Acceptiva Frequently Asked Questions

What types of non-profits use Acceptiva?
Acceptiva provides service to hundreds of non-profits of all types and sizes including many colleges, schools, churches, ministries and places of worship. The speed and ease of setup appeals to non-profit organizations that need a secure professional online donations and payment solution yet may not have in-house staff that can manage the complexities of integrating a merchant account with a secure web page.

At Acceptiva we do all the work to get you setup and to keep you running smoothly; leaving you time to do the things that you do best. There are no long-term contracts and you don't need any technical expertise to get your organization accepting donations online quickly, easily and professionally.

Can I use Acceptiva to accept transactions other than donations?
Yes. Acceptiva clients accept payments for all types of transactions, such as contributions, gifts, donations, membership payments, event registrations, tithes and sponsorships etc. See examples.

Whose name will appear on donor credit or debit card statements?
Your organization's name will appear on the credit, debit or bank statements of your donors or members. 'Acceptiva' will never appear on any of these documents in any way.

Does Acceptiva 'hold' our funds and release them to our organization at a later date?
No. Acceptiva ensures that all funds processed through your Acceptiva page are deposited directly into your own bank account via the merchant account that is included with your Acceptiva service. Acceptiva never has access to your funds and so unlike many of our competitors we do not hold your funds or touch them in any way.

Does Acceptiva charge a monthly fee for its service?
Yes. Acceptiva charges one low flat rate monthly fee for its service. Our clients also pay an industry low monthly merchant account fee and low processing and transaction fees. All charges are billed to our client's merchant account statements each month and debited from their bank account at the end of the month. See the Acceptiva pricing page for full details.

Does Acceptiva charge 'additional processing fees' other than the fees charged by the credit card companies?
No we do not. Some of our competitors charge additional processing fees as high as 4%-6% over and above the fees that VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express charge for processing credit and debit card transactions. At Acceptiva, all of our clients are non-profit organizations and we know that every penny is vitally important to the success of your organization. We believe that you should receive the lowest processing cost available and keep as much of your donated funds as possible; and so we do not charge you for any processing fees beyond that which the credit card companies charge through your merchant account.

Does Acceptiva charge for edits, changes or new pages?
No. There are never any additional charges to edit, change or add new Acceptiva pages. You can submit edits and changes and have Acceptiva pages added and removed as often as needed.

What does my Acceptiva page include?
An Acceptiva page is a set of secure online forms that are related to a single event, activity or campaign. Each page includes the customized main form that links from your organization's web site, the verification and customized thank you pages that donors receive prior to and after completing a transaction and a customized email receipt that is sent automatically to donors.

A page can be a simple donation or tithe page, a registration page for an event, a form to sell tickets or one of dozens of other reasons that a non-profit may have to accept payments securely online. See the Acceptiva demo for more details.

What types of pages are available to Acceptiva clients?
Pages are customized to the needs of each individual client and so there is an unlimited number of combinations available and currently in use by our clients. They vary from simple "donations only" pages to more detailed registration forms. Many of our clients use their Pages to sell tickets to events or to sign up participants for activities or membership for their organization. Pages can also include check boxes, drop down option fields, text boxes and additional data fields to allow you to gather more information from donors. See the Acceptiva demo for more details. See examples.

Can I have more than one page with Acceptiva?
Yes, you can have as many pages as your organization needs for the same one time set-up fee and low monthly fee. The majority of our clients have multiple pages active at the same time, a page for general donations and several for various fundraising events.

Is there an advantage to having more than one page?
Absolutely, having a page specific to each event or campaign allows you to customize the message conveyed to donors and supporters on the campaign form, the online 'thank you' page as well as on the email receipt sent to donors. This is impossible to do if all of your organization's donation options are listed on one large general donation form. Having campaign specific pages also allows you to quickly and easily view all donation data by campaign in the Acceptiva online reporting.

Does Acceptiva sell merchant accounts?
Yes, we provide you with the industry's lowest cost online merchant account from our bank partner and then connect it for you with your Acceptiva secure donation pages. Your merchant account is connected to your bank account so that funds are deposited directly into your own bank account. So all you need to do is complete the merchant account application form that we send to you after signup and send it back to Acceptiva. We will take care of everything else from that point on. You will soon have your own merchant account fully integrated with your Acceptiva designed, hosted, managed and customized Pages.

What is a merchant account and why do I need one?
A merchant account is simply an agreement between a credit card processor and an organization that establishes the rules for accepting credit card transactions and transferring funds. A merchant account is connected to an organization's bank account so that the funds transacted can be transferred to the organization. Without a merchant account you cannot accept credit or debit card transactions directly into your organization's bank account.

Can we use our existing merchant account with the Acceptiva service?
No, you need an "online" merchant account to accept transactions online. There are many types of merchant accounts. A standard "over the phone" or "swipe machine" type merchant account is very different from an "online" merchant account and cannot be used "online" because transaction processing rates vary according to how much donor information is gathered for a transaction i.e., more information is gathered "online" than "over the phone". As such, just having a merchant account is not enough; your organization must have an "online" merchant account acquired through Acceptiva to use the Acceptiva service.

How is the Acceptiva service different from PayPalŪ?
Acceptiva is very different from PayPalŪ. Acceptiva is a completely customized and personalized payments solution that links from your own web site and is fully integrated with your own merchant account; so funds are deposited into your own bank account that you control and donors see your organizations' name on their credit card statement. Acceptiva also provides your donors with a personalized thank you note and a personalized receipt sent automatically via email; and allows you to define the type of information that you want to gather from donors during the payment process. These features allow you to know more about your donors and establish a better, longer lasting relationship with them.

