Credit Card Services and Options for A Business Owner

As a business owner, one of the decisions that you are required to make is if your company will accept credit cards or not. Accepting credit cards gives you the opportunity to increase your sales, but it does come at a price. Credit card services vary, from accepting credit cards online to accepting credit cards at your store.

There are quite a few details that a business owner should know about when choosing to accept credit cards from clients. There are additional fees, usually through a credit card processing company. The amount of the fees depends on the type of account you set up with them.

A merchant account is created with a credit card processing company between you, your bank, and the credit card company of the client. The type of merchant account you select depends on how you will be charging the credit cards. If you will have your clients swipe a credit card at your location for more than 70% of your sales, you will open a retail merchant account. If you will be doing the credit card processing online, then you will open an Internet merchant account. Lastly, if you are charging credit cards over the phone, via fax, or from mail- in orders, you will want to open a phone/mail merchant account.

The fees associated with credit card processing vary depending on the account that you open. For example, an Internet merchant account will have more fees because there is a higher risk of fraud than in a retail account. It is important to read the contract carefully, because some companies include hidden fees or require a contract term fee. Also, there are occasionally outside charges from the credit card company themselves, to allow you to use them. These are typically one-time fees, but they are important to be aware of.

Although accepting credit cards can seem expensive, it pays off in the end for you and your company. The majority of people now pay with plastic, and oftentimes, a sale can be closed immediately simply because you can accept their credit card. People are moving to a more card based future, where cash is being spent less and debit or credit cards are used more. So adhere to the trend, and adopt credit cards as a form of payment. It might be expensive at the start up, but will boost your sales almost immediately and give you more marketing ability with your product.

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Guest post provided by Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc., provider of online merchant accounts. Visit their website at www.charge.com for more information.