Guidance for selecting retail merchant account

As a retail merchant, you should know what you're doing when it comes to choosing a merchant account provider . Selecting the wrong merchant account provider can mean paying high priced leases on a terminal your business doesn't need, and even paying high monthly fees. 1. A merchant account is a special account that is set up for a business to accept and process credit card orders. After a customer swipes their credit card through a terminal, the information is passed securely to a processing bank. The processing bank makes sure there is enough available credit in the customers account, and if so, they then deduct the appropriate funds from the account. If there are not enough funds, the card is rejected and a message is displayed on the terminal read-out screen. Assuming the funds are available, the money is transferred to the merchant's business checking account within 2 to 3 business days. In addition to checking for available funds, the processing bank also makes sure the card has not expired or wasn't reported as lost or stolen. If either of these are the case, the transaction is immediately halted. 2. Before even starting to look for a merchant account provider (or perhaps when you've just started to look), it is important to know where you want to place your credit card processing equipment. But keep these factors in mind while accepting a equipment: Customer access to terminal, Ease of processing access, Access to telephone jacks, Size of equipment footprint, purchasing a second phone line. 3. It is important that you conduct your due diligence before settling on one particular merchant account provider. Don't be stuck paying high monthly fees and overpay on a terminal solution. Don't let price be the only deciding factor though. Don't wait a week before opening your doors to customers to find a merchant account provider. Not only could you miss out on a good deal, but in some cases it can take up to a week to approve your application once it's been submitted. Then you need to factor in the time it takes for the merchant account provider to ship you a terminal (or multiple terminals). And on top of that, you have to set up your terminal(s) correctly and make sure they work. Three main factors should be considered when choosing a merchant account provider Integrity of the provider, Price, Customer Service .