The Basics of Merchant Accounts

Back in the day, it was very difficult to get a merchant account. Banks were so strict about requirements which you either met or not. There weren’t too many options as well and the banks offered very little freedom in their policies and rates. Now, a lot of this has changed. There are many companies these days that just might give you a merchant account, whether you’re a big or small business, with or without a physical location. There are simply more providers now who are more liberal with their rules on approving applications and every businessman should take advantage of this.

If you’re looking around for a good merchant account, the most important thing at this stage is to keep your eyes open on the numbers involved – fees, percentages, credit card processing rates, etc. It’s also wise to understand how the bank defines certain terms. For example, “transaction” may mean simply getting authorization but may include processing a return.

The type of business you have also confirms your need for a merchant account. If you have a big business with a huge volume of sales monthly, getting this account can save you money in the long run. However, if you’re just starting out, you may find a third party merchant to be a good way to go. These third party vendors will normally take care of all details, pay the fees and even take care of the risks, including security issues for your customers as they make their purchase online. In this set up, the monthly fees are usually higher, but there won’t be a need to pay set up charges, gateway fees, etc. You simply pick the service you think is good for your business. They will simply instruct you on what to do depending on the service that you have picked.

If you want to give your customers the convenience of making an online payment with their credit card or check, you do have to apply for a merchant account. It is actually very simple. The first general rule you need to follow is to look for options, options and more options. From these, you will be able to spot their differences and base your decision on which one you think will provide you the best service. Take your time to study about fees, rates and policies, especially about security issues. If you have other businessman friends who have merchant accounts, it would be a great help if you could come to them for assistance.

Merchant Accounts For Concrete Plants

As the price of fuel continues to rise, just about everything in our lives are affected. The price of the food we eat is as high as ever, services we use every day are more expensive to the point that we find ways to do without them and eventually turn ourselves off to certain industries all together. As we all know, some industries are more of a necessity than a luxury; some of these businesses are not feeling the pinch as much, but are definitely seeing a slow go of things these days. The building trades feel the brunt of the “Big money” cut backs as regional and national economies pinch pennies I hopes that unspent development dollars will lead to surpluses, which may lead to less tax hike for the next year. While the theory seems to be sound, the long term effects will be felt by tax payers and their families for years to come. One industry that spans the construction, planning and development industries is the concrete business. Concrete is used in nearly every building project; it’s literally the foundation that all projects are built on. More than an optional building product, concrete is a staple that cannot be avoided; that is unless you want to see a sea of one story, new construction buildings for the rest of your natural lives?

The increase in fuel prices affects the pricing of concrete more than many raw products, as it’s a product in itself of many other industries whose existence supports the concrete industry. As concrete is made of stone, the production of concrete graded sand and stone that meets a particular specification relies on the fuel pricing to remain at a level low enough to let those businesses control their costs, while not passing them onto their customers as much as possible. Unfortunately for the aggregate industry, fuel pricing has forced them to either raise prices or go out of business. After the hits that the concrete business has taken and prices have been raised, the construction industry has bared just about as much as they can afford, in terms of cost increases; now the money is coming directly out of the profit that the plants take. In terms of cost saving measures, monitoring their credit card processing fees and rates has become a popular way of keeping them in the black. As a lot of concrete purchases are over the phone, many banks impose higher rates to plants because the chance of fraud and theft are higher, due to these “Card not present transactions.” Many merchant service providers specialize in obtaining merchant accounts for these types of businesses through processors and banks that offer low rates and reduced fees. Taking domestic merchants offshore is a shift in processing trust that is becoming more mainstream and acceptable by US business owners, as domestic banks regulate their accounts with outdated regulations and their own need to increase their profits. It’s not that non-US banks don’t care about profits; it’s more a case of, that’s the way they have been doing business for years. If you’re in the concrete or aggregate business and are looking to better your processing capabilities, contact a merchant service provider today.

Master Card Visa Merchant Account Options

Are you familiar with the many types of MasterCard / Visa merchant account options that are available for small business owners? You may be eligible to apply for a merchant account from a bank or other lender who will underwrite your account services in order to help your company grow. The service works much like a personal credit card account. You apply, get approved, and start using it in a responsible manner. You might be able to work with a local banker or the institution with which you hold a personal credit card. Otherwise, you can apply with several merchant account vendors who are looking for serious entrepreneurs with whom to do business. To be eligible, your company should not have a poor credit history, you should not be carrying too much debt for your company size currently, and you should not be involved in an enterprise that creates doubt or suspicions for the underwriters.

