When you start your business online and you start to get the first requests from your customers that they want to pay by credit card, you will quickly meet the term Merchant Account, if you look around for instant on Google for payment service providers or credit card processing, many companies will tell you that you have to open a Merchant Account with one of their Acquiring Banks.

So what is a merchant account, please explain, often people connect a merchant account with a regular bank account which isn’t obvious but simply a confusion in the terms. A Merchant account is opened by an Acquiring bank, which is authorized by the card association to process payments by credit card for Online Merchants. In many countries you will need to contact another company (Payment Service Provider, ISO or MSP) which on behalf of the Acquiring bank will open the Merchant Account for you. Often you need to sign a Credit Card acceptance contract both with the Acquiring Bank and the Payment Service Provider, to become a Merchant Account.

When you open a Merchant Account you will also need to know which credit cards you will and need to accept on your web site. The major credit cards are Visa and MasterCard, then comes Amex, Diners, JCB and the rest. Many countries have also country specific credit and debit cards for which you need a separated merchant account or merchant agreement. A Merchant Account can be opened by any business which sells products and services and which to accept credit cards, this is the case for both online and Offline business. However, not all business industries can become a Merchant Account or Merchant Agreement, some business types are simply not accepted by the card association.

An important thing to know when you consider opening a Merchant Account is that you will be held responsible for each and every transaction made on your web site. When you open a Merchant Account with an Acquiring Bank you will sign an agreement where you will find the clausal, that you will be pay the bank any losses they might have on your business, that you as the Merchant and the Merchant Account holder will not sell any other products or services then what you listed in the Merchant Agreement. Also that if your merchant account is facing excessive chargeback’s that it simply will be terminated and that you will be subject for fines. Often we suggest clients looking for a Merchant Account, to make a good business description of what they are going to sell and how they will do it. This helps both the bank and the payment service provider in finding the right solution for you. A Merchant Account isn’t the right solution for anyone, but if you are doing well with your business and you learn how to protect you from fraud, then a Merchant Account can be less expensive and more agile compared to any other solution.

CCLOGIC LLC has more than 10 years of experience in the field of Credit Card Processing; we have been in the marked from almost the beginning and know very well the traps, the good ones and the bad ones. We work as consultancies for businesses looking for a reliable and secure solution for their Merchant Account and credit card processing needs. We both work with regular e-commerce and high risk considered businesses.

When you start you online business with a website and you start getting orders from your customers which properly found you on the major search engines like Google. You will quickly realize that you need to accept credit card payments on your website and also figure our which other online payment methods are available.

There are different ways to go for your goal, however if you are a startup merchant which need a quick solution, we suggest you to go with 2checkout.com a 3^rd party processor specialized in small merchants with a volume lower than USD/EUR 5.000.

Alternatively you can go with Paypal.com or even moneybookers.com to accept credit card payments. The smart thing by using those payment processors are you can get started right away and don’t need to go through a in sometimes, complicated process to get approved for your own Merchant Account.

To accept credit card payments with a already existing business and with a good amount of monthly turnover we suggest to apply for an merchant account and integrate your website with a payment gateway to accept online payments and credit card payments.

However, before you go for your own merchant account you will need to make sure that your website is compliant as described in the beginning. You will need to make sure that you have the Visa and Mastercard logo on your payment page, where people enter their credit card information.

When you search on for instant Google for “accept credit card payments” or online payments or even merchant account, you will find thousands of companies which offer their services, be careful, it has been known for many years now that there are companies out there which are ready to rip you off. When you found a company which you will relay on in order to accept credit card payments or online payments, be sure to make a search on the domain name to see if any results come up with SCAM reports or rip-offs.

CCLOGIC has specialized in seeking merchant accounts and online payment methods for their clients, we have been in this business for many years (since 2001) and know almost any new comer and reliable company, we have helped many people to accept credit card payments on their website, so do not hesitate to contact us if you consider to make online payments available on your website.

Our payment gateway supports more than 150 suppliers of different currencies, so that the client can order products or services in the currency you know. Buyers know that the cards are accepted by the card logos on the payment page. When the account is set up payment logos are displayed automatically buyers can view the maps available. If the online store requires more cards after the launch is complete an online application must be submitted, indicating that additional cards are added.

Our payment gateway providers to accept applications for most types of industries, including games, pharmacy, adult, retail, software, ticket sales of snuff, Voyage d ‘ business, airlines, lodging, financial services, online games, luxury goods, digital content. By opening a merchant account providers with our payment gateway is growing their business online and the site is available internationally.

As an online merchant to check the available options with our suppliers to payment gateway and see that it is an affordable option.

Get answers to your questions at Merchant Services Discussion Forum, visit us today.

