Making Sense of Merchant Credit Card Accounts
Actually, getting set up to sell online and take credit cards isn't as difficult as it may seem. But there are several pitfalls:
- Merchant Accounts. Salespeople may try to sell you what you don't need. Their commissions may run several hundred dollars. We tell you where you can go to obtain a Merchant Credit Card account for with little or no application fee.
- A payment gateway is the connection between your website and your bank's credit card processor. Unfortunately, you can be shoved into one that's inappropriate for your needs. You can back out when you get wiser (if you can break the long-term lease you may have signed), but by then you'll have paid all the non-refundable fees. This mistake can cost you many hundreds of dollars and set you back several months.
There are sharks in the waters looking for your money -- and some very legitimate, helpful people. You absolutely must get some understanding before you buy -- or you're shark bait, just waiting for Jaws to bite.
On our site you'll find several key articles that will steer you around the obstacles. Search for them by name:
- "Why You Need to Take Credit Cards on Your Website"
- "Unraveling the Mystery of Merchant Credit Card Accounts"
- "Guidelines for Obtaining a Merchant Credit Card Account for Web Sales"
- "Shopping Guide to Real-Time Credit Card Authorization for Internet Websites,"
- "A Short List of Internet Credit Card Gateways"
- "How to Decide Whether You Need Real-Time Credit Card Authorization for Your Site"
- "How Does a Foreign Business Obtain a US Merchant Credit Card Account for Web Commerce?"
- "International Payment Issues"
- "Non-US Credit Card Gateways"
These articles are all free of charge. But from them you can see the kind of abundant, good, and reliable information is available for subscribers. Our goal is to make you successful. Credit Cards are just the beginning of what you need to know to keep out of the reach of sharks.