A European Merchant has to apply for a Merchant Account in the European Region of Visa and MasterCard, but when will a merchant be considered any nationality and is it the beneficial owner of a company or the company that is in questions here?

In fact it is the applicant which the *Acquiring Bank will look at, if the merchant is applying as a business then it doesn’t matter where the beneficial owner is located, however, there are certain requirements in the different countries that a company must comply to, such as to have a local registered secretary.

It is not in any way allowed for a European Company for instant incorporated in Germany, to become a Merchant Account in for instant the USA, this would be against the Visa and MasterCard cross boarder regulations; the Acquiring banks are also aware of this and will decline the application.

For individuals or sole proprietors the same applies no exception.

We would have posted some official links to Visa and MasterCard about this, but at the moment we searched we wasn’t able to find the relevant information, if we find it we will add it to this article.

Where do you get this information from?
Since as you can read from many of our blogs, we have been in this business for more than 8 years now, then we have a bunch of contracts, agreements and Visa / MasterCard regulations on hand, but are limited to several NDA’s which prevent us to post any parts or the entire document here. However, you can proof check the above and below very simple try to apply for a merchant account where you not belong to, you will be declined if the Payment Service Provider / ISO / MSP or Acquiring bank you look at are legit.

I found a company which state they can accept merchants worldwide with 1 bank, how comes?
There are 2 options here:

• 1) The Payment Service Provider will ask you to incorporate in the country where the bank is located, this requires additional costs but is of course a legit solution on this and very common.
• 2) They try to fool you into a solution which isn’t legit, this is sadly often the case, so many fly by night companies are popping up with cheap web sites (often just a 6 page site) and which just there to make the quick buck by scamming people, often they are not themselves aware of what they are doing it is simply a lack of knowledge, they don’t know better.

If you find a company which is like described in point 2, it might be true they will get you started, but be sure this solution will not last and the risk you will lose all your moneys is 90%, our advice, stay away from this, the last 10 years have shown it incident after incident, it won’t work.

Visa and MasterCard have divided the world in 6 regions and a merchant which has its business incorporated in a country which belongs to a certain region need to apply for a merchant account in the region it belongs too, it is now allowed to have a merchant account in another region than where the company is registered.

Source: http://www.mastercard.com/sitemap.html

We hope to have clarified this issue and that this post can be distrubuted to as many as possible for all of us to conduct an honest business.
On behalf of CCLOGIC.COM we whish you all the best.

These days it is essential for an Online Business which sells their services or products throughout the Internet to accept credit card payments.  

Many just fail to know what it exactly is they need to be aware of when they do their business planning and apply for a merchant account to accept credit cards on their web site.

Looking at the Payment Service Industry the possibilities is many, the number of payment service providers is almost impossible to see through so the services they offer. In the latest 2 years you also will find many Offshore Company Service agency which will try to setup a merchant account and payment gateway facility for you as a “complete package” but which simply fail due to a leg of knowledge and even them self understanding the Payment Service Provider business.

Below we will outline a few of the major and important conditions you need to consider and be prepared for when you apply for a Merchant Account and it doesn’t matter who you are going to use, the regulations are set forth by the Card Association and in front Visa / MasterCard.

You will need to apply for a Merchant Account in the jurisdiction of where your company is registered; this isn’t necessarily the same country but more often the Region in which the country of company registration belongs to.

Many fail to comply with the regulations already before they get started, for instant when they incorporate their company in some “grey zone” offshore jurisdictions like Panama, Belize, BVI or Seychelles, those countries are only hardly accepted by the major Banks in this Offshore jurisdictions and often you will pay high fees too, since they know your business now is bound to them.

To have your company registered in the European Union will take much of the hassle from your shoulders and you will find yourself with the right merchant account and payment gateway solution quickly if you prepared yourself with the next few things.

The first thing you will need to know is that your Web site need to be compliant with Visa and MasterCard (I name those brands because they are the most important once) make sure you have your Terms and Conditions and Return policy online and that it is easy for customers / card holders to find and read them. Make sure your Company name, address and a phone number is available, a postbox isn’t sufficient and will not be accepted. If you don’t provide 24/7/365 phone support, put it on your website and let people know when and how they can get in contact with you.

To attract more customers, it is always a good idea to have a Live Chat on your Web Site, this will let your customers feel comfortable and that they always can be in touch with you.

We hope above can help you the way up the road and will again outline the importance to choice the right Company to help you to find the right Merchant Account and Payment Gateway providers.

With more than 9 Years of experience in the Payment Service Provider Business and the maintain mend of a PCI certified Payment Gateway CCLOGIC.COM know the business and companies you need to succeed. Feel free to contact us or visit our web site.