Questions to ask when opening a new merchant account?

Paper_Amar · 2008-06-23, 02:18 PM

Thinking about opening a new merchant accounts and going direct. Can you guys help with what kinds of questions i should ask as well as what kind of comparisons I should be doing before going with one?

Much Appreciated

Amar

HappySpanker · 2008-06-24, 02:07 PM

Some questions we asked on our last merchant acct shopping trip:

- Setup fees?
- Any qualification or acct review fees? (visa review?)
- Monthly recurring costs?
- Payment gateways available? (AuthNet, LinkPoint, etc,)
- Minimum term (the longer the term - the lower the rates)
- Monthly terminal fee?
- What is flat per transaction cost?
- What is percentage transaction cost? (the discount rate)
- Any monthly statement fees? (a hidden gotcha)
- Any restrictions on charges made?
- Debit cards accepted?
- Checking acct debits?
- Any initial money hold backs?
- Chargeback policies and proceedures
- Are there ANY prohibited sales?

that ought to get you started... there is usually lots of wiggle room in the setup fee. only people who would not waive the setup fee were banks -- who hit you with the highest possible rates on everything until you get 2-4 years of transactions.

and once you get a merchant acct, ask for better terms every year. you will get .125 to 1.0 point discounts (assuming your acct is clean) each time you ask.

hope that helps some....

HappySpanker · 2008-06-24, 02:17 PM

Forgot to mention that your first question should always be "Do you permit adult sales?" Unlike PayPal and a couple of others, traditional merchant acct providers have been moving to be more conservative rather than less. In example, recently asked CardService International about adult sales. They said they were getting more and more conservative and gave the example "If you were running a lingerie site, we would not permit any lingerie to be shown on models - only in the package. If shown on a dummy we even then might have an issue."

Paper_Amar · 2008-06-25, 12:58 PM

Thank you

that reply was quite helpful

2008-06-23, 02:18 PM	#1
Paper_Amar Internet! Is that thing still around? Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 7	Questions to ask when opening a new merchant account? Thinking about opening a new merchant accounts and going direct. Can you guys help with what kinds of questions i should ask as well as what kind of comparisons I should be doing before going with one? Much Appreciated Amar __________________ Paper Street Cash icq; 4 4 7 5 4 2 1 2 8

2008-06-24, 02:07 PM	#2
HappySpanker WHO IS FONZY!?! Don't they teach you anything at school? Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 47	Some questions we asked on our last merchant acct shopping trip: - Setup fees? - Any qualification or acct review fees? (visa review?) - Monthly recurring costs? - Payment gateways available? (AuthNet, LinkPoint, etc,) - Minimum term (the longer the term - the lower the rates) - Monthly terminal fee? - What is flat per transaction cost? - What is percentage transaction cost? (the discount rate) - Any monthly statement fees? (a hidden gotcha) - Any restrictions on charges made? - Debit cards accepted? - Checking acct debits? - Any initial money hold backs? - Chargeback policies and proceedures - Are there ANY prohibited sales? that ought to get you started... there is usually lots of wiggle room in the setup fee. only people who would not waive the setup fee were banks -- who hit you with the highest possible rates on everything until you get 2-4 years of transactions. and once you get a merchant acct, ask for better terms every year. you will get .125 to 1.0 point discounts (assuming your acct is clean) each time you ask. hope that helps some.... Last edited by HappySpanker; 2008-06-24 at 02:10 PM..

2008-06-25, 12:58 PM	#4
Paper_Amar Internet! Is that thing still around? Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 7	Thank you that reply was quite helpful __________________ Paper Street Cash icq; 4 4 7 5 4 2 1 2 8

2008-06-24, 02:17 PM	#3
HappySpanker WHO IS FONZY!?! Don't they teach you anything at school? Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 47	Forgot to mention that your first question should always be "Do you permit adult sales?" Unlike PayPal and a couple of others, traditional merchant acct providers have been moving to be more conservative rather than less. In example, recently asked CardService International about adult sales. They said they were getting more and more conservative and gave the example "If you were running a lingerie site, we would not permit any lingerie to be shown on models - only in the package. If shown on a dummy we even then might have an issue."