Considerations Before Canceling a Merchant Account

October 14th, 2009 | No Comments »
Posted by blogger under general

Canceling a merchant account is as simple as contacting your merchant service provider and requesting that the account be closed. For security reasons, some providers may require you to submit information verifying your identity before they will process a merchant account cancellation request. Although the process of closing an account is simple, it is sometimes accompanied by a surprise in the form of a potentially large early termination fee. Early termination fees range from up to 0 or more and they’re used by merchant service providers to retain merchants for a specified period of time. Finding out that you have to pay a hefty cancellation fee in order to close your merchant account can be a very frustrating experience, but there are things that you can do to lessen or even eliminate the fee. The first thing to do is to check whether or not the early termination fee is still valid. Many merchant service agreements have a clause that voids the termination fee if processing rates are raised within the contract term. For example, if discount rates are raised on a merchant account in the first year of operation the early termination fee for that account would be waived regardless of the contract term. Due to the high turnover in the merchant services industry contributing to the lack of knowledge of many sales representatives, you can’t rely on you merchant service provider to bring this loop-hole to your attention. Even if they insist that such a provision doesn’t exist in their agreement, check for yourself to be sure. It’s not uncommon to find a salesperson in the merchant service industry that has never read their acquiring bank’s processing agreement in its entirety. If you can’t get around the cancellation fee to terminate your account, you may find that’s it’s cheaper to leave the account open until the contract term expires. Depending on the total of monthly fees your merchant account has, it may be less expensive to leave the account active and pay the monthly fees until the terms ends and you can close the account without penalty. For example, a merchant account with a monthly minimum and a statement fee costs per month if there is no processing volume. If the cancellation fee for the same account is 0 and there are four months left in the account’s term, a merchant would save 0 by leaving the account open instead of cancelling and paying the fee (0 – ( * 4months) = 0). If you want to improve your business, you have to have your own Visa Merchant Account. Visa Merchant Account not only gives your customer convenience but pleasure as well. Get your Visa Merchant Account now.

All About Credit Card Processing

October 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »
Posted by blogger under general

Credit cards have given businessmen a world of opportunities that their predecessors never took pleasure in. Nowadays, all sorts of businesses, from online to traditional, are benefiting from the expediency of these plastics. Even customers are very happy about what these cards can do for them which balances the whole equation. On the side of the businessman, on the other hand, there is the need to be secure about the processing of these cards in order for them to be truthfully advantageous. True, a lot of their sales, if not most, are paid through cards. But unless one is absolutely sure that there are no anomalies in the way the payments are processed, one can never enjoy the full advantage of merchant accounts. It is always vital for any merchant to carefully consider his options when planning to set up a merchant account service. Of course, the key step would certainly be to find a bank that caters to the type of processing needed for the merchant’s specific type of business. This task may be made easy with banks offering specific service packages that are customized according to the needs of different businesses as well. When choosing a merchant account provider, it is also important for the merchant to keep in mind that many banks do not have an in-house processing department. Instead, they partner with an independent credit card processing company which they commission to handle the processing of their clients’ accounts. All these all the more add to the necessity that merchants in fact take the time to review each bank and look into their rates and services before actually setting up an account. If you’re thinking how base rates are calculated, there are a lot of factors that merchant account providers and credit card processing companies consider. One is the risk associated with the industry you’re in, another is your own credit standing and the probability that your customers or clients commit fraud. Industry risks are assessed based on the chances that the bank will have to shoulder chargeback’s if and when your business won’t be able to sustain a good financial standing. Your chargeback rate, or the figure representing the incidence and manner that you’ve dealt with chargeback’s will also be considered. To ensure the protection of your customer’s online customers, you will be required to secure your website with a program designed for this particular purpose. If you operate a physical store, you will also need to purchase processing equipment for authentication. The credit card terminal will be your major direct investment when you want to start accepting credit cards and you will have options on how to obtain it. You may buy the machine or lease it while considering the discount fee, which is a certain amount you have to pay your bank or provider per transaction, as well as application and activation fees. There is no need to get a service that your type of business doesn’t really need, but getting credit card processing equipment is obviously a necessary investment when you want to offer convenience to your customers by accepting credit cards.

