A Merchant Account what is it, and do I needs one to accept credit cards?

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 10, 2009 – Do I need a Merchant Account? When you start your business online and you start to get the first requests from your customers that they want to pay by credit card, you will quickly meet the term Merchant Account, if you look around for instant on Google for payment service providers or credit card processing, many companies will tell you that you have to open a Merchant Account with one of their Acquiring Banks.

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So what is a merchant account, please explain, often people connect a merchant account with a regular bank account which isn’t obvious but simply a confusion in the terms.

A Merchant account is opened by an Acquiring bank, which is authorized by the card association to process payments by credit card for Online Merchants. In many countries you will need to contact another company (Payment Service Provider, ISO or MSP) which on behalf of the Acquiring bank will open the Merchant Account for you. Often you need to sign a Credit Card acceptance contract both with the Acquiring Bank and the Payment Service Provider, to become a Merchant Account.

When you open a Merchant Account you will also need to know which credit cards you will and need to accept on your web site. The major credit cards are Visa and MasterCard, then comes Amex, Diners, JCB and the rest. Many countries have also country specific credit and debit cards for which you need a separated merchant account or merchant agreement. A Merchant Account can be opened by any business which sells products and services and which to accept credit cards, this is the case for both online and Offline business. However, not all business industries can become a Merchant Account or Merchant Agreement, some business types are simply not accepted by the card association.

Read more at : http://www.acceptcreditcardpayments.biz