PROGRAM SUMMARY:

You, the business owner, choose a percentage of the sale amount that you would like to provide to your customer as Property Tax Reward or Cash Reward every time they patronize your business (please choose your percentage on the next screen). Your customer will receive 75% of the percentage you choose. The remaining 25% will go towards program and management fee.

Please choose a percentage equal or higher than what you normally do in your other promotions.

Example rates (for illustration purpose only-YOU MAY CHOOSE ANY PERCENTAGE):

If your Gross Rebate is:                 The Net To Customer is:

10%                                                    7.5%

16%                                                   13%

20%                                                   15%

24%                                                   18%

28%                                                   21%

Your cost to participate in the program:

Monthly fee: $10

Other one-time costs may apply. Please review next page (Application)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

Shop Vernon Property Tax Reward Program (PTR):  You, the merchant (hereinafter “Merchant”), award cash rewards that are either applied to your customer’s property tax bill or provided back with a rebate check  (“Credit” of “Credits”) for purchases where the Pick Vernon Property Tax Card (“PTC”) is presented to the Merchant by an individual (hereinafter “Homeowner” or “Cardholder”) and processed together with the normal payment for goods and services at the point of sale or at the time the service is rendered.

The Credit awarded by the Merchant represents a percentage of the sale which is determined hereunder by the Merchant.

Credits are collected from the Merchant every week, once a week via ACH. Furthermore, a $10 participation fee will be collected once a month. It is the Merchant’s responsibility to keep sufficient funds in the account designated for the weekly collection of the Rebates and the monthly collection of the participation fee.  Insufficient funds may result in penalty fees and/or suspension of the Merchant from the PTR program.

Example of typical transaction:

A Merchant participates to the PTR program with a 10% Rebate on purchases. A Cardholder makes a $100 purchase at the Merchant’s place of business. At the point of sale, along with its payment, the Cardholder will present its PTC. The Merchant will process the PTC  by entering the $100 pre-tax sale amount. This creates a $10 Credit. On the weekly ACH day, Fincredit Inc. (Program Administrator) will debit the Merchant’s designated bank account for the amount of the Credit. This amount, less $2.5 program fees (25% of the rebate), will be credited to Cardholder’s property tax bill, for the following tax year.

User story: A Homeowner will obtain his PTC at the designated card distribution center. After obtaining the card, he/she will proceed to register the card on www.propertytaxcard.com

Once registered, every time the Cardholder purchases goods and services at participating businesses, he/she will earn Credits. The accumulated Credits will be credited to the Cardholder’s property tax bill for the following tax year or, if the cardholder does not own a property in town, a rebate check will be mailed for the total amount of accumulated credits.

The Cardholder will be able to check accumulated Credits on www.propertytaxcard.com. Credits accumulated from May 1st thru April 30th, will be applied to the third quarter tax bill due August 1st. 

FAQ:

Q. How does a Merchant provide tax credits to its customers?

A. A PTC is presented by the customer and is processed through a dedicated card terminal (similar to a credit card machine) or through a web terminal (via the internet). This simple process will be explained in a user guide provided by the Program Administrator upon Merchant’s enrollment in the PTR.

Q. How does a merchant handle returns?

A. Store credit/exchanges are not affected by the credit earned from the returned item. If cash or credit refund is requested, the Merchant will process the PTC for the reversal of the Credit requested via the card terminal or website.  

 The cardholder must present the PTC and the reward receipt to reverse its Credit.

If Fincredit has already submitted the funds to the Township when the full credit is requested, the program’s terms and conditions accepted by the cardholder at the time of card registration, clearly indicate that only store credit may be made available. HOWEVER, the merchant will have the option, but not the obligation, to refund the amount of the returned goods less the amount of the rebate already paid to the township by Fincredit for the benefit of the Cardholder.

Please note that payment of accumulated Credits to the Township will occur only once a year. Therefore in most cases Credits are reversible.

IF THE PROPERTY TAX CARD AND RECEIPT ARE NOT PRODUCED, ONLY STORE CREDIT WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE CONSUMER.

Q.  Does the PTC have an expiration date?

A. No, the PTC does not expire.

Q. What is the cost to participate?

A. -The cost of the dedicated processing machine. This is a one-time expense. If processing via web terminal, a processing machine will not be needed.

    -$10 a month 

There are no per swipe fees charged to Merchants.

Q. What are my benefits in participating in the PTR?

A. As a participating merchant, you will enjoy substantial marketing exposure under PTR. The Township and its business entity will continue to build its PTR brand and will continue encourage its residents to shop in town. 

Your business banner, and website link will also appear on www.propertytaxcard.com This is additional branding and exposure for your business. Finally, Merchants will have access to important information such as who shopped at their  location and used the PTC.

