Accept Credit Card Payments On Your Website With Your Own Merchant Account

If you are going to do business on the web and sell either products or services, then you will have to find a way to accept payments. You could, of course, just request that payments be sent through the mail by check. But in this day and age when people want things right now, the delay caused by accepting checks by mail will most likely hurt your business.

If you want to do it right and make your online business competitive, then you will need to accept credit cards. There are a few ways you can go about doing that, but the best way is to get your own merchant account and integrate it with your shopping cart software so your customers can order and pay online without leaving your website.

Having your own merchant account means that the account is linked directly to your business banking account and the money from your sales is deposited directly into your account. In order to integrate your merchant account with your website, you will need to use the services of a payment gateway. Often times a gateway will be bundled with your merchant account or your shopping cart software. You will usually have to pay a fee for the use of the gateway in addition to the merchant account fees. Merchant account fees vary according to provider and the volume of sales you do each month. There is generally a monthly fee and a transaction fee, or some combination of the two depending on your sales volume.

When you have your own merchant account, you will have to deal with chargebacks. It is just part of doing business online or offline. Your merchant account provider may charge you additional fees when they perform chargebacks, so it is important to read the fine print and know ahead of time what the terms and fees associated with your merchant account will be.

If you are in the market for a merchant account, you can check with your local bank which handles your business checking account or you can apply for one online. There are several websites where you can apply. You will most likely have to fax in paperwork and speak to a representative by phone to verify your identity, but other than that, applying online is probably the fastest way to get your merchant account. In addition, companies that provide merchant accounts online are familiar with internet business which is something your local bank may not be as experienced in. When you apply online for a merchant account, you have a real good chance of dealing with a provider that understands and appreciates the needs of an internet business.