When your merchant account status is confirmed, you can soon enjoy the benefits of credit card processing that the MasterCard/Visa merchant account options provide. For one thing, you can buy a credit card processor for a few hundred dollars and start using it in your shop or store to let customers pay by credit card if they prefer. Instead of fumbling to make change or suspiciously eyeing a new-account check, you can blithely swipe a credit card from dozens of customers and keep the checkout line moving smoothly. Even if you deliver goods or services to customers all over the city or in a multi-county area, you can take along a wireless credit-processing unit for point-of-sale transactions, thereby eliminating billing worries for months to come.

Another way that your MasterCard/Visa merchant account can serve your business is by providing a pager to help you keep in touch with clients or employees. Getting out of touch is a fast way to lose your customers’ business or to let employees turn careless. An exciting innovation in recent years is the telephone credit processing system that many companies are now using. Your customers are able to call a toll-free number, select options from a pre-recorded menu, and then key in a credit card number for payment. They can order and make payments in this manner either by day or night, since the system is operated and need not be restricted to access during business hours. A customer services representative can be available during selected hours to answer questions or provide assistance.

The electronic age is here to stay, and entrepreneurs realize the importance of keeping up with e-commerce trends. Not only are their competitors doing so already, but customers are expecting to use these methods as well; in fact, some may demand them or take their business elsewhere. A merchant account can provide up-to-date, affordable services to upgrade the quality of your company’s operations. Don’t be left in the Dark Ages while everyone else is flourishing with innovative business technology. Find out how your company can grow with the help of a MasterCard/Visa merchant account.

Merchant Account Reserve

A Reserve is a portion of the monthly revenue from a merchant’s card processing transactions that credit card processing companies may request to hold in an escrow account as an insurance against possible loss from chargebacks and other sources. Used mainly with high-risk merchant accounts, upon satisfactory completion of a predetermined period, reserves are returned to the merchants. In the case of a rolling reserve, a reserve is held every month for a certain period (usually six months). On the following month the first month’s reserve is released to the merchant, and then the second month’s reserve and so on until there is no longer a reserve.

Certain industries tend to be riskier than others and generate higher levels of chargebacks. All merchants that operate in a non-face-to-face environment fall into this category. Direct marketing and eCommerce are two examples. Yet, only a small percentage of these businesses will be asked for a reserve – usually businesses that process large volumes and have a large average ticket. New businesses that operate in the virtual realm are also prime candidates for a reserve and are carefully examined by their processors. Merchants that are at the very high end of the risk scale and cannot get a merchant account with a US processor are certain to be asked for a reserve if they apply with an offshore provider, in addition to the very high processing rates that they will be charged.

A reserve may also be requested if a merchant has a bad credit history, in addition to a personal guarantee. In cases where a reserve is required, the minimum reserve balance for small business merchant accounts is set at about 20% of the anticipated credit card payment processing volume. New merchants are usually allowed to build up their reserve by sending in transactions which are not withdrawn until the minimum reserve balance is achieved; after that, the merchant is allowed to withdraw the excess funds for transfer to their checking account.

Every credit card merchant processor has a different underwriting policy, so it is a good idea that you request several credit card processing proposals before making a decision. It may just turn out that one of them does not have a reserve requirement. Yet, this is just one of the factors that you should consider when selecting a provider. Processing costs, customer service, transaction reporting capabilities, chargeback and risk management tools, fraud prevention services are all very important and should be carefully evaluated.

Online Offshore Merchant Account

Why do you need an Offshore Merchant Account?

Many online businesses look for a merchant account abroad for various reasons, ex. have large volume requirements, fast business growth, cannot be approved at a standard processing bank due to new regulations poor credit, or the type of products or service that they sell. By processing through an offshore processing bank, your business may qualify for no monthly or yearly volume limits, and very lenient product type requirements, so your business will never be hindered by the strict guidelines of a domestic processing bank. Many businesses such as software, website hosting and electronics fall into the high risk category and must use a merchant account abroad. Some of the largest and most respected businesses in the world use offshore processors due to their growth and product types.

The growing need for processing abroad continues to increase. Due to US laws and regulation changes in the Untied States, banks and processors have tightened their due diligence and acceptance to merchants processing payments online. If your business is growing due to increased sales and your U.S. acquiring bank is threatening to terminate your merchant account, then you will need to start seeking and offshore merchant account. They have become a necessary aspect of the ecommerce world.

