What Is The Role Of The Merchant Account?

By Author: Sarah Addyson
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Running a successful e-commerce business is a real challenge and in order to sell products or services online you first have to gain the trust and loyalty of your visitors. It is imperative to invest in a secure Payment Gateway to ensure visitors that your website and your busines can be trusted; by using such a gateway merchants can accept credit cards and other Internet based transactions without worrying about safety. When you create an e-commerce website for your business, you have to make sure your customers have access to different types of payment options that are one hundred percent secure; businesses that accept credit cards need a merchant account for these transactions. 

Why Do You Need the Best Payment Gateway You Can Find?

It is your responsibility as a business owner to put at the disposal of your customers various payment options that they are happy with; should you fail to do that you will lose orders and experience a huge drop in sales, which is the result of unhappy customers. As such, when you shop for a suitable Payment Gateway it makes sense to know your options so that you make a decision ...
... that will contribute to the long-term success of your business in the online environment. Payment gateways are not all created equal, they do not function the same and there are various aspects you should consider before selecting one:
•    Transaction fees that come with the payment gateway; you have to make sure that they are reasonable and that you can afford them. 
•    Multi-currency support- this is useful for business owners that want to expand their online business worldwide
•    The terms and conditions of the payment gateway

It is the main role of the  https://xpressprocessing.com/products/payment-gateway/ Payment Gateway  to enable online payments for customers as well as for businesses. Online merchants that need such a gateway should become familiar with the basics and they should take the time to understand how online payments work. The gateway is the interface between the e-commerce website and the buyer and its role is to ensure the transaction is performed securely and promptly. You need such a gateway to protect the payment information of your customers, to keep threats away and to protect yourselves from expired cards, insufficient funds, closed accounts and so on. Having a suitable gateway is a necessity and it is beneficial to both customers and merchants. 

When Do You Want A Merchant Account?

Merchants accounts are needed in order to accept credit card payments. If you want such an account you have to apply for it and once it is approved you will receive an identification number. The Merchant Account is necessary in order to process credit card transactions and to transfer funds from your customer’s banks to your business bank account. It is impossible to accept online payment without such an account; you need it to carry out credit and debit card transactions with your customers. 

When you apply for such an account you will be asked to provide financial documents and you should make sure all of them are in order so that you benefit from the best terms of approval. It is needless to say that merchant account costs vary from one provider to another; when you opt for a  https://xpressprocessing.com/products/services/merchant-services/ merchant account  you can choose from the following pricing models:
•    Flat-rate pricing- should you opt for this you will be charged a fixed percentage for every transaction that is made; this is suitable for business with low volume of sakes
•    Interchange=plus pricing- you will have to pay for a processing rate and a profit per transaction
•    Tiered pricing- you will have qualified transactions with the most competitive rate, non-qualified ones and mid-qualified ones. 

Apart from these you will also have to deal with the following fees such as monthly fee, gateway fee, monthly minimum fee, PCI compliance fee, batch fee, address verification fee, retrieval fee and so on. These vary from one payment processor to another and it is important to know your options so that you make the best possible decision. 

What to Consider when Selecting a Payment Gateway? 
 
Moving money online sounds easy, but for this to happen you need a gateway for payments that acts as the bridge between businesses and clients. The gateway you use is the one that sends customer information to be processed and the one that informs you whether the charge is authorized or not. When using such a gateway you do not have to worry about security or whether or not the payment is legitimate; if your business relies heavily on online payments you need a gateway for your financial transactions. 

Given the fact that there are different types of gateway available on the market, when shopping for a Payment Gateway that you can use in the long run you should look for the following: security, customers need to trust you so that they can provide the information you require, hosted or self-hosted, customer experience, security is important when processing payments online but so is enabling your customers to select the payment methods that they prefer, implementation, it makes sense to find a gateway that is easy to implement, international capabilities, optional features such as additional fraud protection, buyer authentication and others. 

Overall, it is worth mentioning that your clients expect you to accept debit and credit card payments and for this to happen you need a merchant account. The good news is that you can do this without much of a hassle; failing to cater to the preferred payment methods of your customers will result in loss of business and if you do not want this to happen you should set up an account for merchants as soon as possible and enjoy all the advantages it brings. You should make it your priority to accept various forms of payment so that you do not lose business. With a bit of research and basic information you should be able to find a service provider that will top your expectations.