The best way to process credit card payments
in retail and over the Internet is to accept credit cards and accept debit cards. Many new
and small businesses may ponder the question, how do I accept credit cards?
The answer lies in the services provided by credit card merchant account
services. These services provide for merchants to process credit card transactions
by an online authorization company and then the charge is credited to your business
merchant account. There are numerous merchant card account providers
that will handle your credit
card transactions. So, the obvious next question is, how do I get a merchant
processing account?
You can locate and setup a merchant account on the Internet to accept credit cards from your customers. You will need to compare merchant services providers and assess the services they provide, the costs associated with those services and the ease of integrating the chosen solution into your business processes. You will want to seek the best merchant account that offers the lowest rate merchant processing to suit your business needs. Seek a merchant services provider such as First Data/FDIS Colorado that complies with PCI-DSS industry standards for credit card transaction security and one that will assist you in integrating the chosen merchant account on the Internet.
You will want the lowest rate merchant processing to process your customer transactions safely and securely. Of course it would be ideal to get the lowest rate merchant account, but a low rate merchant account does not insure that you will get the services you need. More importantly, a low rate merchant account may provide you services that you don’t need. In this case, the lowest rate merchant account may be far more costly in the long term and as a result may not be the best merchant account.
To answer the questions, how do I accept credit cards and how do I get a merchant processing account, you need to understand the process of credit card acceptance. The acceptance of credit cards is a multiple step process that involves getting customer information and details of a credit card before it is checked to determine whether the card is stolen or expired. This is sometimes an optional service provided by another online merchant account provider. Once it is determined that the card is not stolen or expired, the card and transaction must be approved before information is sent to the credit card processor. After that, your customer’s account is debited and your merchant account is credited.
All credit card merchant account services have associated fees that vary by the particular provider and the type of merchant account that you have chosen. All merchant accounts incur core costs as established by the Card Associations. This core cost is the same for all banks and merchant account providers. In addition, your merchant account will incur costs associated with accessing and utilizing bankcard networks as established by the provider as well as payment gateway fees and other customer service costs associated with operating a business merchant account. You must consider all of the applicable fees and how they apply to your business processes. The best merchant account for you is best for processing the types of transactions that you anticipate. If you desire to take advantage of the global reach of the Internet, you will need an international merchant account to account for more costly foreign transactions and credit cards.
Fees incurred for merchant account processing are typically assessed “per transaction”. You must be sure to understand what the provider defines as a transaction. For example, Address Verification Service (AVS) fees are charged “per transaction”, on non swipe transactions, but they are not always bundled in the chosen merchant card account’s “per transaction” fees. Instead they may be included as a separate “per transaction” fee. AVS is not always applicable to foreign credit cards and it is not always a service used by foreign merchant account providers. As such, international merchant accounts typically incur more costs than domestic merchant service accounts.
Some card services, such as American Express, are operated by private business entities and they are not affiliated with bankcard associations. A separate per transaction fee is associated with processing these types of cards. The fee is as established by the card service company.
You may incur monthly and annual minimum fees by some merchant service account providers, which may be more costly for low volume businesses. This is particularly troublesome for small and start-up merchants that don’t have many customers unless you have a reputable merchant account provider who is able to assist you with the best merchant rates possible for your type of business. Be sure to know the quota established by the chosen provider. Be sure to understand the qualified rate and also the types of transactions that the particular provider will downgrade to more costly rates. There can also be a termination fee assessed against merchants who terminate their service before their contract is up or move their business to another merchant account. Finding the best merchant services is easy when companies such as First Data/FDIS Colorado exist, a company who is the leader in credit card processing and merchant services. Contact First Data /FDIS Colorado today at 888-224-9571 or visit their website at www.bettercreditcardprocessing.net
You can locate and setup a merchant account on the Internet to accept credit cards from your customers. You will need to compare merchant services providers and assess the services they provide, the costs associated with those services and the ease of integrating the chosen solution into your business processes. You will want to seek the best merchant account that offers the lowest rate merchant processing to suit your business needs. Seek a merchant services provider such as First Data/FDIS Colorado that complies with PCI-DSS industry standards for credit card transaction security and one that will assist you in integrating the chosen merchant account on the Internet.
You will want the lowest rate merchant processing to process your customer transactions safely and securely. Of course it would be ideal to get the lowest rate merchant account, but a low rate merchant account does not insure that you will get the services you need. More importantly, a low rate merchant account may provide you services that you don’t need. In this case, the lowest rate merchant account may be far more costly in the long term and as a result may not be the best merchant account.
To answer the questions, how do I accept credit cards and how do I get a merchant processing account, you need to understand the process of credit card acceptance. The acceptance of credit cards is a multiple step process that involves getting customer information and details of a credit card before it is checked to determine whether the card is stolen or expired. This is sometimes an optional service provided by another online merchant account provider. Once it is determined that the card is not stolen or expired, the card and transaction must be approved before information is sent to the credit card processor. After that, your customer’s account is debited and your merchant account is credited.
All credit card merchant account services have associated fees that vary by the particular provider and the type of merchant account that you have chosen. All merchant accounts incur core costs as established by the Card Associations. This core cost is the same for all banks and merchant account providers. In addition, your merchant account will incur costs associated with accessing and utilizing bankcard networks as established by the provider as well as payment gateway fees and other customer service costs associated with operating a business merchant account. You must consider all of the applicable fees and how they apply to your business processes. The best merchant account for you is best for processing the types of transactions that you anticipate. If you desire to take advantage of the global reach of the Internet, you will need an international merchant account to account for more costly foreign transactions and credit cards.
Fees incurred for merchant account processing are typically assessed “per transaction”. You must be sure to understand what the provider defines as a transaction. For example, Address Verification Service (AVS) fees are charged “per transaction”, on non swipe transactions, but they are not always bundled in the chosen merchant card account’s “per transaction” fees. Instead they may be included as a separate “per transaction” fee. AVS is not always applicable to foreign credit cards and it is not always a service used by foreign merchant account providers. As such, international merchant accounts typically incur more costs than domestic merchant service accounts.
Some card services, such as American Express, are operated by private business entities and they are not affiliated with bankcard associations. A separate per transaction fee is associated with processing these types of cards. The fee is as established by the card service company.
You may incur monthly and annual minimum fees by some merchant service account providers, which may be more costly for low volume businesses. This is particularly troublesome for small and start-up merchants that don’t have many customers unless you have a reputable merchant account provider who is able to assist you with the best merchant rates possible for your type of business. Be sure to know the quota established by the chosen provider. Be sure to understand the qualified rate and also the types of transactions that the particular provider will downgrade to more costly rates. There can also be a termination fee assessed against merchants who terminate their service before their contract is up or move their business to another merchant account. Finding the best merchant services is easy when companies such as First Data/FDIS Colorado exist, a company who is the leader in credit card processing and merchant services. Contact First Data /FDIS Colorado today at 888-224-9571 or visit their website at www.bettercreditcardprocessing.net
