UK | IBS Payment Solutions

Accept Online Payments with an Internet Merchant Account

With consumers spending every minute online, it would be an understatement to say e-commerce businesses are flourishing. When planning on buying a product or service, our first instinct is to check for it online. Keeping up with the trend, many brick and mortar businesses have started selling their products online too.

With running an e-commerce business arise the need to accept online payments too. Customers want variety, be it in products or payment options. With credit card payments on the rise, offering seamless online payment options will make sure merchants don’t lose out on those sales.

Whether you are a physical store selling products online, an established ecommerce business looking to expand payment options or a start-up online store, here’s what you need to accept online payments – Internet Merchant Account.

What is an Internet Merchant Account?

Internet Merchant Account is an absolute necessity if you want to accept credit or debit card payments through your e-commerce store. The account allows you to accept payments via your website.

An internet merchant account has the same features as an ordinary merchant account. Except, with an internet merchant account you can run online transactions in real time.

A merchant account offers two types of transactions, “card-present” and “card-not-present”. Internet Merchant Account, also known as E-commerce Merchant Account, falls into the second category. Just like how a brick-and-mortar store can accept payments by swiping their cards through a POS terminal, an internet merchant account authorizes online payments by allowing customers to simply enter their card details into your website to make the necessary transaction.

Bank or Merchant Account Provider

If you already have a merchant account, you can ask your bank to provide you an internet merchant account or switch to ‘card-not-present’ transactions to start taking online payments. The other option is to obtain complete merchant account solutions from an independent merchant account provider.

While it is instinctual and only logical to stick to your current provider, banks are usually much stringent with the application and approval process, especially if your business is relatively new.

A merchant account provider offers customized solutions tailor-made to suit your payment requirements. Chances of getting your business approved with such providers are also greater whether you are new merchant or an established one, regardless of your business type or industry.

Whichever way you choose to go, your business will be assessed for risk, credit history and legitimacy during the underwriting process.

It is strongly advised against using a standard merchant account to process online payments since it follows different set of policies and requirements. Providers can shut your account in such cases.

Check out top-rated merchant account providers such as Instabill, International Bank Services (IBS), Vantiv, TSYS, etc. that offer complete expert online payment processing solutions.

Merchant Account & Payment Gateway

Do I require a payment gateway as well? No, it is not necessary to integrate a payment gateway to an internet merchant account since you can process transactions using credit card processing software. But here payments are not processed in real time with merchants manually entering card details resulting in delay in transactions.

Merchant account accepts payments while payment gateway processes it. Without an internet merchant account, your payments option will be redirected and processed through another site. This can be a long, tedious process as well as not entirely secure.

On the other hand, an internet payment gateway complete with a payment gateway proves to be the best solution. With an internet merchant account the funds are held in your own account and a payment gateway is what you need to authenticate and process credit card payments in real time, the entire transaction process happening on your own website is an added advantage.

Choosing either an internet merchant account or a payment gateway or both should depend on the type of business you operate and your monthly sales volume.

There are several providers, such as IBS, offering internet merchant account with an integrated secure payment gateway.

Propel your business & streamline your payments with an Internet Merchant Account. Do not compromise & choose wisely!

Check Processing Services for High Risk Merchants

Getting paid is the ultimate priority for a business. In order for it to happen consistently with ease, keeping customers satisfied is important. Just like how customer preferences are taken into consideration in terms of the products being sold, their payment preferences should also be taken into account.

Most merchants are aware of the variety of payment methods and tools available in the market today. While online payments have rapidly gained popularity, some folks still choose to go the traditional way i.e. check payments.

Shocking? Not really! Checks are still seen as a reliable form of payment. As a merchant, it is in your best interest to determine if accepting checks is critical for your business.

Check Processing Services

With the more popular payment solutions available to customers & businesses, Merchant Check Processing Services are relatively little known.

Electronic Check Processing or E-check is a type of payment method available to merchants receiving check payments. Herein, paper checks received through customers are converted into electronic checks with the amount being transferred into the merchant’s business account. Merchants also have the option of receiving checks over phone as well as online.

