Merchant Account and Credit Card Processing Advice and Information

‘When you´re ready to think about accepting credit cards, chances are you´ll turn to your bank to process the transactions. It´s a logical choice, but your bank may not provide the service or be willing to offer it to you if it considers your business too risky.

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Banks are cautious about providing merchant accounts to small businesses — particularly mail order and home-based businesses — for fear money won´t be there to cover disputed charges or returned merchandise. They´re also concerned about potential fraud and abuse.

Although banks have historically provided the service, about 85 percent of credit card transactions now go through credit card processing companies, according to the Electronic Transaction Association. A credit card processor essentially stands between your business and the bank where your merchant account is located.’

Read more at What to Look For in a Credit Card Processor

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 31, 2005 - PayPal, the global online payment service, today announced new micropayments processing fees for digital goods. The new pricing will provide merchants with a more affordable way to process payments for low-cost digital content such as video games, online greeting cards, news articles, mobile phone content and digital music. PayPal’s micropayments pricing is designed to give customers the convenience of a-la-carte purchases, such as 99-cent downloadable ringtones, without having to sign up for annual subscriptions or pre-funded payment accounts.

An extension of PayPal’s existing payment service for digital music providers, PayPal’s new micropayments pricing is designed especially for payments less than $2. The new fees will enable merchants to process payments at a rate of 5 percent plus 5 cents per transaction. Because of the reduced fixed fee, merchants can save 40 to 60 percent when processing low-cost payments, compared to the industry’s current payment processing rates of approximately 2 percent plus 20 to 30 cents per transaction.

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BD4D has a good post on how to get your business set up with a Merchant account:

‘In the latest (and probably last) instalment of our “Building a Startup” series, I’m going to talk about my experience with banks in the UK. We’re going to specifically focus on getting a Merchant Account - that golden object that will let you begin taking credit (or debit) card payments online. There’s a fine art to dealing with banks, which I have basically learned the hard way.

I’ve had a business account with Natwest for over a year now, and we’ve always had a healthy balance in the account. I’m on friendly terms with my business bank manager and things were pretty much peachy. So when it came time to get a Merchant Account, I thought “How hard can this be?”’

Read more of How to Build a Successful Web Startup in the UK - Part V: Get Ready to Kiss Your Bank’s Ass

‘If you have been wrestling with the idea of applying for your own 3rd party merchant account then take a look at the following compelling benefits of using a 3rd party provider to mange all of your credit card processing needs.

1. The most inexpensive way to accept credit cards with hassle free, quick application process and set up.

2. New start-up businesses, sole traders and home-based businesses individuals are very welcome.

3. Incredibly low fee structure considering there are no application fees, leases, no monthly fees, no statement fees and no extra charges for software.

4. No charges are needed for payment gateway fees to a third party company as this is already provided at no extra cost. ‘

Read more at 10 Compelling Benefits of Having A 3rd Party Merchant Account

‘Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Paynet Systems Inc. provides Credit Card Processing Services and Merchant Account Services to retail, wholesale, mail order, and E-Commerce businesses. The clients are able to accept every form of payment available including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Carte Blanche, Diners Club, checks, and every major ATM card network nationwide.

Merchant Services provided by Paynet systems include access to all major credit cards and regional debit networks, cutting edge Check Guarantee Services with electronic deposit, and point-of-sale solutions at competitive prices

Paynet Systems has updated its Affiliate Program to include real time tracking and reporting.’

Read more at Paynet Systems Announces Affiliate Program

There’s a good article over at Workz on choosing an alternative to PayPal as a merchant account:

‘Many people think that in order to do business online you need to have an expensive merchant account to have the ability to take payments by credit card from your customers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Merchant accounts can be hard to get and the monthly fees can really add up.

So what’s an honest Internet Entrepreneur to do?

The answer for most is Paypal.com. It’s easy to set up an account, and fees are low and depend on your monthly sales (for most it will be 2.9% and .30 per transaction). You’ll find most Net users trust and use PayPal for their everyday purchases, so they won’t have a problem using it on your website to purchase from you.

