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According to "Jumping Through the Merchant Account Hoops" by Khera Communications, the average credit card transaction is $40, compared to just $9 for cash sales. So, by not accepting credit cards you put yourself at a huge business disadvantage compared to your competition.
It may also surprise you to learn that credit card transactions can cost your business less in transaction charges. A case study by Coopers & Lybrand found that it costs, on average, 2.7% to process a credit card transaction as compared to 4.8% for cash and 4.0% for checks. The reason for this perhaps surprising statistic is that cash and cheques require more handling by financial institution staff whereas credit cards tend to be processed electronically for the most part these days.
To offer a credit card payment facility to your customers you need to set up a merchant account. Typically you will also need to have equipment installed to accept the payments. If you wish to accept credit cards Online you will also need to sign up with a payment gateway such as CyberCash or VirtualNet to allow for instant authorizations over the Internet.
The provider of your business bank account should be your first port of call for a merchant account, but if you're looking to provide an Online credit card payment service to your customers, it's important that you make sure that any merchant account provider can demonstrate a track record with accepting Online payments.
The Advantages Of Using A Merchant Account In todays fast pace of technological advancement, more and more people are engaging into online business. They have seen the fast proliferation of the information technology.
With this, the industry is trying to cope up with the growing needs of the market by creating various techniques, strategies, and devices that will best suit the necessities of the consumers as well as the online businesses.
Moreover, with the proliferation of the credit card industry, more and more people are enticed to do cashless shopping, where convenience is the name of the game.
In fact, some statistical repo ..
Applying for and being accepted for a merchant account can take anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks or more. Your chances of being approved relate directly to your already-existing business track record. That's why your own business bank is a good first option, because they know you and your business better than anyone else.
How much can you expect to pay? The cost of a merchant account can vary enormously mainly based on the perceived risk associated with the business applying for the facility and the area of business they are involved in. Typically you can expect start up costs to be in the $190 - $300 range with processing fees on individual transactions from around 2% variable depending on sales volume. The more business you're going to be putting through your merchant account, the more you'll be in a position to negotiate with your merchant account provider.
About the author:
Get Your Low Rate Merchant AccountWhat can a low rate merchant account do for your business? Plenty! A merchant account provides you with the support your company needs to conduct e-commerce, which is the trend that more entrepreneurs are following these days. After getting approved for a merchant account, you can set up your business to accept credit card payments by a variety of means, including a desk-top terminal, a wireless unit, digital phone payments, and an Internet credit card option. Why wait and worry over a customers check that may bounce when you can get a real time processor for credit card payments that will he ..
Steve Jones is Website admin for http://www.merchant-account.no1-source.infowhich provides all the latest news and information sources on merchant accounts
Steve Jones1st Steps To A Merchant Account
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