What is a retail merchant account?
Designed for stores and retail businesses of all sizes, a retail merchant account is a system that allows you to accept credit or debit cards for sales of products and services. This type of account processes transactions when the card holder is present with the card being used.
How does this type of account work?
Once your merchant account is active, processing the transactions is simple. Depending on your particular policies, either your customer or your employees swipe the credit or debit card being presented for payment through the merchant account equipment. Your account provider then transfers the information on the card to the issuer of the card to ensure authorization. If the security is intact and the funds are there, the issuer authorizes the transaction and it continues to completion. If there are problems with the account or sufficient funds are not available, the issuer declines the transaction. Once the card is approved, the transaction is complete.
What type of equipment is necessary?
In order for you to be able to process credit and debit cards at your business you will need the appropriate equipment. The EMV changes announced by Visa and MasterCard several years back have been implemented and all terminals have been updated. Any merchants that currently have a terminal that does not accept EMV chip cards have been put on notice that have to upgrade or face fines.
How is a retail account different than an online merchant account?
While a retail merchant account is essential to operating a brick-and-mortar location, if your business is internet-based, or you intend to grow your business by offering products and services online, you need eCommerce solutions. Being able to accept e-commerce digital payments is much the same as processing payments through equipment at a point of sale location in your shop or business, but is done completely online. Once your customer has made a product choice or decides to pay for a service through your website, they input their credit or debit card information and it processes through to the card issuer to approval.
Do customers always have to input their card information?
In some situations, your regular customers do not have to put their card information in every time they make a payment. An online merchant account application makes it easy for customers to process their payments from their phones or tablets just as easily as they process them from a laptop or PC. With this type of application, they may have the option of saving their information so it is easily used later.
Call 1-800-7919-9198 for answers to your questions and to find out more about merchant accounts that help you build your business and pursue your goals for success.