Why pay for Acceptiva when there are free online donation services available?
As with most online services there are almost always free versions available for those that do not want to pay any money at all. The majority of free online payment processors provide generic, confusing donor pages, charge high processing rates (as high as 8.75%) and keep your funds for several weeks before sending them to you. They also put THEIR name on your donor's credit card statements (i.e., genericprocessor.com) that often leads to increased donor confusion and phone calls to your organization; and a marked increase in disputed charges or non-payment from donors that do not recognize the generic processor name. All in all, the result is usually lost revenue for your organization and more time spent managing the process than developing your donor base.

Acceptiva integrates the industry's lowest cost merchant account with your Acceptiva payment pages so that you pay very low processing rates, the industry's most affordable monthly fee and receive all funds directly into your own bank account; while providing you with customized and personalized donor pages as well as excellent customer service. If you are serious about providing your donors with a professional online donation experience at a reasonable cost, we believe you can't afford a free processing service.

Can I accept recurring donations and payments?
Yes, you can accept payments on a one time or recurring basis and can allow your donors to choose how regularly they would like their payments to re-occur; weekly, twice weekly, monthly, twice monthly, quarterly, and half yearly or yearly. And unlike other services, when a donor chooses a recurring payment option, Acceptiva manages and conducts the recurring transactions for you automatically, so that you don't have to do anything to initiate and accept follow-on donations. Our clients can also manage all aspects of recurring donations and can make changes to them or de-active them as needed.

Does Acceptiva offer a "virtual terminal"?
Yes, as the Acceptiva Solution includes your own merchant account you have a 'virtual terminal' from which you can manually enter and process transactions that you receive over the phone or via standard mail. And, all transaction data is captured and reported in the Acceptiva Client Manager where your donor data resides.

What is a "virtual terminal"?
A virtual terminal is an online screen that is connected to your merchant account and bank account that allows you to manually enter transactions. It is often used by our clients to replace an existing merchant account that they have kept just to process payments or donations that they receive in person, over the phone or from a paper form sent to them in the mail. If you currently have a merchant account just for this purpose, the free Acceptiva virtual terminal will save you the monthly cost of your existing merchant account.

Does Acceptiva use the information it gathers from my donors?
No. When your donors access the Acceptiva payment platform through your Campaign page, their information will never be misused. Acceptiva does not disclose, sell, trade, rent, or otherwise reveal donor information to third parties, including advertisers or marketers. All data gathered to process payments is the sole property of our clients. Acceptiva never uses donor information for any purpose other than internal analysis and then only in aggregate. See our privacy policy for details.

How will I know a donation has been made to my Page?
You will receive a copy of the e-mail receipt that your donor receives in real time. You can also access all donor information via the secure Acceptiva Client Manager and even download this data as an Excel spreadsheet.

Is Acceptiva PCI DSS Compliant and are Acceptiva pages secure?
Yes, very secure. All Acceptiva pages are hosted on our PCI DSS compliant secure servers and all data is encrypted using 128 bit SSL, industry standard secure technology. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) compliance requirements were developed by VISA/MasterCard and are enforced by Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) such as Security Metrics. Acceptiva is tested quarterly for PCI DSS compliance by Security Metrics and you can view our most recent test results here.

Can I 'post' data from my website to my Acceptiva Pages?
Yes, Acceptiva supports the 'post' method of transferring data from your web site to an Acceptiva Page. We do not support the 'get' method.

Is my account information safe?
Yes, very safe. As all funds are deposited directly into your own bank account, no-one can access your information to transfer your funds without your knowledge. We do not store your bank account or credit card information anywhere on our platform.

How long will it be before I can start taking donations?
Less than twenty-four hours from the time your merchant account application is approved. Merchant account applications usually take 3-4 business days to be approved.

How do I refund or credit a donor?
As mentioned above, as an Acceptiva client you will have access to your own virtual terminal from which you can issue refunds and credits as necessary. The virtual terminal has a very simple user interface and is accessible from the Acceptiva Client Manager.

What is a charge-back?
A charge-back results when a donor disputes a charge on their credit card. This happens very rarely if you have your own merchant account, as your organization's name is displayed on your donor's credit card statement, ensuring that they know exactly to whom they made a donation. Acceptiva will assist you to deal with the credit card companies if a charge-back is requested by one of your donors.

Can I accept American Express and Discover Card with Acceptiva?
Yes you can. Acceptiva will acquire a Discover Card merchant account on your behalf and assist you in acquiring an American Express merchant account. We will integrate the Discover Card and American Express merchant accounts with your Acceptiva account at no charge.

How much does it cost to accept American Express with Acceptiva?
There is no fee to sign up with American Express as an Acceptiva client. There is a 0.27 cents per transaction fee and the percentage-processing fee varies by organization. The American Express non-profit processing fee is usually between 2.75% and 3.00%.

How much does it cost to accept Discover Card with Acceptiva?
There is no fee to sign up with Discover Card as an Acceptiva client. There is a 0.27 cents per transaction fee and the percentage processing fee is the same as for VISA/MasterCard.

Can I use Acceptiva if my non-profit organization is based outside the United States?
No. At this time Acceptiva is available only to non-profit organizations that reside in the U.S. Check back for international availability.

Other questions? Please contact us for answers.