Friday, August 23, 2013

What do merchant account services include?

If you are interested in merchant account services, you are likely starting your own business.  If that is the case, congratulations!  Starting an online business is definitely a lot of work, but at the same time, it is very rewarding.  Now, with the help of merchant account services, starting an online business has never been easier.

The first question people have about merchant account services is “what do these services include?”  We are here to answer that question.  All merchant providers have different product offerings, but there are a few products that are included in most merchant account service packages.

Credit card processing:


One of the most popular merchant account services is credit card processing.  When a customer places an order, you can securely submit credit card information and get authorization almost immediately.  Once the credit card transaction is authorized, you can feel confident fulfilling the order since you know funds are available.  When you confirm the order has been filled using a POS system, the payment is transferred into your bank account.

Terminals:


Many merchant account services have the option of utilizing both physical and virtual terminals.  A virtual terminal is one method for processing online payments, whereas a physical terminal actually involves swiping a card or manually entering the credit card data.

eCommerce:


The first step to setting up an eCommerce site is finding a merchant account that offers payment gateway services.  This allows you connect your website with the bank processing your customer’s payments.  When you make a sale and the payment processing begins, the payment goes through a payment gateway in order to gain approval that this is a legitimate transaction.


In general, people invest in merchant account services to process credit, debit, and gift cards and more!  Giving your customers the payment options they prefer is convenient to them, and allows you to be paid faster.  Make starting your own business a little easier by utilizing merchant account services.