What to expect =

• Accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, Switch, Solo and JCB

• Multi-Currency Credit Card Processing

• Gateway – to process your electronic payments, normally offered free by merchant service providers.

• Shopping Cart – Compatible with most leading shopping cart vendors.

• High approval rates, even if you do not have perfect credit you there should not be an issue with you obtaining a merchant account.

• Virtual Terminal – To enter MOTO orders

• Recurring billing – Ability to auto bill recurring payments.

• Check accept – Ability to accept checks online though your offshore provider,

• Online View – Ability to access your merchant account activity online 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

Online Commerce has become an important sales source for businesses throughout the world. The internet allows an unlimited amount of customers, which makes doing business on the internet very appealing. An offshore merchant account is what you will need to grow your business. With an offshore merchant account you will not have to worry about jeopardizing your merchant account for growing your business!

Getting A Merchant Account For The Travel Industry

The Travel Industry is a very lucrative business. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get a merchant account for this business. There are a few merchant account providers that will take a chance, but for the most part, the majority is not interested. Getting a merchant account for this category is considered high risk.

When you do find a merchant account that will cater to you, they probably will have restrictions on what they will do for your business. For instance, the ones that will work with you will only approve charges for commissions, car rentals and hotel stays. They won’t approve charges for cruises, tours or airplane tickets.

The unfortunate part about this is that you may not find out that the latter isn’t covered until some of your customers notice and start to complain because the funds are being held up. That’s not a good way for providers to do business. Merchants should know up front what they’re going to pay for.

Prior to a transaction, the merchant should be approved for the amount specified. There are some providers who will approve the merchant, but the catch is there is a limit to the amount merchants can get.

When getting a merchant account in the travel industry, merchants find out after the fact about hidden fees. These fees include monthly gateway fees, annual fees, batch fees and other fees that are not listed until such time.

Another downside is that if the merchant does not meet the minimum amount of monthly sales each month, they’re subject to a service fee.

Beware of merchant providers trying to sell you merchandise that you don’t need. They’ll try to sell merchants expensive equipment or a lease that you can’t cancel after you’ve signed on the dotted line. Since the more legitimate merchant providers do their business over the phone, the equipment is nothing but a waste and not needed.

There is also something called “teaser rates”. Some merchant account providers will offer special rates in order to get merchants to sign up with their company, only to raise the price again after a few months. Offers like these usually have another catch. Since the rates initially offered are supposedly low, look out for any penalties that may be attached to the offer.

Hidden fees alone can cost merchants from three to four digits in any given period. This usually happens when a merchant account provider omits certain fees. Check this out before you sign on the dotted line.

Merchants should also check out their customer service. Merchants should see how they operate and how they treat them. Merchants should look and see if they do what they say they’re going to do.

When looking for a merchant account provider, they should be able to provide great service. After all, merchants do paying money to them for assistance. If they can’t provide or do the work, then it’s time to look for someone else.

Merchants need to remember to be prudent when looking for merchant providers that will meet their needs.

Do Free Word Processing Programs Really Pay You Again and Again Word processing is the most common place for home offices to automate. You can easily

Do Free Word Processing Programs Really Pay You Again and Again

Word processing is the most common place for home offices to automate. You can easily create, and print any document, letter, report, spread sheet. Saving your documents, articles, and web pages to edit or revise whenever needed. Instead of wasting time re-typing, focus on polishing your project. You can even convert instantly to a pdf file with the touch of a button. Improving the quality of your finished product.

Most people will associate word processing with Microsoft Word. This may not be the best program for your business. If your just starting out and want to keep your expenses down, you’ll probably need to look for budget friendly options. Which would make obtaining free word processing a viable and necessary option. Freeware does not mean you have to sacrifice function for price. Enabling you to work efficiently, while maintaining the professional quality you require and demand.

Most computers come with basic word processing programs such as NotePad, WordPad but they probably don’t have all the features that you need for your business. They will work well as text editors but are missing the all important spell check feature. Pasting from one program to another can be a cumbersome just to check for spelling or typing errors.

Spreadsheet programs are a necessity for some businesses. Easily keeping track of your data. Can be useful for just about any business that works with numbers, sorting data, or organizing a project. Commonly utilized for budgets, forecasting sales, and some accounting. A must for analyzing financial information. Eliminates repetitive work. Making organization easy.

