Mellon Bank ASAE 1 PLAN merchant card services facilitates member payments.

1 PLAN Merchant Card Services, now available to ASAE member associations and their members, allows your association to accept credit cards and debit/ATM cards for payment for a variety of products and services.

"More and more people are carrying cards instead of cash or checks, and they want to use them wherever and whenever they choose," explains Jeff Dodds, vice president, Mellon Bank. "Once you are enrolled in our 1 PLAN, your members can use MasterCard, Visa, and other major credit cards to register for a conference, pay membership dues, or subscribe to your association's magazine."

Other benefits include:

* Cost savings. ASAE has negotiated a preferred rate for merchant processing services on behalf of associations and their members.

* Nondues revenue. Your association has the opportunity to earn nondues revenue based on your members' participation in the ASAE 1 Plan.

* Time savings. "With a Merchant Card Services account, your association will spend less time handling cash and checks, collecting receivables, and dealing with returned check problems," says Chet Merritt, vice president, ASAE Services Corp. "Funds are deposited to your account faster, and a record of all credit and debit activity is reflected on one monthly statement."

* Reliable service. Customer service support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist you with questions about service, account statement activity, and equipment problems.

How does it work?

When signing up for Merchant Card Services, Mellon offers the following easy-to-use options to electronically process credit cards:

Electronic processing. Cost effective and convenient, the electronic deposit service is available at a discounted rate for as low as 1.79 percent on MasterCard and VISA transactions. To use the service, you simply swipe a credit card or key in a code through a small point-of-sale terminal to request an authorization. Once the transaction is authorized, billing can be completed. The terminal stores all of the card numbers and amounts in its memory. At the end of each day, you balance the transactions in the terminal and transmit the data to Mellon Bank for deposit. Your designated account is funded for the deposit, usually within two to three business days after the terminal is settled.

Debit/ATM card processing. With these transactions, your purchaser's checking account is debited directly at the time of service for the total amount of the bill. Debit card processing, performed with a point-of-sale terminal, requires an electronic printer and personal identification number pad. The daily procedures are similar to those used for electronic credit card processing - except that instead of signing a billing slip, your purchaser enters a personal identification number.

"What's really great is that the funds are guaranteed because the risk of returned checks is virtually eliminated", says Dodd. "For debit card processing, funds are credited to your designated account within two to three business days."

1 PLAN to meet your needs

Mellon's affinity financial services group offers a variety of other financial products and services to earn nondues revenue.

* Loan services feature a full line of mortgage loans, home equity loans, student loans, personal lines of credit, and consumer loans.

* Banking services, such as certificates of deposit, money market accounts, retirement accounts, PC banking, convenience banking packages, and telephone banking services, are all available.

* Credit card services include Mellon's Gold Master Card and an optional Travel Returns program, which allows you to earn one point for each eligible dollar charged.

* Investment services, such as personal investment consulting, investment products, discount brokerage service, and private asset management accounts, are provided by Dreyfus Investment Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Mellon Bank Corporation and a registered broker-dealer. Mellon Bank is not a registered broker.

"The 1 PLAN provides your association with an opportunity to deliver value to your members while generating a profitable source of nondues revenue," says Merritt.