Thursday, February 14, 2008

MERCHANT ACCOUNTS

Merchant account offers innumerable benefits that surpass those offered by a credit card or a pay pal account It enables you to receive payments from all sorts of credit cards It is of great value to the businesspersons as they can immediately process the payment of their customers Credit card is just an alternative to cash or check that enables you to make the payment for your purchase or any other transaction that involves the exchange of money Credit card is basically required by almost every person who wishes to carry out the transactions without any hassles sitting in his her own comfort zone It is merely a form of making the payment and not the means itself Well talking about the pay pal account it enables the buyers as well as sellers to exchange money for their transaction via email Merchant accounts offer you the benefit of indulging in offline transactions as well which is not there in case of the pay pal account Pay pal account does not take into consideration the face to face transactions

Pay pal can be described as the electronic version of the traditional payment system The consumers using their credit card to access their pay pal account are required to sign up an agreement without which they cannot ask for protection under state laws such as the Federal Fair Credit Billing Act In case of a pay pal account the problem faced by the consumers is attended only if it has been filed within thirty days from the date of purchase Merchant account enables you to obtain the money earned within 48 hours of the transaction The payment gets automatically credited to your business checking account Unlike a pay pal account there are no restrictions on the volume of sales if you maintain your own merchant account The merchant account ensures that the flow of cash from one account to another is not hampered in any manner With pay pal account you can take the orders only by accessing your company website However in case of a merchant account the orders can be taken from not just the website but also from the office factory and trade fairs and exhibitions It can be concluded that merchant account is in all aspects better than the credit card or pay pal account A commercial account or a merchant account is established by an agreement between the bank or the merchant account provider and the businessman or the merchant is known as a merchant account This agreement has a welldefined set of rights warranties and duties You can approach the bank or the payment processor to get the account Once you decide to set up a merchant account to accept credit cards try to compare the offers of the various banks or the merchant services provider After you approach the bank the bank requests information about your business to access it According to this assessment it determines what fees you will have to pay for the transaction the processing time is around 1 to 4 weeks Budding businesses may take more as the bank requests additional information from them Generally the bank requires information about your business history performance particulars details about your expected turnover business accounts average transaction values and what goods and services you are offering or selling before setting a merchant account and providing credit card machines.

A merchant account enables one to accept credit card payments. There are different kinds of merchant accounts, and Internet merchant accounts are one of them.Such accounts can be used only for online transactions. To process credit card payments one has to use a payment service gateway. These kinds of gateways are now part of most business webhosting packages. They can be customized to cater to the requirements of merchants. The transaction fee charged by Internet accounts is higher than the retail and Mail Order Telephone Order (MOTO) accounts.While operating an Internet merchant account, security is an important issue. The nature and volume of business determines whether you need an Internet merchant account or not. One should read and understand the terms and conditions for operating this account carefully, before accepting them.If you have $100, you can easily open an Internet merchant account; if you are paying more than this amount then you are being overcharged. Internet merchant accounts provide an account holder the ability to process transactions anywhere in the world. You can do it while traveling.

An Internet merchant account can be opened in a few minutes by filling out a form which is available online. It gets activated within seconds. Earlier, when online merchant accounts were not available, it used to take at least a few days and a few hundred dollars to open a merchant account. But the advent of the Internet merchant account has revolutionized the concept of merchant accounts. Even small businesses can afford to open such accounts. If you have a problem in operating your Internet merchant account, you can use the technical support made available by your banker. Business that are small, home based, deal with mail order, or operate online can benefit from a merchant account service. The merchant account service allows the customers to pay for goods in an easy and safe manner, while allowing the business owner to accept more modes of payment. There is a "win win" for both the customer and the business owner.The business owner can set up these merchant accounts for a low processing fee. Today, with the advance in the industry and the online business, there are several merchant account providers in the market and each offers similar service with few valued added features.With more and more consumers today going online to make their purchases or using their credit cards, it would be a wise decision on the part of the business owner to have access to merchant account service. This way he or she would be able to tap into a big customer base.Having a merchant account service that includes acceptance of major credit cards can increase sales up to 40%, according to studies.One major benefit that a merchant account service provides the customers is that they are able to process their orders in an easy, rapid, and reliable way. The business owner is able to accept their choice of payment method quickly and easily. Many merchant account service providers now accept personal checks to draw in more customers.

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