Equal Housing Lender
Equal Opportunity Lenders
Members FDIC/SIF
Roxbury Highland Bank
of Jamaica Plain
515 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain MA 02130
TEL (617) 524-6500
FAX (617) 524-8138
info@bankofjp.com
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Merchant Credit Card Processing
If you plan to do business online, then your website will need
to accept credit cards. For many, the idea of applying for a
Massachusetts merchant account sounds like a daunting task, but the truth is
that building an online store is incredibly easy these days. The
major credit card processing companies have improved and
streamlined the process of setting up accounts, and software
companies have had several years to improve their software to
the point that it is easy for non-technical business owners to
create and operate an online store effectively.
Traditional Merchant Accounts in MA. If your processing volume
will be higher than $1000 per month, then you will probably want
to go with a traditional merchant account. Credit card
processing companies generally charge a minimum monthly fee that
is approximately equal to the amount of money you would pay to
process $1000 per month. Generally speaking you can expect to
pay around $50 per month in minimum charges for a merchant
account. As you process more, your costs will go up, but the
percentage of your gross sales that you pay for processing
should go down.
Steps You Need To Take To Set Up A Traditional Merchant
Account It is not difficult to set up a traditional merchant
account, but you will need to follow several steps in order to
pull it off. - Get a business license
- Get a business
bank account at your bank
- Make sure your web host supports
your shopping cart system (you might even be able to get your
shopping cart system bundled in with your credit card processing
services for free).
- Try to determine the amount of business
you will generate. Your credit card processing company will want
to know how large each transaction will be, and how many
transactions you expect to have per month.
- Negotiate with
merchant account providers and establish your merchant credit
card account (see list of merchant account providers).
Following are several merchant account providers you may be
interested in contacting: | www.merchantaccount.com | USA Payments allows you to
accept payments instantly without the need to set up special
accounts or sign long-term contracts. You will want to strongly
consider using this one if you are processing more than $1000
per month. | | www.merchantaccounts.co | AMS Merchant Services is
one of the largest resellers of merchant accounts both on and
offline, and are trusted by literally tens of thousands of
businesses of all sizes. They use Global Data as their back-end
processor. | | www.merchantprocessors.com | This is a well-respected processor that services both on
and offline businesses. | | www.merchantaccount.biz | CardService International provides a very helpful eBook that you can download for free! |
Some Issues You Want To Consider - Generally
speaking you will be more concerned with up-front and recurring
fees rather than the discount rate that processing companies
will quote most prominently. The hidden fees generally eclipse
the discount rates – especially for low volume start-up
businesses.
- Try to accurately estimate your business volume
when you fill out your applications. The risk department at your
processing company can put a freeze on your account if your
volumes move significantly outside the estimates you have
provided them.
- If you do experience a sudden spike in
orders, you should contact the risk department of your
processing company to make them aware of the spike BEFORE it
hits their system. They may want to have you send them details
about the orders and provide proof that the orders are
legitimate. As inconvenient as this is, it is far better than
getting your account frozen. For more information about the Risk
Department at a credit card processing company, please read our
free article, Credit Card Processing Issues You Should Be Aware Of on www.chargebackprevention.com.
- Make sure you understand what fees you will be
responsible for if you need to cancel your account before the
end of your contract. You may find that you need to shut down
your account for a variety of reasons, and you don’t want to
find out about exit fees after you get the bill!
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