Seasonal Shutdowns

Hello everyone! As we enter the holiday season, many of our merchants will be experiencing their heaviest time of the year. However, some of them will instead experience their slowest time of the year, and may even consider shutting down until the season ends. No worries, because today we will be covering how a seasonal shutdown works with FlashBanc, what to expect, and how to best make use of it with your merchant services!

What is a seasonal shutdown and how does it work?

A seasonal shutdown is when a business closes its doors for a period of time when there is a severe lack of customers. This is generally a last resort when the costs of running the business outweigh any revenue it might make, but can occur for any reason a merchant may have. With this in mind, a merchant can notify FlashBanc and have their accounts put on a seasonal hold. This notification can be made when a merchant applies to join with FlashBanc, where it can identify whether it is a seasonal business, and if so, what it’s operating months are. With this hold in place, the usual fees that are charged to the company every month are frozen. 

What happens during the shutdown?

While FlashBanc will not charge any of its usual fees, there is a single exception for the statement fee. The statement fee is the cost of having the merchant’s account open and on file, which the merchant needs to pay. While your account is on hold, transactions will not be processed. However, the merchant’s terminals will continue to work and do not need any special maintenance. When the business reopens, the terminals will start up and operate normally. 

What happens after the shutdown?

Once your business is ready to resume operation, the first thing you need to do is provide FlashBanc with advance notice. This cannot be stressed enough, as it does take time to reopen the account and allow transactions. To best prepare to reopen, provide FlashBanc with at least 72 hours notice prior. After that 72 hour period, their account will be taken off of the hold, transactions will be processed without any issues along with the accompanying fees. 

Below is an example of when and how you would begin and end your seasonal shutdown:

John Smith, the owner of a local ice cream shop in New York City, does not see much business during the colder months of October to February. Due to this, he closes his doors until the weather begins heating up in the spring. He indicated all of this on his FlashBanc application and notifies FlashBanc at the end of September that he will be closing for the season so he needs his credit card processing services to be shutdown. His merchant services account is placed on hold, he makes sure his statement fees are paid over the coming months, and he enjoys his winter. On March 1st, John notifies FlashBanc that he would like to reopen his business and continue processing transactions on March 4th. FlashBanc opens the account again, and John returns to selling his ice cream as if nothing changed. 

If you have any other questions regarding a seasonal shutdown, don’t be afraid to contact FlashBanc’s client support department. We are here to help guide you through the process and get you up and running quickly and effectively once it is over.