Credit Card Processing - 7 Things You Need to Know Before Opening an Online Merchant Account

When considering opening an online merchant account to accept credit card orders, there are a lot of things you need to keep in mind. The best thing to do is learn all about credit card processing before you open your online merchant account so you can handle everything from the beginning rather than having to go back and make many changes.

The following topics are things you need to know about credit card processing online before you open an online merchant account:

Topic 1 Security

When it comes to making online purchases you need to be sure your customers feel as confident as possible that your site is secure and there is a very small percentage that any fraud will take place during their purchase. In general, the credit card processing software takes care of the security for the transactions; however you can boost security on your own website to reduce the theft of credit card numbers, hackers, and general fraud. Also, consider using additional secure measures like asking for the numbers on the back of their visa card or the four numbers on the front of their American Express. Doing so ensures that the person ordering has the credit card in hand, and more than likely this is the owner of the card.

Topic 2 Fixed Rates

Before signing up with a credit card processing company you want to make sure you will be receiving fixed rates for the life of the service. Many firms offer this so don’t feel that this is not an option. When you set this up, it is important that you get this in writing to ensure your rates stay the same. Of course, your rates will rise if Visa or MasterCard increase what they charge for credit card purchases, but this should be the only condition. Don’t sign any contracts without addressing this issue!

Topic 3 Bundled Rates

Be careful with bundled rate offers. Frequently, credit card processing companies will mention bundled rates and how they will save you money. This may or may not be the case, depending on your products and the average price you sell them for. Do some research on this topic in comparison to the types and prices of products you sell to see if it will save you money or not. For most businesses it costs more.

Topic 4 Confidence

Before you open an online merchant account, be sure you have complete confidence in the company that is handling the credit card processing. If for some reason you do not, even if you don’t know why, keep moving on until you find one you do feel comfortable with.

Topic 5 Credit Cards and Debit Cards

You want credit card processing software that will allow you to accept a wide variety of credit cards as well as debit cards. Do not limit yourself to just Visa or MasterCard. Also accept cards like American Express, Diners Club, as well as all bank debit cards. Doing this will only increase your business.

Topic 6 Accept Credit Cards

Before opening an online merchant account you should know that most people are going to purchase from you using their credit or debit card. Sending personal checks and or money orders might be an option you provide for the small percentage without credit cards or who mistrust the Internet, but most people are going to buy with their cards so it is important to have secure software and an easy to use interface.

Topic 7 Save Payment Information

Many websites offer the option to save payment information. This means that more than likely, you will have a return customer who wants to save time when shopping next time by not having to type in all of their information again. Provide this option to shoppers on your website!

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Choosing the Right Credit Card Processing Company

There are many credit card processing companies to choose from, how do you know which one you should go with? Will they benefit your company? Are they affordable? Are they reliable? The internet can be a great tool for finding the right credit card processing company. Do your homework, determine which one has the features you need and are looking for in a company.

First, though reliability and trust is most important, you may likely be concerned about the start up costs. Some companies do not charge anything for startup, while others can charge as much as $250 start up fees. You want to make sure you choose a company that is both affordable for you and worth the costs.

Then of course, in keeping with costs, you need to look at other fees that may be required. Most credit card processing services charge several types of monthly fees. For example, a gateway fee, this could cost you as little as $10.00 per month and all the way up to $50.00 or more per month, depending on which company you choose.

You might have a statement fee as well charged to you each month. For most companies, this will cost you between $9.00 and $10.00 each month. Then you have to consider the monthly minimums, this will vary from one company to the next, but for the most part, this minimum runs between $20 and $30 monthly.

The fees do not stop there either. You will also have to deal with transaction fees. Per transaction fees average between twenty-four cents to thirty-five cents per transaction. Then on top of that, the company will likely take a percentage of each transaction as well, which could be anywhere from 2.14% to 2.40% on average. Lastly, some credit card processing companies charge a fee for address verification. If they charge the price is typically five or ten cents per address.

In other words, you need to find a company that is both affordable, trustworthy, and honest, fitting your budget at all the same time.

Then you have the chore or finding a credit card processing company that provides you with all the features you need for your company. This is just as important as costs because you definitely do not want to pay a lot for credit card processing if the company cannot meet your needs.

