Merchant Data Systems Brings New Services and Opportunities

Hundreds of customers come passing through the doors of cosmetic stores everyday. Some buy items with cash while others buy it with plastic cards. Nowadays, consumers prefer using credit cards because of the flexibility, convenience, and rewards they offer. From the cosmetic store's standpoint, these benefits are yet to be realized. A cosmetic store owner must be able to accept credit cards otherwise he/she stands to lose a significant amount of sales and profit. For store owners facing this dilemma, Merchant Data Systems is the right professional to call with their new and expanding merchant services.

Merchant Data Systems is a leading merchant processing service provider in the U.S. The company was established in 1997 and from then on, they've been delivering award-winning services through customer-oriented principles and an unwavering commitment towards innovation in which both their merchant clients and sales affiliates benefit from. They cater to all kinds and sizes of businesses, from cosmetic stores to five-star restaurants to e-commerce firms and everything in between.

Merchant services offered by MDS include debit and credit card processing, electronic account settlement, check guarantee, POS integration, equipment sales and leasing, cash advance, and payroll programs. All of their services are backed up by a 24/7 fully staffed customer service desk. The service is open 365 days a year including weekends and holidays. The company uses a consultative system for clients to help them get the products and services they need while helping downsize the expenses. This enables store owners to streamline their core operations with the certainty that their payment acceptance equipment are functioning collaboratively to improve in-store profit.

Cosmetic store owners who decide to partner with MDS can enjoy a number of benefits. For starters, MDS lets clients customize a service plan trimmed to fit their business needs and demands. This guarantees 100 percent client satisfaction, unbeatable pricing, and long term transactions. To add up, the company has fabricated extra sales software like integrating shopping cart to guarantee continual success as well as implement initiatives to improve client experience in processing all payment modes, such as American Express and Visa.

Giving customers more than one payment method also allows merchants to appear more professional. Customers will appreciate the fact that they can switch from cash to card and vice versa whenever they need to. MDS' innovative credit card terminals will help merchants achieve this professional panache.

MDS also gives online merchants a variety of PCI-compliant and certified processing gateways and virtual terminals to choose from and integrate. World-class standalone gateways support electronic credit, and cash and check payments through the web. PCI compliance ensures that transactions are conducted in a fast and safe manner. This way, merchants and sales partners can complete transactions from any web-enabled computer, grant transaction capability to any volume of users, schedule recurring billing information, and eliminate the need for software installation or updates.

DePaul University gave out flash drives at its Earth Day “Loop Share Fair” to encourage students to switch from paper transcripts to electronic transcripts, an effort that was started a couple of years ago. The number of students using paper transcripts has decreased from 100 percent to 49 percent.

“If just a couple of students decide to use the electronic version versus a paper version of their transcript, that immediately helps the environment,” said Summer Brown, executive director of the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University.

DePaul also supports the campus Urban Farming Organization, that encourages students and faculty to learn about urban agriculture. Gus Chagares, an environmental health and safety specialist at DePaul, said the organization has around 15-20 members who are actively involved and a larger number of people who volunteer irregularly.

Food grown at the campus garden is donated to the community. The group also holds open houses at the beginning of growing season and sells herbs and plants on campus for affordable prices in order to increase its influence.

Roosevelt University students commemorated Earth Day Monday by transferring soil and plants onto the school’s new roof garden on its Wabash Ave. building on its Chicago campus. Vegetables in the new roof system will be used in the school’s dining center.

Students also will be creating their own garden in the community garden started last year on Roosevelt’s Schaumburg campus. This year the community garden has expanded from 12 to 29 10-by-10-foot plots.

In addition, students at the school are encouraged to recycle not just plastic and paper, but also metal and E-waste, such as computers, throughout the year. Students are asked to drop off their E-waste from home at recycle boxes on campus instead of waiting for community recycling programs, Mathews said.

Students are the main organizers of green campaigns at Loyola University, said Aaron Durnbaugh, sustainability director at Loyola University. His office provides assistance when students have difficulties, he said. This year student government at Loyola University voted to provide $50,000 to a Green Initiative fund, a new grant for students to implement sustainable projects. Durnbaugh said the sustainability office will help them decide how the money is used.