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.

Many still relay on Wire Transfers or check processing and ask their customers to pay by these methods; however they will lose orders and money in this way.

The risk of accepting credit card payments on your website in regards to fraud is existent and you will face customers which will try to dispute a charge even if they have received what you sold them, this is a annoying situation to be in but you will, if you have the proper documentation in place be able to fight such fraudsters.

Compared to PayPal which always is on the site of the buyer then you will have better options to fight a dispute and even a chargeback if you have your own Merchant Account.

A Merchant Account is similar to a bank account with the exception that you don’t have direct access to it and you can’t withdraw or insert money on that account or use it for day to day transactions. The Merchant account is opened by a Acquiring Bank which holds your moneys and once a week and sometimes every day pay out the funds on your Merchant Account to your bank account.

However, to become a Merchant Account with a Bank you will need to be approved a an Acquiring bank or processor.

The approval process and time varies from case to case and bank to bank. In general it speeds up the approval process dramatically if you have the following already in place:

• 1. Web site need to be compliant, which includes:
• a. Visa and MasterCard Logo
• b. Terms and conditions
• c. Return policy
• d. A fully working website from ordering a product or service to the final checkout page
• e. All products and services are online
• 2. A English translation of a utility bill, phone bill or bank statement
• 3. Passport copy
• 4. If you apply in Europe, then a European Company (for instant Cyprus Company)
• 5. Processing history from either PayPal or former processor
• 6. A good description of your business and why you want to accept credit card payments.

Once you submit your application to a merchant account broker or directly with a payment processor then it is easy for you to submit above at the same time, this speed up the process and they don’t need to request each of it one by one.

CCLOGIC LLC is one of the most connected Merchant Broker companies in Europe; we can place almost any business and business size we work with the Major Acquiring Banks in Europe and also with Banks outside of Europe. Please let us look into your business case if you decided to accept credit card payments on your website.

CCLOGIC LLC can place : Regular E-Commerce Business | Adult Business | Online Casino Merchants | Pharmacy Merchant Account | Sports Betting Merchant Account | High Risk Merchant Accounts

The latest reports show that fraud hit 7,5% of Americans in 2008 according to Gartner, that’s are alarming figure which you need to be aware of now!

On the other hand you need to drive traffic and customers to your business and you will need to accept credit cards together with other payment methods to survive in the competition of getting orders.

Do you know that you only have 15 seconds to tell your website visitors what you want to sell them? And did you know that most people will click away from your website if you don’t offer them a easy way to pay for the product you want to sell them?

That’s true, even the best website with the best products or services will not get orders if you not make the payment process easy. Credit Card Payments is no.1 to offer your customers next to alternatives like PayPal and Google Payment.

Many Online Merchants are stuck with the approval process to become a merchant account for their business, and I can understand them, it can be overwhelming what the banks require and the applications to fill. But it is necessary to go through the process, don’t be a lacy business man, sit down take the time it takes to complete the application and to prepare your website to be compliant and get the love from the Acquires you need. Some of the most common mistakes a merchant is doing while applying for a Merchant Account is;

• - No Privacy Policy
• - Missing Return Policy
• - Missing Refund policy
• - Missing Terms and Conditions
• - No Visa or MasterCard logo on the website
• - The application is not filled correctly; false or mistaken information’s are filled in.

Have this in place and you are good. If you think that you are into a business which do not is accepted by the various processors, then don’t lay or show a website which isn’t the one you are want to process credit cards for. We open to your Merchant Service Agent and tell them the truth often many Merchant Agents have several banks and processors available and if they know the real case they find a solution.

Make sure you pay attention to fraud, MaxMind is one of the ways to go to protect your business from credit card fraud once you got it in place, it will keep down your chargeback ratios and also ensure that you don’t accept payments from people which are out for a scam, you don’t get a 100% insurance but it is close to.

For merchants which can’t comply in the Visa or MasterCard regions their business belongs to, they have the possibility to incorporate an Offshore company with some Offshore Agency, this often comes as a complete solution where you get a legit Offshore Company, Offshore Bank Account with IBAN number and this can then be connected to a Merchant Account to accept credit card payments. Often it is worth to go this way, and it isn’t complicated.

CCLOGIC LLC the Offshore Merchant Service Specialists can help with the opening of Merchant Accounts to accept credit cards and Bank Accounts as well as Incorporating Offshore Companies for instant in Cyprus.

Just go to an e-shop, choose a product, employ their net Visa card payment-acceptance facility to make the payment and be prepared to receive the products at your stoop.