Take notice of how the company treats you. If they are quick and informative in answering your questions then this will probably be how they go about their business; if they don’t reply quickly or answer the questions then try another service, there are plenty out there.

Before you decide on the merchant account suited to your business, understanding a little about merchant accounts should be high on your priority list as monthly fees can differ immensely. The more you know and understand your merchant account, the better you will control your business. There are many factors to consider when looking at merchant accounts, amongst them the ease with which the account is set up, how simple it is to operate and the reputation and professional attitude of the merchant account provider. Never underestimate the importance of an anti-fraud system as chargeback penalties from fraudulent transactions can be high and will cut into your business profits if not controlled. Check out the internet for information on merchant accounts and anti-fraud systems.

Merchant Account and Payment Gateway to Accept Credit Card Payments, contact us today.

Fraudulent transactions cause losses for credit card organisations as only a small percentage is actually recoverable, either by locating the thieves or recouping a portion from merchants. In the Visa and MasterCard rules, a merchant’s processing bank is fully accountable for every transaction processed.

If the merchant conducts business illegally or recklessly and causes lots of chargebacks, the provider can be left with huge losses. To prevent this, the provider passes some of the costs on to the merchant if they haven’t carried out sufficient security checks and completed all the card details correctly, these are the chargebacks. The merchant then has to cover the total cost of the transaction, transaction fees and is forced to pay chargeback penalty.

Because of these chargebacks, online merchants are recognising the need to take some responsibility in installing precautions to protect their online stores from credit card fraud. Anti-fraud systems are being acquired by merchants using highly secure anti-fraud tools and merchants are commonly signing up for services offered by the main credit card organisations, Visa and MasterCard SecureCode aim to dispel some of the apprehension customers feel when buying products online. These services involve customers registering a password with their card issuer and every time they use the card online they are asked for their personal password.

If you are looking for accepting credit card payments then please visit cclogic.com

I see many forums which are filled with posts about PayPal and with questions I believe are already answered. However below I will go through of some of the questions which I see most and try to explain it so that also the last user on the Internet can understand it.

One of the most common questions in regards to PayPal and to Accept Credit Card Payments is; Can I use my PayPal account to accept credit card payments? The answer to this is YES you can, in fact PayPal lives from people using their credit card to pay for gods and services available at hundreds of thousands of websites.  PayPal only differs from other Merchant Account solutions by converting the money you pay to another PayPal user with your credit card, to PayPal money. Once the money is in any PayPal user’s account, it will and can be moved around and of coursed be used to pay other PayPal users.

The great benefit of having PayPal is that if you live in a country where you are unable to become a Credit Card or a Visa Electron card, then you can pay with PayPal, which is accepted in almost any webstore you can find. Other reason could be that you are unable to become a credit card due to your credit rating, than a PayPal account is the solution for you. Did you know that we still in 2009 have countries where it isn’t normal to have a bank account and where you get your salary in cash? That true, of the countries are Uruguay which have a great banking infrastructure but still most people there are unable to become a bank account!

So back to topic, now you know that each and every credit card holder can pay you if you accept PayPal on your website.

But hey, when one of my customers click on the PayPal button it directs him to login to his PayPal account, how the hell is he able to pay without to open a PayPal account or use his existing account. That’s obviously a sign that you still not get it!

Every time a user is forwarded to PayPal to make a payment for any reason, then there is an option to pay directly with a credit card, PayPal even not hide this, they pull up a site where they tell you that you are now able to pay with your credit card without having a PayPal account!

Now you will ask yourself, why do not all just accept PayPal as payment method? If it is that easy and if you don’t need to go through all the hassle with PayPal as what you need when you obtain your own merchant account then what is the point?

This question has also been addressed many times in all the forums I visited over the years. Sure it is much easier to just go and open a PayPal account and start selling your gods or services, but PayPal don’t accept all countries, or all types of business. Also there is the aspect of looking professional against your customers, if make an example scenario as the following then you will see that it often is a great benefit to Accept credit Card Payments by both to have a PayPal account and your own Merchant Account.

Scenario: A Online Merchant has been trading his products which are boxes for almost 3 years now and he has a stable monthly turnover of about $ 50.000 so far he started with a 3^rd party processor like 2CO (which is one of the most common processors to use and which is an good alternative to PayPal).

If we analyze above scenario, then the first impression is, great he is doing well and why worry about to offer more options to pay, it looks like everything works. That’s a fatal error to think in this way and it is wrong. As a expanding business you need to offer more services towards your customers and you need to let them feel comfortable with shopping at your business, also you need to increase your income.

