Merchant account – a growing need in Corporate world
Merchant account and Credit card processing are inter-dependent. Merchant account comes into effect when a customer would want to pay through credit card or debit card during product buying. The Business firm, involving merchant account always looks for a customer who is a credit-card holder and has a dedicated bank account. Merchant account, therefore acts as a bridge between the business and the bank.
There are two different types of Merchant accounts. One is the account which accepts the amount in customer’s presence, called as ’signature-based’. In this case, the customer can buy a product by either swapping the credit card/debit card, being physically present or by providing a secure signature to ensure a genuine transaction. The other type of account is ‘non-signature-based’, that accepts the amount irrespective whether the customer is physically present or not. This usually applies when a customer would directly process his/her payment online using credit card in a virtual way, when buying or selling any product. The credit card processes the amount from client’s bank account into the merchant account.
There are certain requirements before you open up your merchant account. Although Opening a merchant account is quite simple and straight-forward task. What needs to be ensured is that you have trade license, business reference and proof of your taxability.
Few Big businesses have merchant accounts that look for pulling out more money from their customers in terms of Fee. This fee may include Setup Fee, Chargeback Fee, Statement Fee, and sometimes asking customers to have their Credit card accounts always debited with ‘Monthly Minimum’. However, there are Business flexibility schemes provided by few other companies who do fair business. These schemes are so flexible and client-friendly; that you do not need a special corporate checking account and the payments directly gets transferred to your private checking account. Also, the Credit card processing will be monitored thoroughly to keep you updated all the time. Credit card processing and Merchant account thus, go hand in hand proving to be a growing need.