Choosing A Merchant Account

September 27th, 2009 | No Comments »
Posted by blogger under general

A business with an Internet merchant account can be a lot easier to run than one without. The business will now be able to take in an almost unlimited number of customers since it can now accept payments from everywhere and everyone. If you have brought your store online and are still stuck with the old ways of processing purchases, you could be missing out on a lot! In fact, you could be stunting your business’ growth as a result. If you take the time to study about the possibility of getting an account, you’ll be able to appreciate the advantages of actually having one, specifically on how it is bound to positively impact you and your business. Accepting credit cards is already a very common way of making purchases these days. But if you’re new in your business or to the whole idea of credit cards, you will have to take a crash course about these plastics before they will work for you. The number one consideration is the type of business you have. If it’s something that allows you to sell to an unlimited number of people, then you will need to get an offshore or international merchant account in order to accept payments in any currency and take advantage of the markets from across the world. There are many merchant banks, account providers and lenders that you may study as options for getting your internet merchant account. Of course, you need to be able to spot the differences among them and decide which one is more likely to advance your best interests the most. Expect different policies, rates and regulations. Sometimes, they may look alike but they will never be exactly so. This is the reason why you should always have the patience and the diligence to at least look into five different options. Most local providers tend to decline Internet merchant account applications because of the anonymity involved which makes transactions riskier. Although these Internet-based transactions may be more likely to be the subject of fraud, providers that offer merchant account services may also provide fraud protection. This is naturally what you should look for in an Internet merchant account provider. If you’re still new to the idea, you have to be open to the possibilities that an Internet merchant account can bring to your business. Also, since this is the trend among online businesses, it could be difficult for you to compete with those that actually offer customers the convenience of paying with their credit cards. If you want to learn more about Merchant Accounts, read through these articles. You will surely learn a lot. Selecting Your Payment Gateway Questions to Ask A Potential Internet Merchant Account Provider Merchant Accounts – Getting One For Your Customers

Improving Your Business Means Accepting Credit Cards

September 27th, 2009 | No Comments »
Posted by blogger under general

Having a website up and running is great especially if you have hired a very competent and devoted team to administer and manage it. As long as you use effective search optimization skills, your site is definitely going to help as far as getting your products or services to people is concerned. On the other hand, if you want to actually satisfy your target market, you can’t just depend on your sites information dissemination function. You have to make it make money for you by adding an e-commerce feature so you can sell right from your site. The advent of internet has brought a lot of benefits and it has, in itself, turned out to be a market which definitely means that there is a great guarantee from mere website visits to instantly turn into sales. When you’re able to accept payments through your site, you know how much that makes a difference especially as competition with sites that have existing e-commerce sites is tough. So waste no time and start taking advantage of credit card merchant processing as you begin selling from your site. The primary thing that you will be needing is a software which allows you to buy or avail from hosing and credit card processing companies. Then you can buy a dedicated SSL certificate for real time credit card processing. This is your way of making sure that all data entered into the server will be secure. If you’re not keening on getting on this certificate, you have the option of directing your customers to an alternative site where they can supply their details and make payments before being reverted back to your site. Making a choice between contracting the service of a separate payment gateway or something that is integrated within your merchant account is also important. You might want to consider that an independent gateway will have its own merchant account, but if you have a merchant account, you can get a gateway that pays directly into your account with that bank . There will, of course, be fees involved but if you don’t have an SSL certificate and want to sell through an alternate party, transaction fees per sale are all you need to settle. When you accept payments from a third party, you don’t need a merchant account. However, if you prefer direct payments, you definitely need one with your bank. If you want to learn more about Merchant Accounts, read through these articles. You will surely learn a lot. Accepting Payments Online – Merchant Accounts Questions to Ask A Potential Internet Merchant Account Provider Merchant Account Providers – Selling the First-Rate Points

The Importance Of Obtaining A Merchant Account

September 27th, 2009 | No Comments »
Posted by blogger under general

Not offering your customers the expediency of using their credit cards to pay you online means that you have been losing a lot of money. Nowadays, it is very important to get to the bandwagon and follow the existing trends in business and one of this is to allow your customers to use their credit cards to pay you online and this is basically one of the greatest foundation of most online businesses. Just picture out how much money you could be losing the moment a visitor would try to make a purchase and realize that you don’t accept credit cards, just imagine the dismay or the frustration that your customer will be feeling. The solution? Well, it’s obvious. You have to get a merchant. This solution may sound very difficult not to mention all the requirements that you have comply first. But still, having this merchant account will make you have the ability to accept credit cards and this will be, in the long run, the best step you have ever taken. Obtaining the ideal kind of account for your company or for you business may seem like a very tricky hurdle but its just all about being open to the numerous programs and strategies that merchant banks or account providers have. Yes, you will desire to go with the one that offers the lowest rate but gives you the optimum business service there is. Depending on the plan that you have chosen, you may make a decision to accept credit cards. There are also a lot of options like accepting bank transfers and many other methods of payment. There are also many different fees and your work is to evaluate these fees charged bay many providers and examine what you may get in return for each fees you pay. Worrying about your application getting approved will not do any good unless you try and get your own account. But there is a saying that the more risk you take for your business, the higher the return and the higher your chances of getting the best merchant account. For instance, if you are a retail shop, you are promised an approval for your application. On the other hand, if your business gives insurance plans where in the possibility that the bank will shoulder the expenses in case you would not be able to, there is a lesser chance for your application to be approved. It’s always a good move to be acquainted with what your chances are by looking into the type of business you’re in before lodging an application. If you honestly think there’s big risk involved, you can avail of the services of a third-party merchant. This third-party merchant will be cushioning whatever financial difficulties you might experience while accepting credit cards. If you want to find out about Merchant Accounts, you can read the following article. Stay Away From Rejection – Merchant Account Questions to Ask A Potential Internet Merchant Account Provider Choosing Your Payment Gateway