There are two free office suite options that have the capabilities of the word processing components. Performing almost any task. Going beyond simple word processing. Such as embedding pictures, creating tables, opening almost any type of text document. Including spread sheets, email capabilities and one program can even convert your document to a pdf file with the press of a button.

OpenOffice has a mail manager, word processor, spreadsheet, data base manager, slide show designer, calculator, PDF creator, and a chart designer. Providing powerful features that other programs charge you hundreds of dollars for.

I use this program almost every day. Great program to help you keep organized. Has simple templates that you can create for documents, keeping lists, planning, or even tracking inventory.

StarOffice in another program worth looking into. While the interface can take some getting used to, it was intended to compete with Microsoft Office.

With so many great options to handle all your word processing and publishing needs, you can easily reap the rewards of automating your office. Work smarter. Get paid for your efforts again and again.

Merchant Accounts to Sell Ebooks

Selling digital products like ebooks are all the rage these days due to the duel factors that consumers are snapping them up like wildfire and that you as the merchant are able to make almost 100% profit on the deal.

Whereas a $20 product such as a physical book sold in a store may only make the author a dollar or even less in profit, selling the same product online in a digital format will give you $18 or more of profit. It’s pretty simple math why so many people are choosing to market their ebooks online, isn’t it?!

The question of course from aspiring ebook authors is how to accept credit cards on their website so they can process orders smoothly and then allow their customers to effortlessly download the book they have just purchased.

In this article then we’re going to look at 3 popular merchant account providers used by ebook sellers so we can compare the various options and so, I hope, enable you to make an informed decision about the best provider for you.

Clickbank

Clickbank is currently the most popular processor used by ebook publishers. This is for a number of reasons though us helped by the fact that Clickbank focuses purely on sellers of digital products so understands the market and the needs of ebook sellers well.

One of the most popular features of Clickbank is that they run your affiliate program for you. Clickbank’s software records who sends each sale to you, then credits the respective affiliate with their commission, depositing the remainder into your account. Every two weeks, so long as you reach Clickbank’s payment threshold, Clickbank sends everyone out a check for the balance of their account without you having to lift a finger. This is incredibly powerful and helps you to recruit an army of affiliates to promote your ebook for you in exhcange for a commission.

Finally, Clickbank also has a massive marketplace where you can list your ebook for sale thus increasing the number of potential affiliates and direct customers who visit your site.

Paypal

Paypal is another popular option with ebook sellers. Unfortunately in contrast to Clickbank, Paypal won’t run your affiliate program for you, though this can be got around using a variety of third-party software designed specially for the task.

However Paypal does have two benefits over Clickbank that are enough for some people to use them instead.

Firstly the transaction fees that Paypal charges you to accept credit cards are considerably lower meaning more profit for you.

Secondly, whilst Clickbank pays you your earnings every two weeks, you can request payment from Paypal straight into your bank account at any time allowing you to access your money faster.

Your Own Merchant Account

The final option I’d like to investigate here is that of having your own merchant account.

Arguably the least popular of the 3 options for ebook sellers there are a few things you need to be aware of.

Paypal and Clickbank are both third party processors which means essentially that you’re using someone else’s merchant account. The result of this is that you hve less control over your business. As an example, stories are rife on the Internet about Paypal “locking” people’s accounts for no obvious reason meaning that they are then unable to access the funds that are legitimately theirs. To me, if someone prevented me from accessing hundreds, even thousands of dollars that are rightfully mine, I’d be pretty angry.

As well as giving your business more control, your own proper merchant account may well work out more cost effective over the long term. They may charge a small monthly fee, but the per-transaction fees can be so much cheaper that you can actually make a considerable saving in lot of cases.

In the end, the decision really is yours. Clickbank for simplicity, Paypal for speed of payment or your own merchant account for flexibility and cost effectiveness.

US-Based Merchant Account Restrictions

Certain business types are restricted from establishing US-based small business merchant accounts. The decision on who exactly is to be included in this “black List” is made by the Credit Card Associations of Visa and MasterCard and is mandatory for all credit card processing companies which are also their members. What this means is that no US credit card merchant processor is allowed to acquire transactions from blacklisted entities.

