Inexpensive Merchant Accounts For Your Business

Looking for a retail merchant account?

With a little patience, you can find inexpensive merchant accounts for your business. How? You guessed it: shopping around.

It may not be the easy answer you'd like to hear, but would you trust it if it was?

Of the major types of merchant accounts for your business, retail merchant accounts carry the lowest fees. The reason?

They are used for credit card processing by retailers and other businesses who accept credit cards from customers in person. That goes a long way toward ensuring the credit card is not stolen, which limits the banks risk.

However, retail merchant accounts are also the only ones that require you to get hardware, since you'll need a credit card swiper, or P.O.S. (Point Of Sale) terminal.

Will you also be accepting debit cards? Of course. If you want to incur lower rates for these transactions, you'll want to get a PIN pad as well.

By comparison MOTO (mail order/telephone order) and Internet merchant accounts operate in an environment where the card isn't present.

This can be one of the places where seemingly inexpensive merchant accounts for your business turn very, very expensive.

Here's the critical factors:

• Never lease credit card processing equipment. Purchase it outright, or make payments on purchasing it.
• And never get pushed into a machine you don't want with threats of incompatibility or expensive "reprogramming" fees. It's simply hogwash, and usually the sign of a company you don't want to work with.

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There are two places to find inexpensive merchant accounts for your business: banks and merchant account providers.

SIDEBAR There is a third place called, appropriately enough, third-party processors. They are only for online payment processing. But if you are primarily a "brick and mortar" business that only has a small web presence, they are easy to obtain and have no monthly charges. And if you have an offline business you think won't translate online, consider this.

Option 1: Banks

When you apply for a merchant account at your bank, you will be required to demonstrate that your business has had an extended period of financial stability.

Expect to present your business plan, your financial statements and various other documents. Factors considered include cash reserves, the length of time you have been in business, your tax returns, your credit history, debt load, refund policies, volume of business, cost of item being
sold and other sources of income.

Without a doubt, you should talk to a few local banks (start with the one that has your business account) first. While you may not find the most inexpensive rates, you may find merchant accounts for your business that are local and that you trust. In the long run, that will make for a more affordable account than any other criteria.

Option 2: Merchant Account Providers

ISOs (Independent Sales Organizations) online can connect you with a merchant account. Some providers are also the underwriters of their accounts. They will generally require the same information as banks, though they tend to be less stringent in their requirements.

Either way, the most important thing to look for is the opportunity to apply for free so you can apply to several and compare the rates they quote to you.

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MasterCard Merchant Accounts