Some features to look for, that you may or may not need, includes:

Payment Gateway

• Virtual Terminal
• Merchant Account
• How many days the payments clear
• e-Check services
• Point of Sale Swiper
• Recurring Billing
• Shopping Cart

You will then want to look at how the credit card processing company protects your business. Some features you will definitely want from any company includes:

• Fraud Protection
• CVV2 Acceptance
• Real Time Processing
• Address Verification
• SSL

Then you need to consider what credit cards you wish to accept and if the credit card processing company supports those credit cards. The most commonly accepted credit cards are:

• Discover
• Visa
• American Express
• MasterCard

Lastly, while features, fraud protection, and the credit cards that you can accept are extremely important, you want to make sure that you choose a credit card processing company that provides you with the help and support you need, when you need it. Here are some tips that will help you choose:

1. Make sure that you can easily find their fax number
2. Make sure that reaching them by E-Mail is possible and readily available.
3. Check out their support hours, the best companies offer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. Does the company provide you with a toll-free telephone number? This is a positive for any company.
5. If Live Online Chat is important you, look for this feature as well.

Overall, you want to make sure the credit card processing company you choose not only fits your budget, but it fits your needs and requirements as well.

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.

Credit Card Processing: How to Legally Beat the System by Passing Processing Fees to Customers

Imposing surcharges on credit card transactions is illegal, and it will only lead to problems. The secret to beating the credit card processing system is not charging more for credit card sales, but instead is charging less for cash sales. It may sound like the same thing, but there is a big difference.
 

The increasing costs associated with accepting credit cards are leaving many merchants searching for ways to pass along at least a portion of processing expenses to their customers. Card originators such as VISA and MasterCard are becoming wary of this new trend and are enforcing strict regulations specifically designed to hinder any such efforts by merchants to impose surcharges on credit card purchases.

Discount fees, transaction costs, and other expenses associated with the acceptance of electronic bank cards (credit and debit cards) are putting a strangle hold on to the NET profits of businesses of all sizes. To help minimize the impact that processing costs are having on profits, many businesses are charging a surcharge to customers that choose to pay for products or services using a credit or debit card.

Card originators such as VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover have a lot to lose if the practice of imposing surcharges on credit card transactions becomes popular among merchants. When merchants impose surcharges on credit transactions, they make purchasing on credit a less appealing option to consumers, and many consumers choose to avoid the additional cost by simply paying with cash or a check. A decrease in the use of credit cards by consumers translates directly into lost revenue for processing banks. Not only do banks lose out on the processing fees that they would have collected from the merchant, but they lose any finance charges that would have been incurred by the customer as well.
 

You may wonder why so many businesses still choose to place a surcharge on credit transactions, even though it is strictly forbidden in the processing agreement they had to sign when opening their merchant account. Quite frankly, many business people choose to ignore this clause in their processing agreement and impose a surcharge anyway. This approach is not recommended. When and if these businesses are discovered, their merchant accounts will be terminated, and they may even be placed on the Terminated Merchant File (TMF) which will make it nearly impossible for them to acquire another merchant account.

Card originators and banks have control over credit card (bankcard) transactions, and they can legally ban a merchant from imposing surcharges. However, they do not have any legal control over other forms of payment such as cash and checks. The largest card originator (VISA) has even published information stating that, "You may, however, offer a discount for cash transactions, provided that the offer is clearly disclosed to customers and the cash piece is presented as a discount from the standard price charged for all other forms of payment".1

Most merchant accounts operate on a tiered discount pricing grid and, ironically, the secret to beating credit card processing fees is to impose tiered pricing on your products and services as well. The old saying, "if you can’t beat em', join em’" applies perfectly.

While you can’t charge extra for credit card sales, you can charge less for cash as long as all prices are clearly stated to customers, and the cash price is reflected as a discount from the original purchase price. For example: if the price tag on an item states that the item costs $10, the cash price must be represented as a discount from that price. The price tag for this particular item should look something like this:
 

Price: $10.00
5% discount for cash payment @ $9.50
5% Discount for Check Payment @ $9.50
 

By utilizing a tiered pricing grid, merchants can alleviate the cost of accepting credit cards, while still providing their customers with the freedom to choose their preferred method of payment.

1. Published by VISA in the Card Acceptance and Chargeback Management Guide for VISA Merchants,
Jack Lang is the senior contributor member at http://www.merchantcouncil.org. The Merchant Council is a free resource dedicated to assisting businesses obtain and manage credit card processing and merchant account services. A wealth of merchant account information can be found at MerchantCouncil.org.