Payment via checks comes with its fair share of risks for merchants; Bounced or returned checks and other fraud cases result in high chargebacks for merchants. With check processing services, check payments are managed effectively, efficiently and securely. E-Checks have made facilitating check payments simpler, faster and safer for businesses.

Consider Electronic Check Processing Services for your High Risk Business

High risk merchants always have to go through several hurdles to secure a fitting credit card processor that serves their business needs. Due to their risky business nature, approval rates for high risk merchants is low and those getting approved have to pay high processing fees. After all of this, the threat of chargeback and frauds still looms large.

Check Processing Services have proven to be the best option to save merchants from the hassles of acquiring a credit card processor.

So why should high risk merchants consider integrating check processing services with their business? Here are some benefits:

-Quick Approval

For starters, the approval process for high risk businesses is faster and the chances of getting approved are higher. As long as you are a legal business, merchant account providers should easily provide you with the desired services no matter the business type or product sold.

-Lower Costs

Fees are a big concern for high risk merchants. Merchant account providers charge an exorbitant amount to process credit cards of high risk businesses. Whereas, monthly costs for processing e-checks is much lower comparatively.

Also, if you are a business receiving payment majorly from checks, with check processing services save yourself the trouble of taking multiple trips to a bank.

-Same Day Funding

Unlike paper checks, merchants do not have to wait for days to get your e-check passed. Authorization happens in real-time and funds are deposited within 24 hours once the checks are processed.

-No Chargebacks

High risk merchants dread the word ‘Chargebacks’. It’s a major risk associated with credit card processing. Electronic check processing eliminates the risk of chargebacks by avoiding bad checks and other frauds.

-All Business Types

Check processing services is also available for all business types under the high-risk category including large-ticket items and high volume transaction businesses at a small monthly processing fee.

To conclude, Check Processing Services is a great alternative payment method for high risk merchants wanting to escape the tedious process of acquiring a merchant account or even simply looking to introduce a new payment option.

Get started with e-checks and expand your business!

Open a Merchant Account for Bad Credit

Each merchant account provider follows different criteria while approving a merchant account. But if you go through the basic requisites needed to fulfill in order to get approved for a merchant account, having a positive credit rating is one of them.

Merchant account providers are wary of accepting businesses with low or poor credit ratings due to risks of high chargeback threats and frauds.

Checking Credit History

Major Banks and merchant account providers are required to do a background check once you apply for an account. Background checks entail reviewing personal credit history or business credit history or sometimes, both.

A personal bad credit can usually be approved under certain conditions. If you are a limited company or corporation, your business credit history will be reviewed, not your personal credit.

If your credit rating history does not meet the provider’s eligibility requirements, obtaining a merchant account will be difficult. In some cases, you may be offered a limited merchant account.

A credit check entails reviewing debt history, whether the past debts are paid or not. The credit history of the business, the owner as well as the business partners will be checked.

Fees – Higher the risk, higher the cost

With the risk associated to merchants with poor ratings, fees can be a concern for merchants. Merchant account providers charge a higher processing fee to bad credit merchants.

Fees can also be based on the industry your business operates under. Bad credit merchants are categorized under the high-risk industry due to obvious reasons. A high-risk business merchant will have an even difficult time getting approved. The costs will also be significantly higher for such merchants.

However, you can negotiate and adjust the fees with positive and long-term processing relationship with your merchant account provider.

Merchants also need to be careful and discuss any hidden or extra fees that may be charged by the merchant account provider. Make sure to ask around and exhaust your options before accepting a high processing rate.

Bad Credit Merchant Account

Are you having difficulty obtaining a merchant account because of poor credit ratings or previous bankruptcy? Do not worry! There are several reputable merchant account providers willing to take on your business.

Many bad credit merchants are concerned about compromising and receiving limited payment processing services from providers. However, you need not worry about getting limited facilities as there are merchant account providers offering a variety of payment options and services. Bad Credit Merchant Account solutions offered are on par with standard merchant accounts and sometimes, even better.

Choose a fitting bad credit merchant account for your business and serve your customer better!