Establish a Merchant Account

How do I establish a merchant account?

In order to offer credit card transactions to your customers, you'll need to establish a merchant account. A merchant account is basically a payment processor that handles all payments given to you in credit card form. With a merchant accont, you'll need to rent, lease or purchase equipment and/or software in order to run these credit card transactions. The equipment is usually a credit card terminal or system. You'll need software only if you want your credit card processing equipment to work in conjunction with your business computer(s), or if your business is mail, phone or online based, and you won't be processing credit card transactions face to face. The first step in establishing a merchant account is finding a merchant account provider with whom you are eligible to have a merchant account with.

What do I need to establish a merchant account?

You'll need the following to establish a merchant account: a certified, legitimate business that is not considered high risk (please note that you can have merchant accounts for high risk businesses, but these are specialized merchant accounts that are not as often found, and are almost always more expensive), documentation on that business, including its registration, physical location, business bank account, and tax documents, and information on yourself: namely, personal, state issued identification. You'll also need enough money to cover the start-up costs, which can run as high as several hundred dollars.

How long does it take to establish a merchant account?

The industry standard for setting up a merchant account, from start to finish, is seven to ten business days. But like anything else in this world, there are variables that can determine the exact ready or "launch" date of a merchant account. These variables include whether or not the applicant for the merchant account has all required paperwork, or if there are one or two things that need to be tracked down. Also, when you do go to establish a merchant account, be mindful of business hours (9-5), weekends and holidays. Any of these can increase the time it takes to establish a merchant account.

How much does it cost to establish a merchant account?

The costs incurred with establishing a merchant account can run upwards of three hundred and possibly four hundred dollars. The costs vary from one merchant account provider to another. Some merchant account providers charge exorbant prices for processing applications and doing the initial setting up of a merchant account. Others are willing to wave those fees if you are willing to establish a merchant account for a set amount of time, or agree to rent certain brands or types of equipment.