Norton switches business to credit card processing

Posted on 06. Nov, 2009 by yvettedavis in Companies

Gary Norton opened Norton Business Services 11 months ago and originally planned to offer bookkeeping services out of his home.

But then the NCW territory with Apex Merchant Group, a Plano, Texas-based company that sells credit and debit card processing and check imaging equipment and service, opened up.

He secured the contract on the territory in late September and now, instead of bookkeeping, is offering sales and service on Apex products in the North Central Washington area.

Norton said his debit/credit machines can save businesses money by allowing them to process cards as debit transactions instead of credit. Merchants pay a fee for each credit transaction, he said, and could cut expenses easily by upgrading their machines.

“I run into a lot of old units out there. Some are 15-20 years old,” he said.
Sometimes he can reprogram them, but other times, it’s time to give up the ghost and, just like buying a new cell phone, upgrade to the most modern technology.

Apex carries wireless credit card processors and “smart card” enabled machines. The smart cards with embedded readable computer chips in them are already in use in Europe, Norton said, and will become more widely used here in the next few years.

Norton also sells check imagining services where the check is run through a machine and automatically deposited. The customer gets their check back, and the merchant doesn’t have to process as many checks. The retailer can also opt to purchase the check guarantee program, which covers all checks, no matter what, for a monthly fee.

Norton previously owned Eastern Washington Insurance Service and most recently worked for Hagadone Directories Inc., a phone book/yellow pages publisher. He left Hagadone to run Norton Business Services full time.