This online fraud on credit cards can occur in 2 ways. The 1st one is related to the company, on whose web site you made online Credit card payment for buying of products ; this company itself might be fake i.e. It might take the net card payment from you but not deliver the products to you.

Likewise , they could use the details of your ATM card ( received thru the filling up of net Visa card payment form by you ) for fake purposes.

The second sort of crime is committed by fraudsters who use assorted softwares / devices to capture the details of web Credit card payments ( as you enter them on the net Visa card payment form of an internet site ). The spyware works by capturing keystrokes or taking screenshots of whatever you do on your personal computer and then passes it on to the spy. So, the appearance of online Visa card use facility is a boon to us. Don’t access your bank accounts or make online Visa card payments from internet cafeterias ( unless you are positively sure about the credentials of the net caf ).

For fast and reliable credit card processing on your Website, please visit CCLOGIC.COM

Also visit our Offshore Merchant Services Discussion Forums for business professionals.

With the development of net, card industry too took a new turn and up came ecommerce and e-shops. So, those stickers of “We accept credit cards”, moved on to the doorways of net shops. So came the age where nearly every online-shop would accept cards ( immediately or indirectly ). A few of them disguise themselves as online merchants who accept visa cards as mode of payment ( the particular motive being extraction of critical card details ).

These fraudsters either clone the cards or merely note urgent info from them ( and use that for online-shopping ). The spyware capture their card info and get it broadcast to the spy using net. So a large amount of merchants and service suppliers do accept visa cards but bear in mind the fraudsters too welcome / accept cards.

For more information on how to accept credit card payments safe and secure, please visit cclogic.com

Or are you already on your way to your second credit card? By the way, do you know it takes ages for you to get your credit card processed? 

Well, for starters let’s look into the credit card processing stage of your application and why does it take you ages to have that other card.

The first thing that your bank looks into in the stage of credit card processing is the account that you have in other credit card companies. Normally this part of the credit card processing stage-this is where people in banks get down and dirties with their records and other companies’ records. This would also include how long was the credit card processing stage when you applied for your other cards. This usually means that your bank is trying to find out how much your worth really is. This is the part where they categorize you in subgroups. This also usually means that it’s either you’re a good payer or they would have a have time chasing after you state to state.

If this happens in the credit card processing stage, the bank would usually require you to give them an alternate address where they send you the bill, by the way this just means that they want to be sure that you are going to pay! And if you get past this stage of the credit card processing with minor injuries to your ego, the next step will be to find out if you have any unpaid balances or other credit card processing with other banks. This just means that they are trying to find out how cards are able to for and you’ll be able to pay for theirs once you’ve passed the credit card processing stage. They usually do this to counter check if you do have the capacity of paying for a number of credit cards so they won’t get stuck a person that cant. And when you get passed this stage, still with minimal damage to your ego, the next step in the credit card processing stage is to verify your identity as a US citizen.

Because of the US Patriotic Act, everyone trying to get anything in the US is required to have their identities verified because they don’t want terrorist getting anything inside US soil especially getting past credit card processing. And the last part of getting past the credit card processing is to have all the things they need to check in order and to meet the standards of their company, in a nutshell, to get a credit card and to get through credit card processing, you must have other credit cards that are active. Two, you must be a good payer and three you must not have a last name that sounds like you are from Afghanistan-that is. Anyway, you might be having problems when it comes to your credit card processing, most it the time, it’s worth the wait. Credit cards is great financial tool is used correctly and properly. It will enable the credit card holder to manage his or her finances. Having a credit card also ensure not only your money and your life as well because it is very convenient compared to carrying cash or checks every time you have to buy or pay for something.

Are you ready to swipe your credit card for the first time? Really? Or are already en route to the second credit card? And did you know that it takes age to get your credit card processed?

Well, for starters, look at the stage of credit card processing of your application and why it has the age to have another card.

The first thing you see in your bank in the process of credit card processing is the account that you have in other credit card companies. Normally, this part of the stage of processing credit cards is that people in banks and dirt of their records and other documents. This would also include how long was the stage of processing credit card when you ask your other cards. Generally, this means that your bank is trying to understand what your value really is. This is the part where they divided into subgroups. This also means that it is generally either you are a good payer, or a time that would have been chasing each other.

If this occurs at the stage of processing credit cards, the bank generally requires that to give them another address to send you the bill, by the way that they just want to make sure that you are pay! And if you skip this phase of the credit card processing with minor injuries to his ego, the next step is whether you have outstanding balances for credit cards or other treatment with other banks. This does not mean they are trying to understand how the cards are far and was able to pay once they have passed the stage of processing credit cards. Usually, this to counter check if you have the ability to pay for a credit card to avoid getting stuck with someone who can not. And when you skip this step, even with minimal damage to your ego, the next step in the process of credit card processing is to verify your identity as an American citizen.

