What Does a Merchant Account Provider Do?

If you are looking to open up a merchant account you may be wondering what exactly a provider does? Well here is the answer to all your questions about merchant account providers. In a nutshell, merchant account providers accept money from sales for you and then make sure that all that money gets into your designated account. It is important to find a reputable merchant account provider that you will be able to trust because they will be handling your money.

Of course none of this is done for free and it is very important to research what exactly you will be charged for. Unfortunately, there tend to be a lot of miscellaneous fee's that are associated with merchant account providers. There are no hidden costs or charges when you deal with Merchandizer.

When comparing merchant account providers you will generally have to look at the following costs: any up front application fees, some providers won’t charge you a fee but that does not necessarily mean that they are the best choice. You will also have to look at the on going fixed fee, the discount rate, fixed transaction fee, termination fee, and any other fees that the merchant account provider has added to their service.

There is usually a small monthly fee associated with a merchant account and a small per transaction fee that is charged for every sale you make. Basically, if you don't use your merchant account, beyond the monthly fee, you won't be charged.

You can shop around and try to find the best deal in a merchant account provider or you can save time and Merchandizer cut through the confusion and strings that can be associated with setting up a merchant account and that will leave you free to do what you do best - run your business!

What Are Chargebacks?

Chargebacks is a term that is beginning to be used more and more frequently in the world of online commerce. A chargeback happens when a transaction is reversed. This means that money will be deducted from your account instead of added to it. Why would this happen you may ask. Chargebacks will happen if the credit card is expired, bank error, customer disputes, or double-charging. You could potentially lose your merchant account if there are too many chargebacks against you. Nearly 41% of online merchants have to deal with both chargebacks and fraud in their online business. This number will only continue to rise as the number of merchants online continues to increase. If you do lose your merchant account because of chargebacks you will be placed on a list for several years and will be unable to successfully apply for a new merchant account.

How do you prevent chargebacks from occurring? Here are a few things that can be done to protect your business. First, if you do business off the web, use interactive voice response terminals. They will collect voice authorization from a customer before you ship the order.

Next, collect CVC2 and CVV2 verification numbers which will reduce the probability of chargebacks by over 25-percent. You can also use an address verification system and be wary of orders from developing countries. To avoid customer disputes make sure you let the customer know what name will appear on their statement. If you are suspicious of an order, handle it so. Call or email the customer to verify their order, if the customer is legitimate, the call will be welcomed as it shows you're active in the prevention of fraud. These are the best ways to protect yourself against chargebacks.

What’s a Merchant Account?

If you are new to the world of ecommerce one question you will be asking yourself is, "what’s a merchant account?" This is an account that you will need to have in order to accept major credit cards online without the help of Paypal. Merchant accounts are not just for the ecommerce world either, they are needed in any retail store that wishes to accept credit cards.

It is easy to sign up for a merchant account and can be done online like any other account through a bank. A merchant account allows customers the choice of paying with a debit card, credit, gift card, or an electronic check. You are now able to sell your products online, in stores, mail order, or over the phone or fax.

After signing up with a merchant account you will also need to purchase or lease a compatible payment gateway and shopping cart in order to make shopping online simple and convenient for your customers. Your funds will then be available to you the next business day.

Merchant accounts will also offer access to your account information and transaction 24 hours a day and you will easily be able to create reports which will allow you to analyze payment trends. A merchant account will allow you to streamline your business and make it easier to track where your money is coming from. A merchant account will also help you to better manage your online business by being able to examine daily sales in a convenient report.

Using PayPal vs. Using Your Own Merchant Account

When you're looking to set up an online business, you will repeatedly be referred to PayPal by well meaning people. Paypal offers many of the same features that having your own merchant account would offer. You are still able to accept credit cards through PayPal’s features but you don't pay a setup fee like you do with your own merchant account.

Overall it seems like PayPal would be the cheaper choice, but in the long run it really isn't. When your customers check out, they will be redirected off your website and taken to the Paypal website where similar items are shown that are sold in Paypal client stores, yes they are showing your competition to your customers before they pay, how many sales this will cost you, is not known.

With PayPal you do not even need a shopping cart to accept payments. A shopping cart is still recommended however to make things easier on your customer. After a customer has made a purchase through PayPal they will notify you via email as well as send an email receipt to the customer for their purchase. Your funds will be held in your PayPal account until you choose to withdraw them or transfer them into a designated bank account.

Many business owners take this option, but don't realize how unprofessional it looks. If you are a fledgling online business, look into setting up one of the small shopping carts that Merchandizer offers, they can be seamlessly intergrated into your website for less than $10-per month, plus you get sales reports, your customers get confirmation emails automatically sent out and you get to shine as a professional store on the web.

Live Processing vs. Offline Processing

Live processing is by far faster and more efficient in an online business however there are times when offline processing may be necessary. First you will need to understand the difference between the two.

Live processing is when a customer pays for their order by credit card over the internet. You, the business owner, do not have to do anything with the order. The money from the sales is added directly to your bank account and you receive a receipt for the sales. Live processing allows you to focus your efforts on marketing and bringing in new customers to your business.

Offline processing is slower and was used before the internet and ecommerce solutions. There are some instances where you may still need to deal with offline processing even with your online business. A customer may not feel comfortable paying for a purchase online and will instead mail you the order or phone it in. In this case you will need to place the order yourself using offline processing.

There are now ways you can incorporate offline processing with live processing. For example, once you receive an order via mail or phone you can then use your database or an eterminal to place the order yourself.

Live processing is a much more convenient way to do business for all parties involved. You receive the money faster and the customer receives the product faster without much effort on either of your parts. Because offline processing is still necessary on some occasions, there are now solutions available to quicken the process for you allowing you time to worry about other matters.

