As your business grows, you want to allow your customers more flexibility in the way they pay for your products.
Typically, if you walk into a store and purchase over $100 worth of products, imagine your surprise when you
whip out your credit card only to have the cashier say, "Sorry, but we accept cash only." At this point, the
average customer would most likely either walk away or just pick out one item to buy. Both parties lose out in
this situation; the customer is disgruntled because he didn't get to buy all that he wanted, and the merchant is
unhappy because he could have made a bigger sale.
Net Fact:
A merchant discount rate is not a discount for you. Actually, it is the commission rate they charge for each
transaction processed by your site! So, if your merchant account provider has a discount rate of 2.29%, then for
a $100 transaction they get a cut of $2.29.
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One way to avoid this pratfall is to allow store operations to accept credit cards as payment for goods
and services on your web site. In order to accomplish this, you must first set up a merchant account.
Familiarize yourself by going here
to learn the details of online merchant accounts and how they are a big part of
e-commerce. Doing some research into sites that specialize in getting merchant accounts for online businesses
will allow you to compare and contrast the different rates, monthly fees, and client services offered by various
institutions.
Do you know what a discount rate is? Understanding what it is can literally save you thousands a month.
Take into consideration, but don't be blinded by just the rates and figures thrown at you by companies
competing to secure your account. Are there penalties for chargebacks? Any hidden statement fees? Does the
company offer gateway services in addition to the merchant account? Doing some extra research can save you
lots of trouble in the future of dealing with a disappointing merchant account provider that doesn't meet your
expectations.
While AsianMall.com encourages everyone to do research online to get more acquainted with merchant accounts
for online businesses, we do have some suggestions for services we know to be very trustworthy. The sites listed
below are dependable and supportive in getting your online business off the ground.
- Cyber Cash
-- one of the premiere merchant gateway providers online, they have a wide variety of service plans customized
to fit different types of businesses and budgets. Look out for their pending merger in March Network 1 Financial,
which will allow them to also provide even more top-level services.
- Verisign
-- can thousands of companies who have already signed up for this site's proven services be all wrong?
- MerchantAccount.net
-- more than 98% of applicants approved, one-day time frame for approvals, and low, fixed rates.
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> > [STEP 6]
Do You Have Protection?: Taking Care of Site Security
