InternetBusinessManual.com - Step 10: Best Services That Let You Accept Credit Cards

Don’t think you have to be a beggar when it comes to getting set up to accept credit cards just because you’re running a business out of your home. You don’t have to grab whatever deal is handed to you.

These days, you have a lot of choices available. The credit card processing industry has definitely changed in the last few years, and home-based businesses are welcomed, where they were shunned just a decade ago.

So there are plenty of companies today willing to give you better deals on getting your own merchant account, making it well within your reach no matter your budget.

But if you are hesitant, for whatever reason, to take the plunge into your own merchant account, you’ll find lots of companies with competitive rates all too happy to process your credit card orders for you. These companies are called “third-party transaction processing services”, and they provide turnkey solutions so you don’t need your own merchant account to do business on the Internet.

However, there is one key reason you should consider opening a merchant account despite the costs: third party processors do not let you see the credit card numbers of your customers; without having direct access to your customer's credit card number, you cannot perform billing address, billing phone number verification with the credit card issuer and protect yourself against fraudulent orders.

Using a third party credit card provider, you have to blindly accept the order and hope that the billing information is correct, and that the card actually belongs to the party placing the order on your site. Each time you ship an order without verifying this information, you are taking a risk; most of the time an order will be okay, but there is a steady amount of attempted fraud orders in every online business, with no type of business immune from fraud attempts.

A merchant account allows you full access to your customer's credit card number, expiration date, billing address, billing phone, and these are powerful antifraud weapons that allow you to contact Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, etc, and verify the billing information is correct, and the billing phone is correct. If you have any doubts of the order's validity, you then have the power to directly telephone the actual card holder and receive verification if he/she placed the order.

This is a highly effective preventative against fraud orders, as a thief cannot alter the billing phone or address in the Address Verification System. Be aware that receving a charge authorization does not mean the credit card order is okay; it can still be a fraud order on a good credit card.

Please note, all the companies profiled, whether merchant account alternatives, or actual merchant account providers, are genuinely the most attractive in this industry, and not a snowball recommendation to companies that charge high rates or get you financially down the road through over-priced fees geared toward the naļve.

Recommendations to credit card providers are something you have to be especially wary of because many of them sound good up front, but when you read the fine print of their contracts—–which not too many people bother to read—–you find their rates aren’t so great, and are actually rip-off rates compared to the ones featured here.

Before that topic is covered, you need to be made aware of a super critical ability you should have in whatever credit card processing package you select, an ability that can make or break your business until you are firmly established.

•When you first start your business, unless you have a rich uncle ready to fund your business venture, you will need to be able to use the money you make on each order as soon as you can get your hands on it.

Sometimes, if you’re really hard up for money and are selling physical merchandise you must mail to the customer, you may find that the money that comes in on each order is the only money you will have to get the supplies or pay for the merchandise you need to fulfill your customer’s order. This is especially true for every business starting up without any financial backers, as your own business will probably be.

This is called funding your business through OPM, which stands for Other People’s Money. People who are broke and who can’t get a business loan from a bank fund their businesses this way. This is the way that many businesses have built themselves up from nothing to huge successes.

Also, since every penny will count when you begin, you will also need to make as much money on each of your sales as possible, meaning paying out as little as possible in credit card payment processing fees.

How can you:
1) access the money from your sales ASAP?
2) pay as little in credit card fees as possible?

The first and most common way to do this is to get a merchant account with a company that charges the least in card fees.

The drawback of this is you need to also pay a monthly fee that ranges from $30 to $90 dollars, a separate monthly fee for the gateway usage from $10 to $30, plus a fee per transaction, as well as pay an initial setup fee for the processing software of up to $300. Not to mention that acceptance into many merchant accounts can require a credit history check.

Also, you often have to pay an additional monthly fee for use of a functioning shopping cart or buy the cart outright, an investment that can cost a few hundred dollars. However, with the right company, you can get a single shopping cart that lets you earn multiple streams of income, as outlined in Step 14.

The plus part, though, there are a handful of excellent merchant account alternative services existing today that will not only deposit your sales to you within 3 to 5 business days, but also charge low inductry-standard credit card fees per transaction, all without requiring you to have a merchant account. And there are merchant accounts that have low or no setup fees and competitive monthly pricing, and that accept high risk applicants. Now you can have the power of a merchant account without all of the costs and requirements.

Circumstances could not be better for you to start your own home-based business on the Internet: all the previous hurdles that existed to a home run business are removed, and there are several legitimate services existing today that allow you to accept credit cards easily.

Best Third Party Processors
(no merchant account required)

Merchant Account Alternative 1
If you want to sell physical goods and/or electronic goods:
click here for recommended site

This merchant account alternative will let you accept are Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, along with Bank transfers. Allows intangible goods to be sold, such as services and sales, licenses of digital content and quasi-cash, but does not offer seller protection on these intangibles. Drawback of this service is they require your customers to register with them before they can checkout, and they also have spending restrictions on unverified new accounts that can hinder your customers from purchasing from you (verification is easy, however). No startup fee. Fees per transaction are very reasonable for the industry, from 1.9% - 2.9% + $0.30 USD, depending on monthly volume. No other fees, leases, costs apply. If you select their Electronic Funds Transfer, you receive your money in 3 to 4 business days with no restrictions held on the amount sent to you. Select Business Account when signing up in order to do business with your own business name appearing on your customer's charge statement.
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Merchant Account Alternative 2
If you want to sell downloadable electronic products:
click here for recommended site

This merchant account alternative specializes in downloadable digital goods. Allows you to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Eurocard, Bravo, Diners Club, Carte Blanche, JCB, and online checks. Has powerful affiliate network who know how to sell your digital product. No pre-registration requirements from your customers, but this service only allows the sale of digital goods. One-time $49.95 startup fee. Per sales they charge $1 + 7.5% of the total purchase price. No other fees, monthly costs apply. You receive your funds by check, and payments are mailed out twice a month, on the 1st and the 16th of each month.
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Merchant Account Alternative 3
If you want to sell services (i.e. hosting), electronic goods, as well as tangible goods::
click here for recommended site

This merchant account alternative allows you to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners. However, as all 3rd party processors, you do not have access to your customers credit card information. Your customers can checkout without having to pre-register, giving you the appearance and functionality of a real merchant account. One-time $49 startup fee for one website--additional websites can be added for $30 per extra site. 5.5% fee per transaction + 45 cents. Besides initial startup fee, there are no leases, no monthly fees, no application fees, no gateway fees and no statement fees. Drawback: delayed payments to you anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks, based on when your transaction occurred within their bimonthly fund disbursement calendar (1st and 16th of each calendar month). Other drawback (which can be a problem if your funds are tight), they withhold payment until your customer confirms receipt of your goods, whether physical or electronic.
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