Having your own online merchant account tells your customers you are serious about business. Almost all your customers will want to pay using credit cards to make instant purchases, and to accept credit card payments you need a merchant account.
Did you know that when you accept credit cards, you can expect your sales to increase by an astounding 50% and up to 400%?
Merchant account processing services are provided by a bank or a third party processor (on behalf of the bank) to the merchant. These services include authorization of credit cards, settlement of funds through the bankcard associations (MasterCard/Visa), depositing of funds to checking accounts, merchant billing, and account activity reporting.
Read more in our article, Accepting Credit Card Processing and Payments Online which includes information on the key to a successful business, types of merchant accounts, and other ways to accept electronic payments.
What services do you want with your Online Merchant Account?
The way you operate your business will dictate the facilities and services you require from an online merchant account. For instance:
If you run a global business, then perhaps you will want your customers to pay with their own currency to encourage sales.
If you are country-specific, or local only, then you may not need this facility. However, restricting transactions to your own currency could lose you potential customers who may have found you on the internet, and are afraid of currency exchange rates.
You may only need to accept instalments, if you are running a periodic paid subscription website.
Tip
Before you apply, list exactly what you think you want from an online merchant account, then research to see if you can improve sales by offering other payment options to your customers.
What to Look for in a Merchant Account Provider
Generally, your Merchant Account Provider should allow you to:
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Offer multi-currency transactions if you have or expect a significant amount of international orders, giving your customers the option of paying with their own local currency |
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Accept payments over the internet, by phone, fax and email |
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Accept a broad range of payment types online (including Visa, MasterCard, Switch, American Express, JCB, Diners, Laser, Electron, and Bank transfers (such as the German ELV system) |
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Accept Instalments, standing-order and direct-debit style payments |
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Accept Mobile payments |
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Protect yourself with a top of class anti-fraud system |
Worldpay and Us
WorldPay is the only way to accept such a universal range of payments through one merchant account, one payment processing system, 24/7. You can get a merchant account in as little as 7-10 days.
WorldPay supports the full range of fraud-prevention methods including online transaction authorisation, cardholder verification (i.e. via Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code), and Address Verification Service (AVS). In addition, WorldPay has developed several in-house anti-fraud tools that are designed to avoid hassle and minimise financial loss (including the WorldPay Guarantee which can protect you against financial loss due to fraud).
By teaming up with Worldpay Secure Online Payment Processing System, we are able to offer online merchant accounts to most international businesses.
In Addition to a Merchant Account
In addition to a merchant account, for real-time processing to take place, you will also need a secure server with certification (SSL), an order form, shopping cart and a gateway (integration (see below) of shopping cart with payment processors). Learn more about what you need:
Credit Card Processing
Secure Server Hosting
Shopping Cart
We are currently able to offer integration services with the following payment processors: Worldpay; Secpay; Paysystems; Paypal; and Protx. You will find details on each of the above pages.
Whatever you want, no matter how complex, our experienced offshore development teams can create a solution to meet your requirements. With prices starting at a few hundred pounds, the return on investment could be recovered within a matter of weeks - or even days.