If this business would go and become his own Merchant Account and connect his website with a Payment gateway, then the upfront costs would be (only an example) let’s say $ 800 and maybe he also agree to pay a monthly fee of let’s say $25, those fees will make it up with the costs of transaction processing he safe, since 2Co.com often charge about 5% and more plus a transaction fee, and with your own Merchant Account you might only pay about 3% or even less and a transaction fee of maybe $ .20. Now I hope you can see the point, this merchant will increase his income over the next month and get more capital to extend his business.

Next thing is, as I mentioned in the beginning of this article, there are that many people out there which don’t have a credit card or are unable to become a credit card this people often only have one choice left, and that’s to open a PayPal account, if they have something to sell, then they can load the PayPal account in that way, if they have a regular bank account they can use it to load the PayPal account. So this people might also be interested in the products sold by our Merchant, and if he offers the possibility for people and potential customers to pay with PayPal, then he will increase his income and sales with less effort.

Now you must think, okay, if PayPal can accept credit cards directly and if there are that many people out there which don’t have other options than PayPal, then it must be enough to just offer PayPal as Payment method?!  Wrong again, I know it is a bit difficult; however I will also go through this now.

A Merchant Account isn’t more than just an contract which you have with a bank to be allowed to send your credit card transactions and in some cases other payment methods to them. But to be able to do so, you need a payment gateway, often this payment gateways gives you a bunch of great information about each payment transaction, which you can use for marketing purpose. Another thing is, that the most Payment Gateways give you Real Time Transaction overviews and calculate the overall chargeback ratio and a lot of other things. Finally you are able to integrate your website directly with this payment gateway which do that your customer (the credit card holder) don’t need to leave your website, and which again let you look more professional towards the customer.

My conclusion is, that to offer both PayPal and alternative Payment methods is the way to go. For Startup business where you can put in question if they will succeed it is better to start with PayPal until you have built up a stable monthly sales volume. This will save the new business upfront costs and the integration of a payment gateway, which often needs some programming experience or at least a good coded plug-in.

If you are looking to Accept Credit Card Payments or need a Payment Gateway, please visit cclogic.com we can help, also for High Risk- and High volumen business.

Credit cards have become the most common and convenient way to pay online but there are still people who don’t own one; you don’t want to turn these people away and lose a sale. Whereas written cheques used to be the norm, there are now electronic checks (eChecks) available. No need to write out a cheque, post it, wait for it to arrive and clear, customers can merely enter their bank details by electronic means.

The main headache for online merchants is security. Along with your business information, your customers’ personal information moves through your gateway every day. This information is invaluable to hackers; when choosing a gateway ensure you select one that uses the highest security techniques to keep information safe. These should include security schemes operated by the main credit card providers, such as the Visa Cardholder Information Security Program, MasterCard Site Data Protection, and Discover Information Security and Compliance. If your gateway provider doesn’t comply with these you could end up paying higher fees or your account closed down. Check out the Internet for a quality payment gateway provider that offers a high level of anti-fraud tools to protect you and your customers.

If you need a Payment Gateway or Merchant Account you can take a look at CCLOGIC LLC – click the link in this line.

In very simple terms, the gateway processes online payments by connecting your websites order form with the merchant account and returning the answer to the merchant and customer, either approved or declined. Although the gateway itself actually only connects the website to the merchant account, larger payment gateway providers offer additional services, such as merchant accounts and shopping carts.

Gateways offer a range of features that will increase security and revenue. Listed below are several of the more common features to expect.

The most important feature are fraud prevention tools. Merchants continually neglect this part of their business; fraudulent transactions result in loss of revenue, something no merchant wants or needs. Merchants will be aware of chargebacks and the penalties these can incur; credit card fraud is prevalent, increasing daily as hackers come up with advanced methods to obtain card information. Utilising anti-fraud tools will mean less time inspecting suspect transactions and more time generating sales. Basic anti-fraud tools include an Address Verification System (AVS) that checks the customers’ delivery address against the address the card issuing bank has on file, and CVV2, the 3 digit security number printed on the back of credit cards VISA, MasterCard and Discover Card.

Another addition to expect is a recurring billing system, particularly suitable for subscription and membership based businesses. Many merchants have customers that order products on a regular basis, if billing has to be done each month to the same customer using the same details it can waste valuable time and energy. With recurring billing you just supply the gateway with the customers billing information and how regularly to invoice them (this only needs doing once) and the gateway conducts all future transactions.

Comment this here or at our Merchant Service Forum

More often than not, the credit card holder doesn’t lose out if their card is used in a fraudulent transaction; the credit cards issuing bank covers the loss and reimburses the customer since they are keen to keep their custom and encourage more spending on the credit card as it generates big profits for them. The customer is often liable for the first $50 of a fraudulent transaction but issuing banks will often return all monies as a show of good will. The merchant takes most of the costs of fraud in the loss of the product or service, chargeback penalties and transaction fees, never mind the time spent in checking transactions, chasing up payments and reporting the crime.