However, relying solely on PayPal.com for your business can be risky. Should you ever lose your PayPal account or you have it “frozen,” your online income will come to a screeching halt. You need a backup plan; another way to accept payments — or you’ll have to close up shop. This is the same thing as relying on one stream of income. If you lose your job your only source of revenue dries up as well. That’s why multiple streams are best to keep you in the green….’

Read more at PayPal Alternatives

‘2005–e-onlinedata, Inc. and Total Online Solutions, Inc. today announced a new partnership which brings unprecedented merchant account pricing and service to the Web Hosting and ISP communities for their own credit card transactions.

”We believe the aggressive pricing that e-onlinedata is offering the Web Hosting and ISP communities for their own credit card processing shows e-onlinedata’s dedication and commitment to these markets,” said Steve Ahnen, CEO of Total Online Solutions, Inc.

This new solution offers a program that will allow even the smallest Web Host or ISP to select e-onlinedata’s merchant account program over all other offerings in the market today, because there are no start up costs and no monthly minimums with extremely low Visa/MasterCard rates.’

Read more at Web Hosting and ISP Communities Benefit from Merchant Account Partnership

Entrepreneur’s Journey has a good write up on Paypal’s new Payments Pro full Merchant Account facility and writes:

‘Paypal has launched a new fully featured payment system called Payments Pro that includes the features of a payment gateway and merchant account.

A lot of web business owners currently use Paypal to process payments. Using the standard system a user is directed to the Paypal site to make the payment and then is returned to your site after payment is complete. The difference with the Payments Pro system is that the payment process is seamless - it integrates completely into your website so the user never leaves and never sees a Paypal page. They won’t even realise they have made a payment with Paypal unless you tell them….’

‘With the constant stream of stories relating to online fraud, is it any wonder that many SMEs do not set up an online sales channel? It has also been suggested in the past that Irish banks have been very risk averse when it comes to supporting online ventures — particularly those that don’t have a long history as a bricks and mortar business.

So much for the perception — in reality, what does the average business need to do to start accepting payments online for its products or services? There are three basic components: a merchant account; a payments gateway; and some e-commerce shopping cart software.

While the banks may not have changed their attitude to the risk associated with online selling — one of the riskier types of customer-not-present transactions — online traders have become more realistic with their proposals, according to Colm Lyon, managing director of Realex Payments and also chairman of the Irish Internet Association (IIA).’

Read more at The silent e-commerce revolution

‘Take a second and imagine your shopping on a website, find the product you’ve been looking for, and as you go to the order form to purchase it, you find out that the company doesn’t accept payment online. Instead, you must mail a check. If you were like me, you would probably click off the site and search for another company that offers the same products and *does* accept payment online, whether it is by credit card or online check. It doesn’t take a super, intelligent person to realize that it is inconvenient, time consuming, and adds on lag time till you get your purchase when you must sit down, write out a check, and mail it. That is why it is extremely important that you offer some type of online payment solution for your e-business.

Accepting credit cards is the most well known way to accept payment on the Internet. Almost everyone has a credit card and by accepting his or hers, it makes customers’ ordering process much more convenient and time saving, not to mention it encourages them to purchase from you. Accepting credit cards has become a necessity to the survival of e-businesses.

In order to accept credit cards, you’re going to need a merchant account. To obtain one, just do a search on your favorite search engine. You will be provided with a list of many different merchant account providers to choose from. Merchant services contract with several merchant-processing banks that will actually accept and process your business transactions.

For each transaction the bank processes, you will be charged a discount rate, or percentage, of the face value of the amount charged, along with a per transaction fee (usually ranging from $0.20 to $0.30). When you perform your transaction, and receive an authorization number, the charged amount is immediately wire-transferred out of your customers’ credit card account into your merchant account. The merchant bank will then discount, or deduct, the percentage rate and per transaction fee, and wire-transfer the balance of the charge into the business checking account of your choice. At the end of the month, you will receive a statement, for your records, so that you can balance your account…. ‘

Read more at Credit Card Merchant Service: - Credit Card Merchant Service Merchant Services Resources: