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Credit Card Merchant Account Basics |
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 Knowing which credit card merchant account to get can be very
confusing. There are thousands and thousands of banks
, merchant account providers and third party sales teams that can offer
you all kinds of incentives. Billions of dollars are transacted online
every year and you want your share. Where do you turn? What do you look
for? Read on to find out...
Third party payment processors
The easiest way to accept credit cards online is through a third party payment processor. Companies like Paypal and 2Checkout.com
allow you to offer your customers the option of paying by credit card
while not having to go through rigorous credit checks or putting down
big deposits. Both of these companies include the option of putting a
short business name alongside their name of your customers' credit card
bill.
Out of the two, Paypal has no up front setup fee while 2Checkout
asks for a one-time $49 USD setup fee. Paypal is also cheaper per
transaction. 2Checkout works differently than Paypal does when
processing orders.
2Checkout is considered to have purchased your product or service
and is simply reselling it to your customer at a profit to them. They
will handle the initial customer concerns with regards to the
transaction but will refer the product or service specific questions
back to you.
Paypal on the other hand, simply processes the initial transaction
in their name once you've upgraded your account to a Premium or
Business account. Your customer doesn't have to register for a Paypal
account if you live in certain countries like the US and Canada so it
is very simple to use.
Invoicing your customer
Paypal allows invoicing but doesn't allow you to send a money
request to someone without requiring your customer to open a Paypal
account. On top of that, most new Paypal accounts are subject to a send
limit restricting the amount of money you send. Now in most markets
that Paypal operates in this send limit is up to $1000 but it is still
a limit.
Because 2Checkout is purchasing the product or service from you,
they don't have an account creation requirement that they impose on
your customer. They have an invoicing function and as long as you have
shown to 2Checkout that you process reliable transactions through their
system, the process is hassle free for your customers.
Which is right for you?
I use both processors. I tend to process initial transactions
through Paypal and regular invoicing through 2Checkout. Either way
though, you can't go wrong with either option if you choose to have
only one credit card merchant account.
 Joe Duchesne
Joe is the webmaster for TurboMerchant.com; a website dedicated to helping people with their credit card merchant account needs.
Article Source: www.EzineArticles.com
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