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*HOW TO SECURE A MERCHANT ACCOUNT TO ACCEPT VISA & MASTERCARD and *You can seriously increase your orders by accepting credit cards as payment. *It's easy and convenient for the customer, and that makes it more likely for *them to order. The only problem is that it's hard for a business, *especially a small mail order business, to gain the ability to accept credit *cards. Banks are very reluctant to authorize credit card acceptance, mainly *because they have been burned too many times by fraudulent businesses. So, *many businesses go on, accepting only checks or money orders for payment, *and miss out on the added sales they would get through credit cards. There *is a way, though, for businesses that can't get bank authorization to accept *credit cards. and *The easiest way to get a merchant account is to work with an Independent *Sales Organization (ISO), which acts as a middleman between small businesses *and banks. They will charge an additional fee for each transaction, so you *will be paying a bit more than the standard percentage charged for credit *card transactions. There will also be an application fee. Here are the *typical charges to expect, as of this writing. and *Application fees: Usually, these range from $95 to $400 and may or may not *be refundable. Point of sale terminal purchase or lease: The terminal you *use to process the charge and check for fraudulent numbers is usually *available from a bank for around $300. You will only be able to get this *price, though, if a bank authorizes you. If working through an ISO, prices *will range from $400 to even as high as $1500! You can usually lease the *terminal, though, at an average of $45/month. The best thing to do, though, *is to find an ISO that will provide computer software that can be used in *place of a terminal. This will usually cost only around $150. and *Concerning service fees: Banks charge between 2% and 5% for processing a *credit card purchase. ISO's charge higher, usually 3% to 7%. They also *usually charge a per transaction fee of 20 to 25 cents, and a monthly *statement fee of $5 to $10. and *Why all these fees? ISO's only want to work with legitimate businesses *and ones that will stay with them for a long period of time. If a business *can afford these fees, they are considered less of a risk. Thus, the *important thing to do is to shop around for an ISO. Get as much *information as you can about each ISO you are considering, and READ it *thoroughly. Look for hidden charges and unreasonable requirements. and *Here is a list of some of the ISO's you may want to consider. This is *not an endorsement of any or all of them, these are just the most prominent *ones. and *Bancard, Inc., 1233 Sherman Drive, Longmont, CO 80501 (800) 666-7575 * *Data Capture Systems, 231 Quincy St., Rapid City SD 57701 (605) 341-6461 and *Electronic Bankcard Systems, 2554 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 1088, Marina Del Rey,
*US Merchant Services, 775 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743 (516) 427-9700 and *A final word: All of these services will require you to fill out an *application. Be 100% truthful with everything on the application and *don't let the representative talk you into putting anything false down. *The reason is, if the banks affiliated with the ISO you use were to find *out that any information on your application is false, you would probably *be immediately cancelled and your business name and address would go on a *"black list." This would prevent you from being able to accept credit cards *for an indefinite period of time. Don't let this happen to you. Most of *the ISO's out there are legitimate, but there are a few that may put down *spurious information, rather than lose the fees they'd receive. Be sure to *look everything over twice. If you do, you'll probably find an ISO that *will work with you to expand your business through the acceptance of credit *cards. and and |
