and no other fees with the exception of PCI Compliance. In the past I dreaded talking to salemen, now I can speak their language and am at ease – and do they know it! Thanks again for your help.
hi, i wish i had read your book before i opened my merchant account. my merchant account provider did nothing but lie to me. they also attached fees that were not due for another 4 months to my monthly fee hoping that i would not notice it. it wasnt hard to notice since the illegal withdrawal they did caused my bank account to be overdrawn. they admitted fault, told me it was a mistake and that it would never happen again. to no surprise they tried another illegal withdrawal less then 3 days later. my bank quickly took the money back minus the overdraft fees of course because the merchant account company i use admitted guilt. they promised to have the fees deposited into my account within 7 to 10 days. well im still waiting…my bank credited my account and now my bank is going after them for the fees. these merchant account providers are nothing but crooks. i dont understand how any decent person or company could do these types of things to other people. there is just no honesty any where in the world anymore. i remember when i was a kid, my dad used to seal a deal with a handshake and just by looking a man straight in the eyes. now a days people look you in the eyes and tell you a lie, and will use the same hand they shook with you on to stab you in the back.
Hi, Phillip,
I'm a independent Account Executive for an ISO. Being the ethical and moral person that I am, I want to do good business by the merchants and still earn a viable income. Does your ebook provide any help in this connection?
Thank you very much for your enlightening and thorough book. I own a wellness center and have a multi-practitioner retail set up. I have had people in the industry try to explain this whole thing to me many times – and now I finally understand it from your clear explanations. I have been through the process of gathering quotes from many providers in the past and felt completely confused and frustrated. Now I can negotiate with confidence and speak their language. Thank you so much ahead of time for your help in getting all of us here "Interchange" pricing. I didn't realize that was available to all merchants and not just higher volume businesses, which is what I was told in the past. It's great to know what is reasonable to ask for and feel confident in moving on from a processor that doesn't give me something reasonable.
Mr. Parker,
I stumbled upon Fee Sweep while "googling" for information that would aid me in making an informed decision concerning credit card processing. I hit the gold mine when I found your nugget! I had quotes from three providers and, as you mentioned, they were all structured differently. Once I got all of them in Interchange Pass-Through format, I used the worksheet on page 22 to make an apples – to –apples comparison. I agreed to continue processing with our current provider but not before they significantly reduced the fees that they were charging me. I'm on line to save $17,000.00 yearly – thanks to your e-book! For the first time ever – I feel like I negotiated a great deal for credit card processing.
Keeda Pfingsten
Mr. Parker has done a wonderful job in thoroughly explaining the very complicated subject of credit card processing in a way that any business owner can understand. His insights and advice will surely have an impact on the merchant services industry as more and more businesses read this book. After reading this book, there is no doubt that I have been overpaying for merchant card processing for a very long time, and I feel pretty burned now knowing that I could have been saving a lot of money the whole time. The amount of money these processors take from us is sickening, especially considering how little they do to earn it. I will be actively promoting Mr. Parker's book to all of the businesses I work with.
Thank you for writing Fee Sweep.
This will help me write better deals for my merchants.
I recommend it not only for business owners looking to process but for merchant services sales agents like myself looking to learn how to write up good customized deals for my customers.
Thank you,
Thank you very much for your enlightening and thorough book. I own a wellness center and have a multi-practitioner retail set up. I have had people in the industry try to explain this whole thing to me many times – and now I finally understand it from your clear explanations. I have been through the process of gathering quotes from many providers in the past and felt completely confused and frustrated. Now I can negotiate with confidence and speak their language. Thank you so much ahead of time for your help in getting all of us here "Interchange" pricing. I didn't realize that was available to all merchants and not just higher volume businesses, which is what I was told in the past. It's great to know what is reasonable to ask for and feel confident in moving on from a processor that doesn't give me something reasonable.
This book has some great info, thanks. Very tired of feeling like I am getting ripped off every time I talk to a provider. I feel like I am much more prepared and not playing on "their" terms.
Very glad I read this before the holidays. Now I have time to switch providers and get much lower rates before the rush kicks in. This ebook is well worth the money!
Excellent ebook! It covered everything and was easy to read and understand. It was well written with in-depth clear information and I feel confident to deal with setting up my first Merchant Account. Definitely worth the money!
I was skeptical at first that this book could really save me on merchant account fees. I've heard it a million times from telemarketers and door-to-door salesmen how they could save me 50% or more, but after changing processors a couple times the savings were always minimal or non-existent.
I was paying almost $6,000 a year in merchant processing fees. I bought this book three months ago and then called my current provider and threatened to cancel my account because this book opened my eyes. These merchant companies take advantage of people! I told them what they needed to do to keep my business based on what I learned from the book and after two months of statements I'm on track to save over $3000 over the next 12 months. Nothing, and I mean nothing has ever saved me this much is one phone call! I normally don't leave reviews, but the results were so dramatic that I felt like I should spread the word so that other hard working business owners could fight back. Seriously, read it.
Thanks for the book. Definitely has some good pointers…. Would be surprised if I don't save some money.
This guide is surprisingly easy to read! He really does a great job of keeping it simple and easy to understand. Everything else I found online about credit card processing was confusing and left me with more questions than I already had. Not so with this guide. I now feel completely confident that I won't get scammed with my next merchant account and will be using Phillip's instructions very soon.
Thanks so much Phillip! You've done a great thing by writing your book.
After reading this guide I immediately decided that I needed to switch credit card processors. There was so much that I didn't know! I was getting the same high rates that Phillip says most people get, so I followed all of his instructions for picking a provider and negotiating rates. Even though it cost me a $150 cancellation fee, I switched providers because I was able to get the type of rate Phillip's guide told me I could. After one month I can already see that I'm going to save over $700 a year. Where I'm from $700 goes a long way. This is a must read and well worth its price! Thank you so much!
I was clueless when it came to credit card merchants. After doing research on the subject for my employer, I was lost. Luckily, I stumbled upon this page and purchased "Fee Sweep". It was so easy to follow (unlike most other websites and manuals) and extremely helpful. He took a complicated and confusing subject and made it entertaining, easy to understand and extremely informative. I saved my boss tons of money and was able to explain it with ease. I recommend this to anyone new to merchant services that doesn't want to get screwed.
Hi Deb. I work in merchant processing and it is nice to hear about educating yourself in this subject. I know all too well about merchants being screwed over. There are more talking points being used by sales reps in this industry that its sickening. This isnt a sales pitch, but more of a congrats. Im a salaried rep not a commissioned rep. Good for you by helping the company.