A Low Cost Merchant Account

Like many people, you probably don't think much about your merchant account. You know that the bank is providing it, but you're not sure what a merchant account actually is or if it's necessary to have one.

It turns out that there are a lot of benefits to having a merchant account with your bank, and this article will help you understand how they work and how easy it can be to set one up for your business. If you're interested in opening a small business but don't want to spend the money on an expensive credit card terminal or other equipment, it's worth investigating whether or not a low cost merchant account could meet your needs.

In this post, I review some of the benefits that you can expect from a low cost merchant account. The bank will provide your business with a payment processing solution that is easier than setting up its own. They will also help you meet many financial obligations and run a smoothly running business by providing services like direct deposit, point-of-sale systems and online transactions. As your bank's monthly service fees are lower than some others, it's much less expensive to have a merchant account than it would be if you had to pay for these things separately.

To get started, you can find a low cost merchant account at banks such as MBNA, HSBC and Wells Fargo. These banks offer some of the best rates for their merchant accounts, and they even give monthly reports containing information about the transactions that are processed through them. They will also provide a customer service number that you can call if there is a problem with your account or if you want to speak to someone directly. It's important to get customer service on your side because they can help with issues like processing times and cash advances when getting money from your card sales is necessary.

A low cost merchant account will typically be much less expensive than using a credit card terminal or other equipment. The reason is that the rule that all banks follow when setting up a merchant account is not to include any monthly fees. This means that you don't need to pay a monthly fee on top of the costs of your processors and point-of-sale systems, which lowers the overall cost of using this type of service.

If you want to benefit from low cost merchant accounts and keep your costs down, you should avoid choosing a provider that has very high monthly service fees. It's important for you to understand that if the provider is charging a high monthly fee, then there must be other conditions attached.

If you're opening a business, you'll want to make sure that a low cost merchant account provider has strong security measures in place. A bank that is offering this type of service will be able to protect your data and payment information, so it's important that you feel confident in the provider's security procedures before making your final decision.

If you want to get started with a low cost merchant account, contact one of the banks listed above and start working through the necessary steps now. You should be able to have everything set up within a few months, and once your business is up and running, you'll have a solution that suits your needs.

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Posted by: J.D. Posted at 13:13 Sep 27th 2013 by JOSHUA [11 comments] Not Yet Rated

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Building a business takes time, effort and hard work. Many people who start a business will want to continue with it for many years as they build up their customer base and expand to new territories. This can be an exciting time in your life as you see your business growing, but you also need to be prepared for setbacks. In this post, I provide tips for preparing your business for risks such as credit card fraud. By learning how to handle these situations in advance, you can avoid some of the more stressful problems that may develop when you least expect them.

Hacks on credit cards and online payments have become a source of concern for many business owners. With the use of a card or a mouse, it's possible for criminals to take control of your customers' credit cards, and many vendors are working hard to avoid this type of problem. Before you can prepare your business for problems like credit card fraud, though, you need to know what types of attacks exist so you can be prepared to deal with them.

Types of Credit Card Fraud Attacks

There are three main types of attacks that are used to gain access to your customer's credit cards or processes: phishing attacks, skimming attacks and malware or viruses. A credit card fraud attack may take place when your customers are using their cards or when you send them to a vendor for processing.

Phishing Attacks

A phishing attack takes place when criminals can get your customers to divulge confidential information like their birthdates, social insurance numbers, card numbers and PINs. Phishing attacks are sometimes difficult to identify because they use well-designed websites that look authentic. Your customers may think that they're entering their credit card information on the correct site, but it can be copied and used by criminals to make many online purchases on your business's name. In this situation, you would have to deal with charges on your account and the frustration of having people deny that they made the charges. To avoid phishing attacks, you can establish a number of controls that can help protect your customers' information. For example, you may want to include clearly marked links to your website at the bottom of each email message that comes from your company. You may also want to consider using a tool called iovation. By monitoring various types of credit card fraud attacks and looking for strange activities or requests from your customers, this service will be able to alert you when there is a problem with one of your customers.

Skimming Attacks

In a skimming attack, criminals will take and record the details off of credit cards as they're being used by businesses.

Conclusion

If you want to learn how to prepare your business for credit card fraud attacks, start with a review of the types of attacks that exist so you can look for suspicious transactions. You can also take steps to make sure that your customers' information is protected by having them enter it on your own website instead of just clicking their way through a phishing attack.

About the author: J.D. is an expert on security and privacy as well as being a serial entrepreneur and enthusiast of new technologies. He has worked with many Fortune 500 companies including Intel, Microsoft, HP and Dell as well as numerous startups in the Silicon Valley area.