Opening a merchant account can prove to be a great turnaround for your business. This is so because you will be able to welcome more customers who would like to pay with their credit cards and this means that your business will definitely grow. So while this means that you will see a lot of new customers come in, there is also the issue of operating the merchant account properly. The merchant account is the gateway between the credit card transactions processed by you, and the credit card companies, which will transfer your money into this account. The first thing that you need to do is to open a merchant account, and you need to know that there are certain fees associated with this process.
First up is the account opening fee. Actually this fee has been scrapped by a number of providers, but there are a still a few of them out there who charge you a fee for opening a merchant account with them. It is not recommended that you choose such a provider, unless their other rates seem good to you.
The most important fee of them all is the credit card processing fee. There is a base slab set by the credit card companies themselves, and the processing providers take it upon themselves to increase or decrease the fee according to the slab. So it would make sense to choose a provider who offers a fee that is very close to the actual base slab. Going too higher than the base slab is not a healthy practice.
Another fee that most providers ask for is when you fail to keep up your dues. This is yet another aspect that you should handle carefully, because some providers tend to hide the facts when the agreement is being signed. So be careful about this kind of fee as well.
The next one is not a fee, but a fine. You may be fined by the processing provider if you are not PCI compliant. This means that if you do not abide by the guidelines laid down by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), you could be penalized. Some providers help merchants to avoid such fines, so keep this in mind while opening an account.
Then there is the fee for providing customer service. You might feel as if you do not require any sort of customer service, but if you are not sure of handling technical issues on your own, then it is recommended that you opt for customer service, as it will help you save valuable time.
Finally, there’s the cancellation fee, if you ever want to close your merchant account. Look for processing providers who keep this fee to a minimum, or else you will have a bitter experience when you decide to close your merchant account.
This is a brief summary of the various kinds of fees involved in opening a merchant account. Do not get nervous about so many details, because the provider will explain everything in detail and will make it easy for you to handle the entire process.
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