Merchant account services are the services that allow you to accept credit cards as payments, both online and off, and help you handle the credit card transaction processing. Without merchant accounts, your customers would have to pay with cash or check- and believe it or not, most customers will spend more if they can swipe their card and worry about the bill later.
The Cost of Accepting Credit Cards
Merchant accounts can be costly. There are numerous providers of merchant accounts that are reputable and offer good value for their service- but there are even more providers of merchant accounts that charge excessive fees and have hidden expenses that you were not aware of when agreeing to use their service to accept credit cards online.
Fees range from per transaction fees (usually a percentage or a few cents on each card processed) to monthly or annual maintenance fees that can range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars.
Online Businesses Need Merchant Accounts
Online merchant accounts are crucial to having a successful online business venture. Consider it from the eyes of a customer: if you were on a website, looking to buy a...