Q. What happens when the PTC is presented together with other coupons/offers?

A. You, the merchant, are under no obligation to accept multiple offers. Therefore you do not have to accept to provide the Credit. However, a good compromise would be to reduce both offers so that you may still provide    

    the Credit. To create a lower Credit, you may key a lower sale amount in your PTC dedicated machine.    

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This Agreement to accept and process Stored-value cards is made between you, the Merchant (also “you” and “your(s)”), and Fincredit Inc. and its associates, including, but not limited to Meramak Inc. which is the third party processing service provider of Fincredit  Inc,  (also “Fincredit”, “we”, “us” and “our”(s)).  Fincredit Inc. is the Program Administrator of Shop Vernon Property Tax Reward Program (the “Program”).

According to the terms of this Agreement and any applicable operating procedures, you agree to participate in the Program, honor Stored-value cards, and submit the necessary information and electronic data to us for processing.  We agree to provide processing services.

This Agreement will be binding upon the successors, assignees and legal representatives of the parties.  The terms of this Agreement and the Program it authorizes are subject to all applicable state, local and federal laws.  We reserve the right to cancel this agreement at any time for your failure to comply with any term of this Agreement.  

Glossary of terms

The definitions contained in the Glossary will apply to the defined terms contained in this agreement.

a)      “Stored-value card”: A mag-stripe card or smart card relating to the Program.

b)     “Mag-stripe card”: A card with a magnetic strip on the front or back of the card.

c)     “Merchant”: Any business that accepts Stored-value cards for the purpose of providing a Credit under the Program.

d)     “Credit” A percentage of the sale amount as agreed under Participation Information above.

e)     “Smart Card”: A credit card size plastic card or key tag with an embedded memory or microprocessor chip that stores data that may be accessed through a contact surface on the card or by wireless a proximity reader.

f)      “POS Terminal”: An electronic point of sale (POS) terminal that is capable of reading mag-stripe or smart cards for the purpose of authorizing transactions.

1.  STORED-VALUE CARD ACCEPTANCE

You agree to be responsible for the actions of your employees while acting in your employ.

2.  TRANSACTION PROCEDURES

You agree to follow the steps for completing transactions as set forth below and the Quick Reference Guide, which may be modified or supplemented by future guides or updates.

PROVIDE A REBATE:

1.     Collect payment, cash or credit, as customary, during your normal course of business.

2.     Swipe the Stored-value card (eg. Shop Vernon property tax card) in your dedicated device or via a web-terminal.

3.     Enter the amount of the pre-tax sale. A receipt for the amount of the Credit (eg amount of sale multiplied by the  percentage indicated under Participation Information above-Total Credit column) will print. In the case of web terminal, a receipt prompt will show (please “allow popups”).

4.     Return the Stored-value card and copy of the Credit receipt to the customer.

5.     If your business has a ‘Returns and Exchanges’ policy, indicate on the main sale receipt that the sale was subject to a Shop Vernon rebate.

VOID A REBATE:

1.     Obtain the Rebate receipt to be voided from the customer.

2.     Swipe the Stored-value card (eg. Shop Vernonproperty tax card) in your dedicated device.

3.     Choose the command to void transactions

4.     After you enter the required receipt code, a void receipt will print

5.     Return the Stored-value card and customer copy of the void receipt. Write ‘Void’ on  the original receipt and Credit receipt

  PARTIAL RETURN ON A SALE RECEIPT WITH MULTIPLE ITEMS

 1.     Obtain the sale receipt which has the return item.

2.     Swipe the Stored-value card (e.g. Shop Vernonproperty tax card) in your dedicated device.

3.     Choose the command to Return item

4.     After you enter, a return receipt will print

        5.     Return the Stored-value card and customer copy of the return receipt. Strike the returned item from the

            original receipt 

3.  RETURNS AND EXCHANGES

A.  You agree to establish and maintain a fair and uniform policy consistent with your existing operation procedures for the exchange and return of merchandise purchased with a Stored-value card.

B.  All disputes involving the goods or services purchased with a Stored-value card will be settled between you and the cardholder.  You agree to indemnify and hold Fincredit Inc., Meramak, Township of Vernon harmless from any claim or liability relating to any such dispute.

C. Subject to your refund policy, when a customer returns an item with a receipt indicating that the Shop Vernon property tax card was used, you may refund the full amount  by reversing the Credit you had provided on the sale. However, if the Credit was already processed by Fincredit and/or Meramak  at the time of the refund request, the customer is entitled only to store credit. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you decide to reimburse the customer, you may reimburse only the sale amount less the Credit amount collected from you by Fincredit Inc.

