Earlier it was hard to get a merchant account that is well tied to your electronic shopping system. But nowadays, almost every company is ready to give you a merchant account. Whether you are a large business with a physical location, or a small business operating only online, you can easily get a merchant account. Currently, there are various merchant account providers available for businesses.
When shopping for a merchant account, it is important that you get clear numbers on up-front fees, monthly fees, credit card percentages and costs per transaction. Be careful to get the merchant's definition for a "transaction," like whether obtaining authorization only constitutes a transaction or it includes processing a return also.
If you are owning a large business or do a lot of sales each month, then your own merchant account is the best answer for you. It can save your money in the long run. But if you are just starting out with an online business, then a third party merchant may be the right choice for you.
Usually, third party vendors handle all the background details, pay the monthly fees, assume the risks of fraud and charge backs. These merchants will handle all the security part which your customers will expect when shopping online. While the monthly fees may be a bit higher, you need not pay any set up charge, gateway fees, SSL charges and also the shopping cart set up.
You can choose the service you want and then, they can give you simple HTML code to add to your site or allow you to use "buy buttons" or both depending on the service chosen. The fees generally range between 5% and 13.5%. Few companies charge a set up fee and a per transaction fee.
If you want to offer your customers a convenient way of making a payment with a credit card or electronic check, you'll have to apply for a merchant account. Setting up a merchant account is very simple and affordable too. With the emerging new technologies, online payments through merchant accounts have evolved as the most convenient payment mode for customers.
