Evaluating Credit Card Processing Companies

There are numerous credit card processing companies to choose from, each offering different features and fees. Choosing a company to process your customer's credit card payments can be a daunting task, and sometimes you'll experience difficulties both looking for a merchant account provider and then afterwards- if you make the wrong selection!

Many banks will deny small business applications for merchant accounts because they don't want to take the risk. Most small businesses end up going through third party providers who actually get the merchant account on your behalf; then apply their own rate structure to your transactions.

If you operate an online business, you'll need a shopping cart program of some kind- which must work with the system you use to process credit cards online. Unfortunately, if you go with a third party shopping cart rather than a custom written one it may not work with all credit card processing gateways. You really need to be sure that whatever shopping cart program you use on your web site works with the merchant account you ultimately end up using to process customer payments.

Accepting credit cards is not free! You pay the third party merchant account provider (or the bank if you are able to secure your own account directly with a bank that provides it) will charge you fees in exchange for the ability to accept credit card payments. The fees and rates you pay will vary depending on many factors, including how long you've been in business, the type of business you operate, your credit score, how much of your sales are processed by phone versus online, and the amount of credit card sales you process each month.

Some providers charge an annual fee in addition to a fee per transaction, while other providers only charge a percentage of each transaction processed. Typical rates for small businesses accepting phone and mail order payments are $0.10 to $0.30 plus 2 to 3% of the transaction amount. If the merchant account providers you are looking at want to charge over this percentage, be sure to check out a few others to see if you can get a lower rate before signing up. Sometimes, your credit rating will result in your having to pay higher fees- but it's worth shopping around a little to see if you can get a lower percentage rate per transaction.

When you're shopping companies looking for the best merchant account provider, make sure to compare all of the fees to see how much you're going to end up spending per each sale. You should also take into consideration what the application fee is (if any), how much you pay annually, how much you must spend on equipment needed to set up your account, and whether or not you must maintain a monthly minimum of sales volume.

Also compare how each merchant account provider allows you to withdraw your money- can you do it whenever you want or do you have to do it at specific times of the month or year? How long will it take to receive your funds once you've requested a withdrawal or transfer of the money? How does the provider handle charge backs?

Always read all of the forms and contracts associated with merchant accounts before you sign anything. Understand the terms for cancellation and what conditions the provider can cancel your account, as well.

The process for applying for a merchant account varies depending on the company, but you may be asked to provide a photo of your office (even if it's in your home) to verify you are in the location you say that you are. Some companies will want to send a representative to photograph your place of business. Occasionally, you'll be asked to provide a DBA or business license, your tax returns and profit and loss statements.

This article has been provided by Creditor Web. Creditor Web has the articles and other credit card processing resources to help you choose the right provider.

The History of Credit Card Processing in America

Charge cards can be dated back to the early 1900s. In 1914, what seems purely as a customer service goodwill gesture, Western Union gave some of their prominent (preferred) customers a metal card to be used in deferring payments-interest free-on services used. One source said this card became known as "Metal Money."

As time progressed so did the charge card. Up till the start of WW II, department stores, communication companies, travel and delivery companies, and oil companies had extended this service to their preferred customers. These company based charge cards were limited by their use exclusively through the issuing company. These companies issued the cards, processed the transactions, and collected the debts from the customer.

In WW II, the use of credit and charge cards was prohibited.

After WW II, credit cards became more accessible to the general public After seeing trends indicating increased travel and spending among those who held charge cards, banks became interested in credit cards-after all they were in the business of lending money, and they saw the profit potential behind attaching interest to the cards.

When banks first got into the credit card business, they were only issuing cards to local consumers. In 1951, the Franklin National Bank in New York, issued the "Charge It" card. Which allowed customers to charge purchases at local stores. This charge card system worked much like credit card systems work today. The consumer made a purchase using the card; the merchant performed a credit authorization from the network, then completed the sale. The bank would reimburse the retailer and collect the debt from the consumer at a later date. Other banks across the nation were impressed with the success of this process that within several years after the "Charge It" card they offered their customers similar services for making purchases at local retail establishments.

In the 1950s the first charge card was developed that allowed consumers to make charges for services and goods from a variety of retail outlets. This innovation was the Diner's Club charge card, which was established for business men to use for travel and entertainment expenses. The Diner's Club card gave its members up to 60-days to make payment.

The first "revolving-credit" card was issued in the State of California by the Bank of America. The card, BankAmericard, was marketed all across the state. This card set another milestone in the development of the credit card industry. The BankAmericard was the first card to give cardholders payment options. Payment options like today's cards, let consumers pay the debt in whole or they could make monthly minimum payments while the banks charged interest on the remaining balances.

By the 1960s, bank card associations begun to emerge. In 1965, Bank of America issued licensing agreements to other banks-both large and small-across the nation. These licensing agreements permitted regional banks to issue BankAmericards and to exchange transactions through issuing banks.

By 1969, most independent bank charge cards had been converted over to either the BankAmericard or Master Charge cards.

Eventually, charge card issuing and processing became too large of a task for the banking industry to handle. That is what lead to the emergence of credit card associations such as Interlink Association, Western States Bank Card Association, and National BankAmericard Inc. Current associations include Visa and Master Card.

The next major changes in the credit card industry involved streamlining transaction processing and reducing credit card fraud. In the early 1970s, electronic authorizations allowed the retail establishment to get approval for credit card transactions 24 hours per day.

By the mid 1970s, the credit card industry started exploring international waters, but had some difficulty because of the name association; "America" in BankAmericard, for instance. This lead to the renaming of BankAmericard to Visa and Master Charge followed suit by changing its name to Master Card.

By 1979, electronic processing was improving. Electronic dial up terminals and magnetic strips on the back of credit cards allowed retailers to swipe the customer's credit card through the dial up terminal, which accessed issuing bank card holder information. This process gave authorizations and processed settlement agreements in a mater of 1-2 minutes. An added benefit was paper reduction.

The early 1980s, gave birth to the first Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), which allowed consumers access to cash, and to make deposits, 24 hours a day across our nation and in other countries as well. Credit card holders could access cash in different currencies.

Since its existence, Visa has been a leader in credit card innovation. Because of this they have emerged as the world's leading credit card association with over 1-billion cards being issued, and carrying over 50% of all credit card transactions conducted world wide.

"Visa (International) is a "not for profit" organization comprised of over 40,000 member Banks and MasterCard is a for "Profit" company who issues credit cards and sets and maintain rules for credit card acceptance and processing. They are both run by board members who are mostly high-level executives from their member banks and industry heavy hitters."

There are five leaders in the credit card industry: Visa International, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and Diner's Club. There are others trying to penetrate the industry like check processing companies, Euro Card, JCB and ATM companies but credit cards still account for over 90% of all e-commerce transactions!

Mike Knudtson is the co-founder of the Fastcharge Payment Gateway and the founder of merchant account provider Electronic Transfer, Inc.. He has helped thousands of merchants set up retail and ecommerce payment processing for their business. Electronic Transfer, Inc. is one of the leading merchant service companies serving merchants since 1989.