D. The Program has no impact on store credits and exchanges. Therefore credits and exchanges up to the full amount of the sale may be provided at all time. Any internal operating policy regarding non-cash credit is your expressed decision.  You agree to indemnify and hold Fincredit Inc., Meramak, Vernon Township and Shop Vernon harmless for any claim relating to any dispute regarding the Rebates and your non-cash credit policy.

5.  EQUIPMENT           

A.  If you are implementing the Program at your establishment, you agree to obtain from us the electronic terminal(s) and/or any other device you will need, unless you inform us otherwise.

B.  In no event will we be liable to you or your customers for special, collateral, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the operation or failure of the equipment.

6.  DESIGNATED AUTOMATIC FUNDS TRANSFER ACCOUNT

A.  You authorize us to initiate and/or transmit automatic credit and/or debit entries to account and depository of your choice identified in this Application or in any subsequent written designation (Designated Automatic Funds Transfer Account).  This authority includes, but is not limited to, the initiation and transmission of such entries, request or orders as may be necessary to:

1)       Debit or charge the Designated Automatic Funds Transfer Account for any fees, or other reimbursements due to us under the terms of this Agreement or our operating procedures,

2)       Reverse or adjust any entries made in error or by mistake however caused.

B.  You agree to be bound by all applicable terms and provisions of the rules of the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) or other applicable association or network, in effect from time to time.

C.  You agree that we may adopt or use such schedules, facilities, intermediaries and/or means of transmission, or alternatives as we believe suitable and that we accept no undertaking and make not warranty or assurances regarding the date or time at which entries will be received by, credited to or debited from the Designated Automatic Funds Transfer Account.

D.  You acknowledge that we have no control over you, your agents or employees, intermediaries such as NACHA or other facilities involved in the initiation or transmission of entries to and from the Designated Automatic Funds Transfer Account, and that such facilities or intermediaries may be damaged, impaired or otherwise fail to function properly or timely due to circumstances beyond our control.  You agree that we shall have no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage resulting, wholly or partial, from such failures or circumstances beyond our control, and you assume the risk of any such loss or damage.

E.  You acknowledge that we are providing ACH Services at cost and that we would not do this if we were exposed to liability and cost other than those required by law.  Consequently you agree that we shall not be liable to any extent not required by New Jersey Uniform Commercial Code.  You agree that in no event shall we be liable for any indirect or consequential losses or damages, damages to person or property, or any loss of profits notwithstanding notice to us of the possibility of such losses.

7.  AMENDMENTS

A.  You agree that we shall have the right to change the rules, procedures, terms and conditions under this Agreement.  We agree to inform you of the changes at least 10 of our business days before the change becomes effective. 

B.  We may change the fees from time to time and will give you notice of the change at least 30 calendar days before the effective date.

C.  This Agreement may not otherwise be amended except by written agreement between the parties.

 8.  LEGAL LIABILITY

A.  Should it be necessary for either party to initiate legal action to enforce its rights under this Agreement, the prevailing party will be reimbursed by the other party for all cost and expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, incurred by this legal action.

B.  We agree to exercise due care in processing Stored-value card transactions.  We will have no liability for any acts or omissions due to any cause or conditions beyond our reasonable control.  Our sole liability to you or any third party will be to correct such errors or omissions that are within our power and authority to correct.  In no event will we be liable for any indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or punitive damages, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

 9. HOLD HARMLESS

You, the Merchant, shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Fincredit, Meramak, Shop Vernon and Vernon Township  from any and all actual or alleged claims, demands, causes of action, liability, loss, and/or damage, whether brought by an individual or other entity, or imposed by a court of law or by administrative action of any federal, state, or local governmental body or agency, arising out of or incident to any acts, omissions, negligence, or willful misconduct of the Merchant, its personnel, employees, agents, contractors, associates or volunteers in connection with or arising out of merchant’s services, including, but not limited to, awarding Credits to Cardholders. 

This indemnification applies to and includes, without limitation, the payment of all penalties, fines, judgments, awards, decrees, attorneys’ fees, and related costs or expenses, and any reimbursements to Fincredit and its associates and clients for all legal expenses and costs incurred by them.

10.  ARBITRATION

You and we agree that any and all claims, demands, disputes or controversies of every kind or nature between us arising out of or related to this Agreement, as to the existence, applicability, construction, validity, interpretation, performance or non-performance, enforcement, operation, or breach thereof, which is not otherwise settled by your agreement, shall be submitted to, determined and decided by arbitration, held at Vernon, NJ in accordance with the provisions of the state of NJ Uniform Arbitration Act, or any successor statute.