Retail Businesses that Should Accept Credit Cards Online

Feb 18, 2014 by admin

Article Written by : Merchant Account Central

Do you own a retail business? While you might already have a credit card machine in your store, it’s also important to accept credit cards online. Whether you have a website or you’re in the process of designing one, your customers will appreciate a convenient way to pay for your products and services on the web. Here are some of the retail companies that can benefit from ecommerce credit card processing.

Beauty Industry

You might find it surprising, but a beauty salon, day spa, or massage parlor can benefit from accepting payments on the web. While you can’t ship a hair cut across town, you can book an appointment for one on the web and have your clients pay in advance. The ability to process payments on the web for services such as haircuts, massages, and beauty treatments will significantly boost your sales. In fact, many technology-savvy beauty parlors have already set up this service on the web. Customers can visit the website to book appointments, purchase in advance, and even buy gift cards for friends and family.

Supply Stores

Whether you own a beauty supply store or an office supply store, chances are your customers are buying supply products in bulk. For this reason it’s important to provide your customers with a convenient way to pay for your products on the web and have them shipped straight to their home or place of business. You will need a photo-rich website with an online catalog of products as well as an easy-to-use shopping cart and payment processing software.

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High Risk Merchant Account Facts and Fiction

Dec 18, 2013 by admin

Learn the truth about high risk merchant accounts. We separate the facts from fiction to give you a clear sense of your options if you have been flagged as a high risk account.

No two businesses are the same, especially when it comes to how they are treated by processors of credit card services. One example is when larger businesses receive a “volume discount” on their fees because of the high amount of transactions they do each month. Another example is when a business is flagged as a “high risk” by merchant banks. While it’s not impossible for a company like this to finding a solution to accept credit cards, it does become more challenging.

There are a lot of myths about high risk merchant accounts floating around. Some of them are based on assumptions and others are just speculation. In many cases, these myths keep businesses from taking the steps they need to secure merchant accounts that will allow them to accept credit card payments as part of their normal business.

Here are a few of the most common misconceptions about high risk merchant accounts and what the truth actually is:

Myth: It’s a business’ fault that they have been marked as a high risk merchant account. Chances are they are doing something shady.

Fact: While some businesses are considered to be high risk by merchant banks because of issues like previous credit issues, many legitimate companies are also placed on the list because of the industry they are in. Companies that are in industries with a high rate of credit card fraud are more likely to be considered a high risk. This can include businesses that do antiques, sports memorabilia, online gaming and ticket sales.

Myth: Individual merchant banks decide who is considered to be a high risk.

Fact: Many businesses are considered to be high risk after being placed on the MATCH list, which was originally developed by Mastercard and is considered to be a “black list” for credit card service providers to evaluate potential clients. A company gets placed on the MATCH list by a bank it has worked with for various reasons including suspected fraud and overcharges, bankruptcy or identity theft.

Myth: Once you have been flagged as a high risk merchant account, it will be impossible to secure credit card payment services.

Fact: While it does make it more difficult, merchant account companies  Payment Solutions, Inc. are often willing to work with companies that have marked as a high risk. Merchant bank credit card service providers will look at a potential client on an individual basis to determine their level of risk. In many cases, businesses are able to secure credit card services at rates that are the same or similar to other companies.

 

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Alternatives to Merchant Accounts

Dec 4, 2012 by admin

Merchant accounts allow business owners to accept credit and debit cards to pay for transactions. Merchant accounts are not always easy to get, however. It may depend on the owner’s credit history or how much they have as a cash reserve. But there are alternatives to these merchant accounts where the requirements aren’t so harsh and the costs are not so expensive.

Physical checks are one alternative to merchant accounts. Whereas the requirements are a lot less than a merchant account, the fess may be slightly higher. When using a merchant account that accepts credit cards, the transaction goes through immediately. Checks do take about 3 or 4 business days to clear the bank. When accepting a check, be sure to compare the signature on the check and the signature on the customer’s driver’s license.