Credit card fraud runs into billions of dollars each year and increases as internet usage grows and more new businesses venture online. In recent years credit card companies have had to look seriously at the issue of credit card fraud and deploy methods that will curtail fraudulent transactions. All merchants at some point will experience online fraud, reporting it to the police will do little as there just aren’t the resources or time to solve these types of crimes and usually investigation costs far exceed the actual amount stolen, especially if it is an international crime.

Choosing the right payment gateway provider suitable for the type of business is crucial, if the business is new it might be more practical  financially to make a contract with a third party provider, as they deal with most of the transactions, but as business increases the transaction fees for each sale can start to add up.

One of the most important features for a website is the anti-fraud system; make certain it is suitable for your type of business. No business is the same, the product and type of customer attracted to the website will be different in every case and the anti-fraud tools should reflect this. Merchants will experience varying levels of crime depending on the type of product on sale, geographical location and the merchants own knowledge of fraud.

The larger credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard have a programme whereby they monitor the amount of chargebacks produced by each merchant, if merchants exceed their given limit then they have to pay penalties. Banks impose penalties to encourage merchants to be more diligent when checking credit card transactions. If a merchant does experience many chargebacks, then the banks will discuss the situation with them and offer advice and security tips on techniques to reduce the number.

These can include making a record of the e-mail address, card number and phone number of those who have caused the chargebacks; observing how regularly an individual card is used; limiting the amount one card can charge without authentication and supplying a merchant with a customer service telephone number to call if there is a query. The credit card providers research into the areas where security is the weakest and use this information to get merchants to take extra precautions at these points.

Internet credit card fraud will continue to grow and as an online merchant there is a responsibility to utilize an anti-fraud system and start the implementation today. Each time a merchant receives an order from a new customer there is the chance that this will be a fraudulent transaction. The merchant has to decide; a possible fraud or revenue? Costs in advertising and promoting the website and products are high and potential customers might turn out to be valuable life-long shoppers, setting rigorous fraud policies might scare them off and limit profitability. Look online for an effective payment gateway provider with a high security anti-fraud system.

To enable your website to accept credit cards there are a number of systems to be put into place. These are outlined below.

Shopping Cart System

The first thing you need to set into place when selling online is an electronic shopping cart system. First, there is the product catalogue where products available to purchase from your store can be viewed. Once the customer has choiceed the product they want it’s added to the cart, customers are able to choice as many items as they like and the system will total it all at checkout. Once the shipping address is added, the system also calculates postage and any taxes to be paid. The final part of the process is when the customer enters their credit card details and this is where the gateway system comes into operation to conclude the sale.

Shopping cart systems can be simple with no frills, offered for free by organisations involved in ecommerce solutions in order to get you to buy other services from them, or they can be costly to purchase and contain many features. To choice the shopping cart system that’s best for your business, you need to take into consideration the type of product for sale, the purchase choices you want to be able to offer customers, the inventory control application and range of automation required.

Gateway Service

The gateway service is an automatic process of the payment transaction between the customer and the merchant. Once the customer enters their credit card details, these are electronically sent to the gateway service which then forwards the information to the credit card processor for authorisation.

Credit Card Processor

A credit card processor is a data center that electronically processes the credit card transaction. The processor will deal with the transaction, authenticate and accept or decline the credit card for the merchant using secure internet connections. After checking the validity of the transaction, if everything is correct, they will transfer the funds into the merchant account.

Merchant Account

Without a merchant account your website can’t accept credit card payments. An online merchant account is a bank or other financial institution where money generated from your online sales is placed by the processor. Some banks associated with credit card services, such as Visa and MasterCard, issue merchant accounts; however as online businesses are regarded as risky they may refuse you an account. This is not a great problem as due to the rapid growth of online sales there is a choice of merchant organisations that will set up an account for you. 

Shopping has changed dramatically with the expansion of retail stores online, offering shoppers anything from a fully fitted kitchen to a kitchen tap. Add to this the increasing number of websites that now accept credit cards and shopping online has never been easier or more convenient.

There are many organisations out there that will facilitate you in the setting up of your online credit card payment system and other requirements. These organisations have varying fees, so ask around and take a good look at their website before making any final decision. If you spend your money wisely in this area and choice a reputable company with a good reputation for its systems you will see an increase in sales from credit card customers. Lastly, ensure the service you decide upon has an up to date anti-fraud system that will protect your business from fraudulent transactions.