Credit Card Companies
In addition to your local bank you may want to consider
other credit card processing agencies.
MBNA (800) 526-8286 is among the leading
credit card processors in the country. The charges are typical
of the other big banks (Citibank, Bank One, etc.). The charge
is 2.6% on accounts around $500 a month with average ticket
sizes of $100. For average monthly uses below $500 with
average ticket sizes less than $100, and using paper transactions
instead of transmitting electronically, the fee is 3.26%.
For practices with monthly usage in excess of $10,000 with
an average ticket size greater than $200, the fee is 1.8%.
Local banks tend to charge about 3/10 of a percent more
than MBNA.
Pulse Card (913) 345-2522 - Jackie Pruitt.
Pulse Card is endorsed by the following: American Academy
of Pediatric Dentists, The Academy of General Dentists,
The Academy of Family Practitioners, The Academy of Cosmetic
Dentists. For members of those societies the discount rate
is 2.1% for Visa and Mastercard. For non-society members
the rate is 2.35%. Pulse Card also processes Discover and
American Express. The American Express rate is 3.1% , an
excellent rate. Discover is quoted separately, but is a
function of the average monthly usage and average ticket
size. The Discover rates will tend to be _% higher than
Mastercard/Visa.
Another feature of Pulse Card, in addition to processing
all four major cards, is that the discount rate is the same
for a low producing practice as a high producing practice.
Pulse Card also has a separate patient financing program
which offers a rebate back to the patient. The discount
rate to the Doctor is 5%. The patient receives a rebate
of 2%. The approval rate for patient financing from Pulse
Card is 40%. In order to be approved the patient must have
a job earning more than $15,000 per year and have clean
credit.
Discover Card (800) 697-9401, Utah and
Colorado call (602) 954-7487). Discover Card may be contacted
directly and programmed to an existing terminal.
Other Patient Financing Options
Dencharge (800) 300-3046. Dencharge is
a non-recourse revolving credit program with discounts and
interest rates varying based on the size of the transaction.
The discount rate to the Doctor ranges between 5% and 8%.
The higher the average monthly usage, the lower the fee.
Approval takes, in most cases, three to five minutes. Payments
to the Doctor are made by direct deposit within 48 hours
of receipt of the paperwork by mail. The interest rate to
the patient is also a sliding scale from 14.65% to 19.65%.
The rate based on the amount to finance is as follows: 0
to $2,000 is 19.65%, $2,001 to $5,000 is 18.65%, $5,001
to $10,000 is 16.65%, greater than $10,000 is 14.65%. Training
is done by phone. The sign-up fee is $349. The acceptance
rate is 55%. Dencharge will finance dental expenses as well
as elective medical expenses (plastic surgery, dermatology,
etc.).
Yes Charge (800) 955-9377. Yes Charge
has three plans:
- A three year 18% interest plan. The discount rate is
5%.
- A twelve month no-interest plan. The discount fee at
10.5%.
- The other option is a recourse financing
option , where the doctor remains at risk for any shortfall.
Norwest Financial. Check local listing
for office near you, or for a referral to a local office
call (510) 825-3111 - Suzanne Murphy of the Concord California
office.
Norwest offers two types of accounts. One is the revolving
credit line with an interest rate of 18.5%. The other option
is either six month no-interest or 12 month no-interest.
With the six month no-interest the patient pays a minimum
monthly payment for six months with the balance due at the
end of such time. The patient may also choose to then finance
the remaining balance instead of paying it off. At that
time the patient would be responsible for any further interest
charges.
The twelve month option operates differently in that the
total bill is divided into twelve equal monthly payments
and is expected to be paid off at the end of one year. The
discount rate to the Doctor is 6% for 6 months and 10% -
12% for 12 months. Norwest will finance plastic surgeons,
dermatologists and other medical specialists.
American General. Check local listing
for office nearest you or call Business Development Person
- Cindy Grady (415) 258-9092. Pleasant Hill office (510)
685-8981.
American General has an almost identical program to Norwest.
The discount fee to the Doctor is 5% for six months and
10% for twelve months on the no-interest plan. The interest
rate to the patient is between 18% and 19%.
Both American General and Norwest claim to have a 90% acceptance
rate. They will deal with bankruptcies and other poor credit
patients. One of the reasons the acceptance rate is so high
is that instead of turning the patient down completely,
they may offer a counter proposal. For example, if the patient
requested $1,000, but the credit report was poor, they might
counter with a $500 credit limit. Thus, requiring the practice
to carry the balance or the patient to find other means
of payment.
Both Norwest and American General offer speedy approval
times between 10 to 30 minutes.
