How to choose a merchant account provider

Whether you own a business with a physical shop or an Internet based business, you will need to accept credit card payment if you want your business to be successful. And for that you will require a merchant account.

Having a merchant account has many benefits. It will give you more business because you will be able to accept payments from every type of cardholder, including ATM/Debit cardholders.

You will also be able to guarantee the safety of your customers when they are making their payment, this way you will win a lot of loyal customers who will tell everyone how safe, easy and hassle free it is to buy things from your website. That is the best thing for any website, being referred to others by satisfied customers.

So if you want your business to grow, you must invest in a merchant account. There are several providers out there who are promising a lot of things and some of them are actually scams, so be very careful about which merchant service provider you set up your account with.

A good idea is to start looking for reviews by your peers and looking for reputed companies instead of starting with the absolutely lowest charging company. If at the end of your research you find out that the best company is also the cheapest, then nothing like it. But don’t go for a company just because it us the cheapest, because you might end up losing more money than what thought you saved.

Many companies offer low cost or free setups but charge you very high transaction fees and minimum monthly rates. With these people, it is low cost to start with and then it is as high as it gets. So instead of looking at setup costs, look at how much money you will be losing regularly. Going for companies that have the lowest rates in this area is generally a good idea.

Also take into account the gateway that you will be using with your account. Some merchant accounts actually provide you with combined offers whereby you get a gateway account automatically with your new merchant account. The better the gateway, the better your operations will be and the more secure it will be. So look for reputed and proper gateways.

Then come the smaller things to consider – the extras in the package. How much automation are they offering you? How much will they charge overall, including all the small and invisible fees? Will they increase their rates in the near future? What are the perks that you get with account?

Many merchant accounts come with fully setup and functional shopping cart scripts that are tied in with your account and Gateway. Some providers also offer custom branded payment pages. All these things make your job easier and make the website more functional, professional, secure and easy to use.

So choose your provider carefully and consider all the larger and smaller details when making the decision. Remember that money is not the only issue here but it is still the main issue. So look for something legitimate that ensures long-term profit for your business.