Articles

We at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com are focused on continually working to develop our website as a true resource for small business owners. The following articles are designed to help you improve your business, in many cases these articles are focused on merchant services but we will from time to time also deliver articles that are focused on general improvements to your small business. If you have any questions or have a recommendation for a future article please contact us.

A Beginner’s Guide to eCommerce

Last Updated on February 20, 2024

Ecommerce challenges any businessperson, especially those who have experienced it before. The term itself means buying and selling online. Ecommerce technology makes doing business online safe and secure, making it an ideal way for a business to expand or for individuals to start their own business.

Avoiding Chargebacks with Your eCommerce Account

Last Updated on February 20, 2024

As a merchant doing business online, your concern among other things is how to avoid chargebacks with your eCommerce (online) account. What are chargebacks and how can they be avoided?

Interchange Rates: Learning the Fundamentals

February 20, 2024

Getting Down to the Basics
Interchange Rates are a simple concept once you understand the key factors that make them up.  What industry you are in, what type of card you accept, what method of cards you accept- all influence what your Interchange Rate will be.  Identifying the answers to these questions and knowing what they [...]

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How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs

February 20, 2024

The Following is Our Advice for Securing the Best Deal for Your Business:

Avoid Worrying About Rates – Focus on Cost

As mentioned above, the merchant service providers are very experienced at marketing to small business owners. So they try and grab your attention by advertising the “lowest rates” available. Many even offer available rates on their [...]

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Chargebacks: What are they, where they come from, and what should you do?

February 20, 2024

No matter what area of the market your small business is involved in, chargebacks is a term that no small business owner wants to hear, but one that every small business owner should understand, inside and out.
Although chargebacks can seem like a personal attack when someone files a chargeback claim against your business, they were [...]

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Shoestring Data Security for a Small Business

February 20, 2024

Business data and card-processing records are critical information for a small business, particularly those in e-commerce of any kind. The loss of such information can close a business down. However, there are easy solutions available to help maintain operations and protect a small business’ data from disaster.

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Making Sure Your Payment Systems Stay Secure

February 20, 2024

As payment processing technology continues to advance, so do the benefits for small business owners.  Along with becoming more user friendly, technological advancements have resulted in credit card processing platforms that are more efficient and exponentially faster than their predecessors, which are ultimately beneficial to small business.

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Best Practices for Contactless Payments

February 20, 2024

Contactless payment is when someone scans their credit card near the credit card terminal, but they never swipe the card. While these were once very rare, now many credit cards have embedded RFID chips. One of the obvious benefits to installing contactless payment terminals is to help satisfy customers, but there are other benefits as [...]

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Advice on Payment Gateways

February 20, 2024

Every time a customer orders product online, the checkout page has a sort of hidden link to a payment processing center. When a credit or debit card is used as payment, the encrypted information is sent to the processing center, and this service is known as a payment gateway. If you are operating a business [...]

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Reasons to Consider Mobile Payments

February 20, 2024

“Mobile” is certainly the latest buzzword when considering payment options for today’s small business. Mobile payment options are non-traditional payment alternatives that enable the customer and small business owner to utilize cell phones or mobile devices to conduct transactions. Mobile payment is fast and easy for the “plugged-in” consumer, and transactions occur instantly, benefiting the [...]

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How Retail Credit Card Processing Works

February 20, 2024

For retailers who would like to accept credit card payments it is important to understand how retail credit card processing works. Regardless of the type or size of your business, retail credit card process allows you the opportunity to offer convenient payments to customers while benefitting from a fast payment process.

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What is Your MCC code, and Why Do You Care?

February 20, 2024

What is your MCC code? This stands for your “Merchant Category Code”, and if you don’t know much about MCCs, then this is just going to be a four-digit number to you. However, that four-digit number is actually very important for your business endeavors, especially if you are working with another company, and it will [...]

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Things to Consider Before Accepting Credit Card Payments

February 20, 2024

A merchant account is an absolute necessity as a business owner. With many consumers switching from using cash to using credit or debit cards, not accepting them as a business drives potential clients away and causes them to seek other avenues for goods and services. Before your business is able to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover [...]