Another alternative is third party providers. The most popular third party provider is PayPal. With PayPal, credit card and debit card transactions can be performed with online and offline purchases. This is ideal for businesses with low numbers of transactions or for businesses who don’t want to deal with the complex issues of merchant accounts. Third party provides are also the lower of the cost options.

Money orders are not very common in the business place these days but there are still some who use them, especially when ordering online. This can be a slow process if you have an online business and a customer uses a money order. The customer has to mail the money order, which could take several days to reach you.

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Merchant Account Basics You Should Know

Dec 4, 2012 by admin

Article Written by : Manufacturing Stoke
New business owners often believe that getting a merchant account can be confusing and a bit overwhelming. But there are three basics that you need to know before getting an account. You need to know what a merchant account is, who offers an account and how much it will cost.

Whether have you have a physical store or you run an e-commerce site, you will need to be able to process credit cards. Many people these days are using credit and debit cards more and more. They are more secure and more convenient than cash. You will need to open a merchant account with a bank or through an online service. Once you sign up for an account, you will be given the correct equipment or software to run the customer’s card through.

Basically a merchant account is a system where you are able to handle credit card or debit card transactions in real-time. It makes things easier for you because it takes just seconds for a transaction to be approved or rejected. There is a contract that will exist between you and the provider. It is important to read and understand the terms of the contract.

You can obtain a merchant account through several financial service institutions. You will find that quite a few people will use a bank as their provider because it is secure and reliable. However, banks do usually have tighter rules and a strict approval process. Another popular option is an internet service provider. There are literally hundreds of them so you need to find the best one for you.

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How to Reduce Your Merchant Account Fees

Nov 24, 2012 by admin

If you have your own business, you most likely know by now that when you open a merchant account to accept credit and debit cards at your place of business, there are several fees associated with this. The good news is that there are ways in which you can reduce these fees to save you money.

The best way to reduce your merchant account fees is to compare services and rates of several merchant providers. You don’t want to sign up with the first account you come across. You may find out that a company will get you to sign with them at a lower rate but this turns out to be a trial rate and in six months, your rate goes up to the regular pricing. Be sure that each provider discloses what your rates will be and if you will save any money.

You can lessen the minimum amount that you pay for processing fees if you are not processing a large volume of sales each month. As a general rule, if you have over $1,400 a month in transactions, the minimum processing fee heads to zero.

You want to avoid any monthly service plans at all costs. There are a good majority of processors that will try and push these monthly fees on your, especially the higher rated plans such as the Platinum plan. The fact is that these plans do not save the merchant any money. These plans are supposed to include things such as paper for the credit card terminals. What many merchants aren’t aware of is that paper is very inexpensive to being with,

By following these simple tips, you can save your business money when having a merchant account.

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How to Reassure Your Customer Their Payment is Secure

Nov 4, 2012 by admin

In this day and age with everything going digital, customer are very much concerned about fraud, more specifically credit card fraud. If you are a merchant with a merchant account that allows you to take credit or debit card payments, you will have customers that are concerned about their privacy.

You, as a merchant, will need to let your customers know that their credit card information is safe and secure. You can offer them a credit card security tutorial. This can be done though email where you send them information on how to protect their privacy and tips of fraud prevention. Also let them know when you have taken steps with your merchant account to implement fraud protection features.

Another way you can help protect credit card data is to work directly with the credit card companies. Most major carriers such as MasterCard and Visa will offer measures to assist with fraud prevention. For instance, Visa tells merchants to give their customers receipts which have just the last four numbers of the card on it and have the machine produce codes to hide the rest of the data. This way if the customer loses their receipt, whoever picks it up will not see the whole card number.

Getting your customers inside your store to look around and purchase items is the easy part. However, assuring them that their credit card information is safe and secure is a whole other ballgame. You will need to convince your customers that when you process their credit card, their information is safe. Once you have their trust on that issue, they will no doubt be repeat customers.

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