The biggest factor in determining whether a particular type of business should be prohibited from setting up a US-based credit card payment processing service is the chargeback generation potential. In some industries, historical data show that it is simply unacceptably high. It should be noted that, even when a merchant account processing service is established, chargeback levels are still closely monitored and, if they exceed 1% of the total volume for three consecutive months, you will lose your credit card processing account. Applications from merchants engaged in the following activities will not be considered for US-based credit card transaction processing account, regardless of exception:
Any merchant engaged in Illegal activity. Adult oriented products or services (all media types: internet, telephone, printed material etc.). Internet/MOTO pharmacies (where fulfillment of medication is performed with an Internet or telephone consultation, absent a physical visit with a physician). Re-importation of pharmaceuticals from foreign countries. Internet/MOTO firearm or weapons sales (including ammunition). Internet/MOTO cigarette tobacco sales. Occult materials. Online gambling. Lotteries, raffles, gambling. Escort services. Collection agencies engaged in the collection of uncollectible debt, as defined by the Associations. Credit repair agencies. Sports forecasting or odds making.

Ways On Making a Good Credit Rating

Every people have his own dreams to reach standards and comfort of life. Such example is buying a house or leasing an apartment to build a home or basically first applying for a job to earn more money just to buy these basic commodities. With all these day to day survival, there are companies who offer credit for purchase. They first evaluate their customers’ major purchase, insurance application or leasing an apartment on credit history. The credit history has the information on the requests for credit or charge accounts, personal loans, insurance, as well as the history of payment on the bills, the income and the amount of debts. It will show whether one has been sued, arrested of filed for bankruptcy. In order to get a good evaluation of the credit history one has to have good credit ratings.

How to get good credit ratings?

Apply only for new credit when really needed. Banks and financial providers take pleasure in lending new credit; it is a sign of under constant financial stress and relying on borrowing moneyto get by. This ‘loose’ financial nature is not assuring to the banks, and as a result one should limit frequent application for new credit.

Keep old/current merchant accounts open for as long as possible. A customer who has made repayments on time and been financially responsible for 4 years on his account will make a much larger impact that someone of the same financial competence for 6 months.

Reduce debt: credit ratio. Regardless of how much you earn, a $2000 balance on a $5000 limit card is much worse than a $2000 balance on a $10,000 limit card. The $5,000 limit card would have a debt:credit ratio of 60%, as opposes to 20% on the latter card.

Make repayments and fee payments on time. The simplest way to improve or slowly revamp credit rating is to continue or begin making all repayments on time. This will prove to the banks certain client is responsible, who they won’t have to bother for repayments yet still earn interest from.

Getting A Merchant Account For The Travel Industry

The Travel Industry is a very lucrative business. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get a merchant account for this business. There are a few merchant account providers that will take a chance, but for the most part, the majority is not interested. Getting a merchant account for this category is considered high risk.

When you do find a merchant account that will cater to you, they probably will have restrictions on what they will do for your business. For instance, the ones that will work with you will only approve charges for commissions, car rentals and hotel stays. They won’t approve charges for cruises, tours or airplane tickets.

The unfortunate part about this is that you may not find out that the latter isn’t covered until some of your customers notice and start to complain because the funds are being held up. That’s not a good way for providers to do business. Merchants should know up front what they’re going to pay for.

Prior to a transaction, the merchant should be approved for the amount specified. There are some providers who will approve the merchant, but the catch is there is a limit to the amount merchants can get.

When getting a merchant account in the travel industry, merchants find out after the fact about hidden fees. These fees include monthly gateway fees, annual fees, batch fees and other fees that are not listed until such time.

Another downside is that if the merchant does not meet the minimum amount of monthly sales each month, they’re subject to a service fee.

Beware of merchant providers trying to sell you merchandise that you don’t need. They’ll try to sell merchants expensive equipment or a lease that you can’t cancel after you’ve signed on the dotted line. Since the more legitimate merchant providers do their business over the phone, the equipment is nothing but a waste and not needed.

There is also something called “teaser rates”. Some merchant account providers will offer special rates in order to get merchants to sign up with their company, only to raise the price again after a few months. Offers like these usually have another catch. Since the rates initially offered are supposedly low, look out for any penalties that may be attached to the offer.

Hidden fees alone can cost merchants from three to four digits in any given period. This usually happens when a merchant account provider omits certain fees. Check this out before you sign on the dotted line.

Merchants should also check out their customer service. Merchants should see how they operate and how they treat them. Merchants should look and see if they do what they say they’re going to do.

When looking for a merchant account provider, they should be able to provide great service. After all, merchants do paying money to them for assistance. If they can’t provide or do the work, then it’s time to look for someone else.

Merchants need to remember to be prudent when looking for merchant providers that will meet their needs.