The Basics To Setting Up A Merchant Account
Copyright (c) 2006 Jim Saka
If you’re business is not offering credit card payments,
you could potentially be losing out on a tremendous amount
of business. Because of the options you give customers by
offering credit card payments, it creates a wider customer
base. However, the first step to offering credit card
payments through your business is setting up a merchant
account.
A merchant account is a bank account that is established by
your company to receive the payments from credit card
purchases. Simply done, right? It is a little more
extensive than it comes off as, especially if you are
accepting credit cards online. However, it is well worth
it to set up a merchant account because of the potential
increase in your business.
Generally, you will also need to lease equipment and
software when setting up your merchant account. The reason
for this is to ensure you and the customer that the
transaction flows to your operating account.
If you are looking to accept credit cards online, you will
need to sign up with a payment gateway. The payment
gateway will allow you to accept credit card transactions
online. When selecting your payment gateway, it is vital
that the gateway is compatible with your software so that
the transactions go through. Some of the more well-known
payment gateways include Paypal, SECPay and authorize.net.
When you are looking for the right financial institution to
help you set up your merchant account, make sure to
research in-depth. There are a number of financial
institutions that can offer you a merchant account, but you
are going to want to go through an institution that has
experience with small businesses. The reason being is that
you are just starting out, so the institution will assist
you with setting up your merchant account far better than
any other financial institution.
The next phase of setting up your merchant account is the
application. Each financial institution varies from one
another, so you can receive word of your application from
anywhere between 48 hours to 2 weeks. If you are starting
an internet business, it is far more difficult to be
approved than a retail store because of the higher rates
for charge back and fraud.
After all this, how much is it going to cost you to be able
to accept credit card payments? You should expect to pay
on average around $200 to $300 for start up costs when
setting up your merchant account. After that, there are
processing fees that will cost you 2-2.75% of your annual
sales volume for online transactions. Remember, this is a
small fee for having versatility and opening the doors to
many more customers.
While it may seem like a lot, it is a rather quick and
painless process to set up a merchant account. Once it is
set up, you will be ready to accept credit card payments on
or offline.
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For more information about Jim Saka or to find out how your
business can can benefit from accepting credit cards online
or at a place of business visit United Bank Card PS at
http://www.unitedbankcardps.com
