As businesses begin expanding and utilizing the immense potential found through the internet, the more these businesses will need to make necessary investments to stay competitive. One of those investments is the platform of e-commerce. E-commerce is the ability for consumers to purchase goods and services from a business through the internet. In today’s economy, it’s becoming more necessary to establish e-commerce to stay competitive.
It makes sense to have more businesses launch into the e-commerce sector. More and more consumers are purchasing goods and services online through their smartphones, tablets, and computers than ever before. However, a business cannot just decide one day to set up the programming to establish an e-commerce portal on their website. Specific financial investments and decisions will need to be made in order to establish a properly programmed and secure e-commerce site. One of those investments is getting a merchant account.
Merchant accounts are banking accounts that allow the business to accept all major credit and debit cards on the market. Merchant accounts are agreements between the business and the merchant bank, allowing the merchant bank engage in credit card processing in exchange for fees the business pays for. Although the fees may seem like something to dread, the immense profits a company can tap into from allow all consumers to use a debit or credit card can make up the difference. In addition, the fees will vary per credit card processing transaction. Often, merchant providers will compete by having the lowest rates per transaction, so this will attract certain businesses to work with those accounts.
To establish a merchant account, a business needs to show a merchant provider that they have a business bank account and a business license. Merchant providers do not want to risk their services by interacting with an illegitimate business or a business that can easily go under from the result of regulations or inability to process payments. Showing these two associated attributes of the business alongside an application to the merchant provider will help the business be accepted at most merchant providers. Though it should be noted that some providers may want more documentation than others, such as voided checks or the business marketing portfolio, it’s also important to understand that many different payment options may require different contracts with different providers. So, if a business wants to accept multiple payment options, expect to apply at multiple providers.
Luckily, the processing time to establish merchant accounts only takes about 1-3 days. This will be dependent on how fast the merchant provider can process information and how much extra documentation the merchant provider may want. Either way, a business can establish a merchant account relatively fast, especially in this high-paced, competitive marketplace.