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Credit Card Processing for Non-Profits

February 20, 2024

As an increasing number of non-profit organizations are now accepting donations by credit cards, it is important to know your options. Accepting donations via credit card certainly provides many advantages, including the ability to collect funds faster as well as larger donations. Donors also benefit as using their credit card is faster and more convenient [...]

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Connect with Us

February 20, 2024

Over the past few months we have seen an amazing amount of growth here at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com; we could not be more thankful to the thousands of you that have used this site to learn more about the credit card processing industry and the various options available to you.
We have been humbled by how many of [...]

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Preparing for Success in 2012

February 20, 2024

In addition to setting your business up with the best merchant account designed to fit your its needs, we here at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com know that there are additional ways to help improve on your business. Over the next few weeks we will be delivering additional articles which we hope will help small businesses both online and [...]

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Improving Your Ecommerce Website

February 20, 2024

In addition to setting your business up with the best merchant account designed to fit your its needs, we here at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com know that there are additional ways to help improve on your business. Over the next few weeks we will be delivering additional articles which we hope will help small businesses both online and [...]

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Google Wallet

February 20, 2024

Just as Google revolutionized the smart phone industry with its impressive Android operating system, the company now looks to do the same to the business landscape with the introduction of its Google Wallet product. The company claims that Google Wallet will not only make transactions faster and easier for consumers, but for small business owners [...]

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Improving Your Social Media Presence

February 20, 2024

In addition to setting your business up with the best merchant account designed to fit your its needs, we here at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com know that there are additional ways to help improve on your business. Over the next few weeks we will be delivering additional articles which we hope will help small businesses both online and [...]

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12 Step Guide to Improving Your Retail Sales

February 20, 2024

In addition to setting your business up with the best merchant account designed to fit your its needs, we here at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com know that there are additional ways to help improve on your business. Over the next few weeks we will be delivering additional articles which we hope will help small businesses both online and [...]

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Is Durbin the end of Square?

February 20, 2024

In preparing my article on the upcoming Durbin Amendment, I came to an interesting realization: Could the Durbin Amendment be the end of Square?
Why?
Well consider this:

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What is the Durbin Amendment?

February 20, 2024

An Overview of the Durbin Amendment
The Durbin Amendment is an addendum to the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by Congress in 2010. Its namesake, Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois, wrote the plan to expand Federal Reserve powers for setting interchange fees related to debit card transaction processing. In setting the fees, the [...]

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Business Marketing Advice for New Businesses

February 20, 2024

This is a guest post written for CheapestMerchantAccounts.com from our friends at whoishostingthis.com
 
If you are going to make a success of your new business, you have to make marketing a priority. The marketing strategies you employ will determine the success or failure of your business. There is a great deal of competition out there, some [...]

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Guide to Interchange Rates

February 20, 2024

It is important for every small business to take the time to understand what Interchange rates are and how to best negotiate these rates with your merchant. What industry you are in, what methods of cards you accept and the type of card that you accept determine interchange rates. Interchange fees are paid to the [...]

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Why You Should Always Call

February 20, 2024

One of the things that we have noticed at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com is that nearly every small business owner that signed up for their merchant account “online” (ie they never spoke with a sales rep), was paying extraneous costs and fees – sometimes to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year.

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PCI Compliance Fees

February 20, 2024

With companies issuing credit cards demanding tougher security when it comes to transmitting credit card numbers online, most businesses that allow the use of credit cards are currently advised that they will be charged an annual fee that is used to cover the cost of being compliant with the security regulations posed by major credit [...]

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Are You Ready To Accept Credit Cards?

February 20, 2024

Accepting credit cards from your customers can be an exciting phase in your business, because this is where the profits will really start to come in fast. This is also where you need to be careful about your actions, because you are now dealing with very sensitive information. Unlike regular money transactions, your job isn’t [...]

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Dealing With PCI Compliance

February 20, 2024

PCI compliance is a topic which most merchants do not like, because they feel that it is hard work for them. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) has laid down certain guidelines, known as the Data Security Standard (DSS), which is used to ensure that all merchants who process credit card transactions provide adequate security to [...]

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