Because of the U.S. Patriot Act, everyone trying to get anything in the United States is required to verify their identity because they do not want to do anything of terrorism on American soil in particular credit card processing. And the last part of the past, obtaining credit card is to have everything they need to check and comply with the rules of your society, in short, to get a credit card to obtain card processing credit, you must have other credit cards that are active. Two, you must be a good payer and three should not have a name that sounds as if Afghanistan. Either way, May you have problems when it comes to your credit card processing, rather than at the time, worth the wait. Credit cards is great financial tool is used correctly and properly. This will allow the holder of the credit card to manage your finances. Having a credit card also ensure not only their money and their lives and because it is very convenient compared to the actual or controls whenever they have to pay or buy something.

Also please visit our Merchant Services Discussion forum for topica like above and Offshore Services!

Setting up a merchant account with our payment gateway enables suppliers of all major credit cards to be accepted into a website, including Visa, MasterCard and Visa Electron for UK customers. This allows the authorization, settlement and management of credit card transactions online. Internet sales can be managed around the world in a single payment gateway and the payments processed in real time.

Our payment gateway providers also have virtual terminal software, a payment terminal that allows you to accept orders by mail or by telephone if paid for any reason, the information can not be recovered from d ‘ a system based on the Internet. Therefore, transactions can be processed online or offline. Access to the payment gateway will ensure that all transactions are handled easily with all major banks and is available to dealers in all European countries.

Used by the gateway of our provider payment gateway is designed to be as friendly as possible, which gives absolute control over the payments and transactions, the ability to print the statement is always available. The system is very powerful and can handle multiple merchant accounts on one server. The system is capable of handling all major banks and several banks can be installed at a time.

Our payment gateway providers use the Address Verification (AVS), which confirms the identity of the credit card. The system works by the confirmation of the billing address of credit card is the same as in the application form will be kept at the bank issuing credit cards. Verification Code Security (MasterCard Secure Code and Verified by Visa) has been introduced to improve the security of internet payments. Basically it is 3 digits printed on the card or signature required by operators and to secure “card not present” transactions over the Internet, by phone, mail or fax. Due to the increase in attempted card fraud, it is now mandatory to provide this code when the cardholder is not present in person.

A fraud scheme, was designed with a high level of anti-fraud tools to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, which contains more than 180 different characteristics of fraud. The system is designed to maximize the protection of an online business and is based on more than 7 years of experience and research. Using this research, the company has built a database for its results with many different types of fraud. Features include: intellectual property and game cards, general restrictions on the country, block map, restriction map, Time Frame Relay, tools to fight against identity theft and the tools to fight against phishing.

 Visit our Merchant Services Discussion Forum today and enter into discussion about above and many other topics!

I have been many times through this process and every time it is the same questions I ask myself!

Where do I find the hosting that I need for my Website?
What you need to consider is how big your website is and how much traffic you expect to hitting your website, since we assume you are serious about your new business venture, then you should  decide to find a cheap but reliable and stable dedicated hosting plan. I looked into Liquid Web and The Planet, both have starting plans from $69 and a very low setup fee, since The Planet messed completely up my credit card for not so long a time ago, and are very complicated to deal with if you are outside of the US, then I would recommend Liquid Web.

Now you have your hosting in place and can start uploading your website! Uups, you need to figure out how your website should look and if it would be of benefit for you to use a CMS or Shopping Cart.

Shopping Cart or CMS?
So I while I started my business I have been looking at several solutions both in regards to a CMS solution and a regular Shopping Cart solution. It will depend very much on what your business is, I will give you 2 great suggestions here;

If you are going to sell electronic downloads, e-books, products (of any kind) or something else that need to be downloaded or shipped after Payment, then you should look into a shopping cart like OSCommerce which is free at widely supported by millions of people, a much smaller solution and which costs $25 is Pphpldshop.com, it is very easy to install and easy to customize, the support is, sorry to say so, a bit slow, but it works great.

An example of the PHPLD shopping cart can be found here: shop.cclogic.com

If you are going to offer services which don’t can be downloaded immediately or accessed after payment I would defiantly go for a CMS solution, a good CMS software will have a lot of extensions to advanced your needs and is easy to customize and maintain. It is crustily of importance for you to install a CMS which is supported instantly with security updates and buck fixes and where new versions are released on a regular basis. My best suggestion for you is to use :   Joomla is also supported by millions of people and you get everything you need, in fact with Joomla you are able to extend your website to a large corporate professional website with less effort and for a few bucks.

