Establishing a merchant account for online business

Ability to accept payments is the vital process of any business. While in the past the only form of payment was cash, today is the situation much different. However there are still some businesses which are perfectly fine only with cash form of payments, most of the businesses would not survive without credit card payments option. Credit card payments are the second most used form of payments after the cash, and they are primer method of paying in online businesses

If you are thinking about online business seriously one of the first steps you should take is establishing merchant account. Merchant accounts are types of bank accounts which allow businesses to accept credit card payments. Nowadays most common methods of credit card processing are credit card terminals, credit card imprinting machines and online payment processors.

There are many payment solutions providers who offer you the whole range of merchant services which fits your business needs no matter if you run small ecommerce web or large company. Setting up a merchant account is simple when you choose the right merchant account provider.

What is needed to establish merchant account?

To be able to process credit cards you will need certified legitimate business which is not considered as high risky, all necessary documentations on that business, what include also bank account, physical address and personal information. You will also need money for set-up costs. If everything run well you should have your merchant account established in 7-10 business days.

Protect your business

Everyday more and more people buying online using their credit cards from the comfort of their homes. On one hand this is great news for ecommerce websites because of profit increase on the other hand the risk of credit card fraud rise as well.

Watch out for suspicious orders

There are many ways how to identify suspicious orders. Below are few tips:

•  Always check the billing address with the information from credit card company
•  Be careful with the orders from foreign countries
•  Shipping address should be in most cases the same as billing address
•  Missing information is a bad sign
•  Be careful with unusual large orders

If you notice anything suspicious you should immediately contact credit card holder and ask him to confirm the order. To verify you are talking to the real credit card owner you can ask few verification questions such as complete name, address, phone number of card holder.
If the person is not able to answer these questions, or nobody is answering the phone, you should not process the order, because of high risk of fraud.