Payment Processing Gateways

Here is a step by step of how payment processing gateway work and what their purpose is. A payment processing gateway works hand in hand with your merchant account to accept payment online. The payment processing gateway is the tool that takes money from the customer’s account and puts it into your merchant account. You will not be able to use a payment processing gateway in your online store until you have opened a merchant account. Most merchant account providers will also offer you compatible payment processing gateways.

So how exactly does a payment processing gateway work? Here is a brief explanation. When a customer is ready to check out they are taken to a payment processing page to enter their credit card information. The payment processing gateway then processes the transaction by sending the order to the bank for credit approval. The results are returned to the payment gateway. After the transaction is complete an email receipt is sent to both the customer and to you letting you know that a sale was made.

The payment processing gateway will take care of all of your customers for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you don’t have to. By signing up for a merchant account and a payment gateway, most of the work will be done for you so you can concentrate on advertising and marketing your online business. Of course there will also be set up fees and monthly maintenance fees for your gateway just like there will be for your merchant account, so make sure you do your homework before committing to one.

Choosing a payment processing gateway will bring you one step closer to a fully automated online business.

Improving Your Sales With a Shopping Cart

If you have an online business then incorporating a shopping cart into you website will help to increase and streamline your sales. This means less work and more money for you, the owner. By making it easier for a customer to shop on your website, the more likely it will be that they spend money on your site.

Shopping carts allow customers to easily shop your entire site and keep track of all their purchases. Because you are able to receive reports from your shopping cart based on sales for a day or week or month, you are also able to track which of your products are most popular and in what quantities. This information is invaluable and allows you to stock up on what the customer wants.

Because shopping carts allow you to track what a particular customer purchases over time it is also a great tool in cross selling. This allows you to keep old customers returning so you don’t need to focus as much time and money advertising to potential customers.

Merchandizer.com offers a shopping cart that requires no knowledge of programming. It is simple to set up a shopping cart. All you do is fill in product descriptions and upload pictures of your products, then you’re in business.

Using a shopping cart allows you to better manage both your orders and your customers. A shopping cart will send you an email every time an order is placed and allows you to view all orders placed so you can easily determine your sales. With a shopping cart you can also easily pull up customer history and information and see the number of new customer orders versus returning customer orders. Using a shopping cart will help you to manage your online business.

Identity Theft – The Basics of What To Do If It Happens To You

Identity theft can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, if it does happen to you, it will affect your entire life. Fortunately there are ways to handle identity theft that will allow you to fix the mess someone has caused your life. These are not quick fixes and unfortunately it will take some time before everything will be in the clear again.

The first thing you should do if you are a victim of identity theft is to notify one of the following three credit bureaus that you were a victim of identity theft: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You should ask to have your file flagged. Then request to receive a credit report. You should correct all error and contact both the credit bureau and the credit issuer requesting to have the fraudulent account be blocked.

After notifying the credit bureaus of identity theft you need to contact both the police and the Federal Trade Commission to report the crime of identity theft. You will need to have a police report for the FTC. There is also an identity theft hotline you can call.

If your imposter has used identity theft to open new credit accounts you will need to contact the creditors and request to fill out a fraudulent application. Then you need to request a letter from the company saying that they have closed the account and all debts have been dropped.

Identity theft has the potential to ruin your financial life so it is important that you check your credit report and other accounts regularly for errors that may indicate identity theft. The sooner you recognize identity theft, the sooner you can have your life in order again.

How To Avoid Identity Theft

Learning how to avoid identity theft can dramatically reduce the probability that it will happen to you. Identity theft has the potential to completely ruin you financial life. While there are ways to correct errors in your credit, it is much easier to take steps in order to avoid identity theft altogether.

First, you should try to limit the amount of personal data about you that is published or available to others. Do not carry around important documents such as passports, birth certificates, extra credit card, and social security numbers in your wallet. The best place for these things is a safe box that can only be opened by a key.

Next you should remove your name from marketing lists for credit card offers. If you do receive a credit card offer, instead of throwing it away you should shred it using an identity theft shredder. You can also have your name taken off all telemarketer’s lists. Lastly, have you name and address out of the phonebook and keep your number unlisted.

If you pay by credit card never throw the receipts away. Take them with you and once you get home you should shred them with an identity theft shredder. If you do suspect that you may be a victim of identity theft it is a good idea to have photocopies of all of your credit cards and bank accounts along with the account number, expiration dates and important phones all written down together and in a safe place, such as a lock box, so you can quickly resolve the matter.

Never give out credit card information over the phone, by mail, or on the internet unless it is to a trusted business that takes measures to ensure a secure site and prevention of identity theft.

Taking these steps will allow you to protect yourself against identity theft.

How Can Cross Selling Help Your Business?

If you are just starting out in the world of ecommerce or even if you have been doing this for a while, you may not be aware yet of cross selling and how it can help your business increase its sales. The definition of cross selling according to investorwords.com is, “The strategy of pushing new products to current customers based on their past purchases". "Cross selling is designed to widen the customer’s reliance on the company and decrease the likelihood of the customer switching to a competitor”.

An easy way to begin cross selling as a marketing tool is to examine customer’s shopping carts. By looking at the shopping history of a particular customer you can find patterns in what they have recently purchased. Then send them advertisements through email offering specials on similar items to what they have already bought in the past. Because the customer is familiar with your company and has done business with you in the past, they will be more likely to shop with you in the future if you let them know what you have available that they may be interested in.

Cross selling is essentially a way to keep customers coming back for more. Instead of spending lots of money trying to attract new customers, through cross selling you spend no money at all and increase your sales by tempting previous customers back for more. Cross selling will help your business by increasing sales without you having to put much time or money into the effort.