What Types of Credit Cards Can Merchants Accept?

Merchant accounts are going to vary on the types of credit cards that they will accept and process. This information is going to be found on their terms and conditions of the account offered. It is going to be up to the business which credit card processing company...  

 

Merchant accounts are going to vary on the types of credit cards that they will accept and process. This information is going to be found on their terms and conditions of the account offered. It is going to be up to the business which credit card processing company they are going to work with for all of their card transactions. The types of credit cards that they want to accept from their customers are going to be based on their account.

Most merchant accounts will accept all major credit cards that include Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. Some may accept other cards that include Diner’s Club, JCB, and EnRoute. Debit cards, that are issued from the customer’s bank, are accepted as long as they have a Visa or Mastercard logo on the card. The debit cards will be processed as a credit card and will not require a pin number to be charged in order to be used through merchant accounts.

Some accounts may even allow the business to accept pre-paid cards as long as they have a major credit card logo on them. The reason being those cards are still used through the major credit card companies. The difference is that instead of being a secured or unsecured card, the customer will put any amount of money on them they want. The customer has to pay a fee in order to use pre-paid cards.

Credit card processing fees are still going to be charged to the business. Only a few states will allow businesses to pass on the charges to their customers for the fees that are handled. The fees are going to be based on each major credit card. One major credit card’s fees may be different than other cards. The business can actually advise the customers on the types of major credit cards that they want to accept based on the fees. The business does not have to accept all the credit cards choices just because they are available to use through their account.

When a business does offer all types of major credit cards through their account, they will be able to meet the needs of their customers more. It is hard to know what types of credit cards the customers are going to have in their wallet. It is better to accept all of the major credit cards in order to gain more sales.

Go to top