BahamasB2B.com does not process credit card transactions. In order to accept credit cards as a payment method on your Web site you need to
have a merchant account.
BahamasB2B.com does not process credit card transactions.
In order to accept credit cards as a payment method on your Web site you need to
have a merchant account.
The exception to this rule is if you use a service who will process payments
on your behalf such as Paypal,
iBill or
E-GOLD. This is a viable
alternative for low volume merchants but they do have their down-sides. In the
case of Paypal and E-GOLD in particular, the customer has to open an account
with them first although this is done within the course of the transaction. They
all, at some level, impose their brand on the transaction. They have to because
it’s their name on your customer’s card statement. Read on to see how the system
works…
Merchant accounts
A merchant account is not a business checking account. It is a special
facility that is arranged with a credit card clearing bank that allows you to
process card transactions through their facilities. In general, as internet
merchants you are required to declare to the acquiring bank who gives you this
facility that that is how you trade. In many cases you will also have to pay
higher rates than offline businesses such as shops or restaurants who obtain a
signature from their customers.
The mechanism for obtaining a merchant account varies from country to
country. In the US merchant accounts are sold by third party vendors, in the
same way as many other financial services. In the UK and many other parts of
Europe a merchant account is provided by a high street clearing bank. Either
way, you are not required or expected to use the same bank for any other purpose
so you are pretty much free to use who you like.
In general the best place to start searching for a merchant account is at the
websites of the payment gateways, for example,
Cybercash and
Authorize.net in the
US and Secpay in the UK.
Costs
The cost and ease of obtaining a merchant account varies from country to
country. In the past the US has probably suffered some of the highest set-up
costs (more than $500) but that is changing now. In Europe you may pay little or
nothing to set-up but are likely to pay at least 1% more in transaction fees,
say 3.5% to 4% of your turnover. Always check the hidden costs such as minimum
monthly charges or flat rate maintenance fees.
Using a merchant account
There a two basic ways of clearing a credit card through a merchant account.
Either you do it manually by entering the details into a card swipe terminal
(the type you see in shops) or you use a payment gateway such as Cybercash.
There is I suppose a third alternative which is to run terminal software on your
PC but this is really the same as a card swipe machine.
Which ever mechanism you use, the card terminal or payment gateway will make
a telephone call to the acquiring bank that has your merchant account requesting
Authorization. If approved the card may then be charged, this is often called
capture of funds. The capture may take place at the same time as authorization
or latter, maybe when you ship the product. The timing depends on your merchant
account and the nature of your product. The actual cash will then appear in your
bank account some two or three days after capture (yep, bank computers are very
slow).
These days Visa and Mastercard are now requiring a special electronic “flag”
indicating that the sale originated from the internet. This is so they can
identify internet transactions from others where there isn’t a card present;
telephone and fax orders. It is sent along with the card details when the
authorization request is made. All the payment gateways do this as a matter of
course but you may wish to check if you use a terminal or PC software that it
does too.
Payment gateways
You generally can’t just turn up at a payment gateway’s website with an
existing merchant account and expect them to hook it up for you. That’s because
they will need to ensure that someone is going to pay them for their services.
On the whole their fees are very low and may be absorbed by the acquiring
financial institution but that will depend on their policies and their
relationship with that bank. Secpay, for UK merchants, charge you directly a
fixed 39 pence per transaction, others may not be so transparent.
Currency
You will always need to price and charge in the currency of your merchant
account. So if you are a US business and have a US merchant account you will
need to price in US Dollars. To price in a currency other than your own you
would normally have to have a merchant account and probably a corporate business
based in that country.
There are a couple of possible exceptions. I understand that Canadian
businesses can make a arrangement to trade directly in US Dollars. United
Kingdom based businesses may be able to obtain a merchant account from NatWest
Bank PLC that allows them to trade in a number of pre-arranged foreign (to the
UK) currencies. This is what I personably use.
Any merchant account can be used to accept payment from foreigners.
Conclusion
- You need to have access to a merchant account to clear credit card
payments unless you use a third party such as Paypal or
Internetsecure. - You can either clear transactions manually (after collecting the data
using my secure server) or through a payment gateway; Cybercash, Authoriznet
et al. - You should shop around for the best deal.