The Design and Logo
Now you need a good designer, please avoid for any price services which will charge you several thousand dollars, if you just need to get started, I made a very bad experience with a company OGOsense.com they are crocks and took $ 1.800 from me, what they did is looking professional, they will send you massive of e-mails with questionnaires and a lot of other crap you don’t want to look professional. My result was that they then took a cheap template from: Joomla Templates and put it online. Stay away.

No find a good template that fits into what you have in mind you can find many great templates and later on get them customized for less than $100.

For logo design I highly recommend the service of Business Logo, they are fast and very reliable to deal with, the results of their works is professional, the website is here:  BusinessLogo.net

Accepting Credit Card Payments
Now you are almost done and ready to start selling your services and products on the Internet.
To be able to accept payments on your website I would recommend you to take a look at the marked, and to find a reliable payment processor which is difficult and where you ran the risk to get into a trap. During my more than 9 Years of Experience in the Internet Business, I have seen a lot.

For startup business you should look into 2co.com, paypal.com, alertpay.com and even moneybookers.com, they are all 4 companies which have been in the payment processing business for many years now and they have grown to huge multimillion companies which don’t disappear overnight.

Once you have grown your own business to be a small or even medium sized company with a monthly sales volume of let’s say approximately $15.000 you should look into becoming your own Merchant Account and connect your website directly with a payment gateway, a good start would be cclogic.com they are only working as consultancies, but have been in the business like the first mentioned 4 companies for many years.

They will provide you with the reliable and trusted solution you want.  With the large network of Banks and Payment processors they have, you will be in good hands.

Beside to accept credit cards you should also look into other payment methods, you have optional possibilities to Accept ACH Check processing, Debit Card processing like Visa Electron or Maestro, Bank Transfer payments, Phone Billing and much more… Ask your payment service provider for what other payments methods they offer.

Most important for you is, the payment gateway provider MUST be PCI compliant, here is the official website for the same: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/ and at least Level 1, this is not something you need to worry about what it is about, just make sure your Payment Gateway provider is compliant. This is a second level of security for you and your business. If anyone tells you they are in process, or they use HackerSafe.com, RUN RUN RUN and stay away, it is not what we speak about. We want a fully compliant PCI Level 1 payment gateway, and we want to see a VALID certificate.

Now you are ready to get started, please make a short comment on this blog post if you find it informative or if you need  more tips and tricks.

Please also feel free to Visit our Webmaster Forum which includes many of the topics mentioned in this article and where you can discuss what YOU want.

Our goal is to provide the most professional solution for our clients, we don’t want to be the cheapest and we do not enter into discussions about our fees.
We are that convince about our own performance that we only invoice a client if we are 100% sure not to fail our mission.

How do you differ from all the other companies?
CCLOGIC LLC is first of all compared to any other company in our industry, an independent consultancy firm, we are not married with any specifically bank or service agent to which we send all our clients. CCLOGOC LLC is extending their network of sub contractors each day and we know almost any aspect of the arena we are battling on.
In the opposite to many Payment Service Providers on the Internet which offer company formation, payment solutions or the opening of bank accounts and advertising strategies, then we have one thing in mind and what counts. If we haven’t put money into the solution we offer, why should our clients do? Our existing is because of the many clients who contact our company each day, we rely on them, and we want their reference on our client list.

CCLOGIC LLC is not in any way involved in any payment processing operations, nor are we involved in the day to day management of any Offshore Company or Offshore
Bank Account, no, we have used all our sub contractors for our own purpose (some of them for more than 5 years) and made our own experience with them, and they
are experts in what they are doing, that’s why we choice them as partners for CCLOGIC LLC.

The services CCLOGIC LLC offers are all in synergy with each other and that’s why we can handle all of them under one umbrella, we use them daily by our self with great success.

How we operate:
CCLOGIC LLC strives to deliver a fast, professional and reliable service to our existing and new clients, we won’t involve our self in any of our clients operations, and we don’t want to have access to our clients money. Also we want to have the right without any further details or discussion to discontinue the work with a client if we fell they are fooling us into a business we dislike or are just not honest about their entire business case. Most important to us is, we don’t want to waste our time on clients which don’t want to pay for the minutes and hours we are using on them, because they came to us because they had a issue they need to have solved, we didn’t contacted them.

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Visit our Merchant Services Forum Today, where you will find much more information about Offshore Company Formation and Cyprus Offshore Bank Accounts