What is Merchant Account

The commercially economized world has declared the Earth as a Global Village. Today the information Technology has advanced to a stage where people all around the globe are just a call away and mail is received the moment it is dispatched through internet. Electronic mails and information is so fast that its speed is now beyond imagination and thus all sorts of commercial and economic transactions can be made and deals confirmed just by clicking the right keys. Accordingly business community and its stake holders have devised methods to facilitate their clients in a manner to smoothen the business and trade deals. Payments made through credit cards or debit cards from a particular type of bank account are termed as a merchant account. It is established under an accord between the acceptor and the merchant acquiring bank for the disbursement of the credit card or debit card dealings.
Which Merchant Account to Choose

The best merchant account cannot be specified as there are number of merchant accounts; however, following are some of the guiding factors:

· Fees and Contracts. A cheap merchant account is best for doing any kind of business but it should weighed against the facilities it provides or the efficiency of the company be seen. List of some of the known fee charged on merchant accounts beside the hidden charges is as under:

o Nuisance Fee

o Authorization fee

o Statement fee

o Monthly minimum fee

o Batch fee

o Customer service fee

o Annual fee

o Early termination

o Charge back fee

· Though low rate fee charges merchant accounts are attractive yet they divert the attention of the user from the main purpose of having an efficient and smooth transaction of their business.

· Customer Service. The most important factor in any business is the customer service and the support provided to him. In case of any delays in payments and clearance it will not only affect your clients business but the banks as well. So the best merchant account is the one that does give importance to their customer service.
Types of Merchant Accounts

Following are the different types of merchant accounts:

· E-commerce or Online merchant accounts

· Mail order merchant accounts

· Lodging merchant accounts

· Restaurant merchant accounts

· Retail merchant accounts

· Telephone / Mail Order Merchant accounts

· Wireless merchant accounts

· Home based business merchant accounts.
Summary

Best merchant account is the one that suits your requirement and fulfils your needs. While contracting with any merchant account the characteristics of that company should be analyzed and preference be given to your business needs. Irrespective of the fee charges, the company should be able to take care of your interests.

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