Online Credit Card – prepaid application

Richard Adams asked:




If you have a new website and need to accept credit cards online then the process can actually be surprisingly complicated. In order to accept credit cards online you will need what is known as a “merchant account” – a facility that will allow you to charge a customer’s credit or debit card and then deposit that money into your own account.

There are hundreds of different merchant account providers out there who are competing for your business and so getting approved for such an account is generally reasonably easy. This is particularly so if you are based in the USA. Outside of north America there are still options available to you but it’s only fair to mention that approvals can take a little longer.

So if merchant accounts are easy to find and get approved for, why did I just say that the process can be complicated? It’s because merchant accounts to accept credit cards online are like anyo ther financial service such as a mortgage or a loan – that is to say there are lots of different options available to you and choosing the best for your business may be something of a challenge.

There are accounts for US businesses, for non-US businesses, high volume accounts, special accounts for high risk ventures like online gambling sites, MLM, pharmacy sites and so on. There are accounts that charge monthly fees but low transaction rates and also the reverse. Different accounts work with different shopping carts and so on.

The first thing then in accepting online credit cards at your website is a thorough investigation of your business. Are you an established business now setting up online? Do you have an existing website and you’re considering changing your merchant account provider? If so, then you have statistics to go on. You can make a reasonable guess as to how much money you’ll be processing, how many orders and what products you’ll be selling and so finding the ideal merchant account for you will be a little bit easier.

The job is slightly harder if you are setting up a new business. In this case, use your market research (or your business plan if you have written one) to try and estimate these very factors. What will you be selling? What is your average transaction size? How many of these per month do you think you’ll be making?

If you are uncertain as to some of these answers then an excellent starting point is to sign up with one of the online credit card processing companies that offer a free set up. In this way you can easily have your processing account set up in a matter of a few hours (days at worst) then get it all linked up to your site.

The experiment will have cost you nothing but a little time but now you have a “baseline” to compare future deals against. It is entirely possible to switch merchant accounts at a future date if you find a better deal elsewhere but you’ll only know it’s a better deal when you have 3-6 months worth of processing history behind you so you can see what your monthly fees are working out to and hence if you can save money with a different merchant account provider.

Even better, many merchant account providers will actually be willing to recalculate the fees they charge you as you start to develop some history with them so you can even save money without all the hassle of changing to a new online credit card processing company.

Jackie

Hugh Walters asked:


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Online business opportunities that allow you to make money from home by selling a product or service online often require you to accept credit cards in order for your home business to make a profit. You can set up a “merchant account” to make money from home from your online sales, but be sure to evaluate your costs before you do.

How to make money online is obviously the first topic to research when you have decided to make the transition to make money from home instead of dragging yourself to work every day. If you have decided to pursue an online business opportunity that allows you to make money from home by selling a product or service online, such as the highly profitable opportunity of selling ebooks, then a significant part of your continuing research will be to select a merchant account. A merchant account allows you to accept credit card payments on your website. You are the merchant. You will open an “account” with a provider. That account is a contract – your “merchant account.”

Statistics confirm that online customers prefer to make their purchases with credit cards over cash, check or money orders. Nielsen Online Survey reported that the majority of online purchases from businesses were made with credit cards (61%). Books, traditional books and ebooks, had the highest volume of sales. Since 85% of internet users have made a purchase online, (most likely from home), not offering the opportunity to make a purchase with a credit card at your website would be like closing the door on the majority of your customers and letting them take their money to another online business that does accept credit cards. Website customers don’t stay long. You need to learn how to take every opportunity you can for an online sale. You also need to learn how to make a profit to make money online.

First, you need to learn how to evaluate businesses providing merchant accounts so that you can determine which one will be the most profitable for your online business to make money from home. The money involved in providing the opportunity for online credit card purchases at your online business will be considered part of your expenses. Your expenses will determine how much you should charge for your product or service, and your total revenue minus your total expenses is your profit.

When evaluating merchant account opportunities, make sure you learn how to look for expenses such as transaction charges, or a monthly minimum charge if your sales from your online business don’t meet the company’s minimum standards. Other charges that will affect how much money you make online are a statement fee and money for an application fee. Learn how to look for money requested as a “batch fee.” At the end of the day, a business will typically run a “batch report” – which is a report of all the transactions that are rung up on credit cards for the day. Some businesses will charge you every time you run a batch report, even if you don’t have any expenses. A “discount fee,” despite the literary implications of the word “discount,” is an expense (fee) to your business, not a discount. Different companies will charge your online business a combination of different fees. They may also charge you money for monthly, quarterly or annual fees, and you should learn how to evaluate charge back fees. List each potential company and the amount of money the company will charge, then make your comparisons.

How to make money online using credit cards so you can make money online with your own home-based business takes time to research, but it is well worth the investment to learn everything you can about all aspects of online business opportunities. Every piece of information you learn how to apply to your home business is another avenue to increase your profit. Evaluating merchant account opportunities is an important part of your online business so you can make money from home knowing you made your most profitable business decision. Your online business from home will increase sales, and you’ll keep the profit, not a billion dollar bank. Invest in some reading and research, and the profit will be yours for as long as you want to make money from home, and you’ll keep making more money as long as you keep up with the trends on how to make money online.



CORNELIUS