Mastering Charges

 

Fender Benders Rent-A-Car in Evanston and Chicago, Ill., discovered it was paying its bank more than it had to for servicing its Visa/MasterCard account.

Instead of paying 3 1/2% to the bank of every sales slip, the company found that, because of increased sales volume and higher average ticket sales, it qualified for a lower rate of 3%.

"In order to make sure you're paying the lowest rate, ask to have your account reevaluated every three months," says Fender Benders's treasurer David Johnsen. This simple action is saving the company approximately 17% annually in credit-card charges.