So What is a Credit Card Processor?
Contributed by Melanie Vannuys
What Is A Credit Card Processor?
A credit card processor, or merchant account, is what's required to processes credit cards. If you own a business, chances are you may already have a credit card processor. If you don't, you may want to look into getting one - and rather quickly. With technology becoming increasingly popular, more and more people expect to be able to use their credit cards, especially when shopping on the Internet. Research shows that accepting credit cards increases revenue and helps with cash flow (you usually receive your money within 48 hours.)
Furthermore, you don't have to wait and wonder if the credit card is going to bounce - you can't say the same for the checks you accept. Credit card users are more likely to buy the impulse items than those paying with cash or checks may not.
To be able to use a credit card processor for your website, you'll have to have a couple of things in place first:
1) An electronic shopping cart;
2) A payment gateway system;
3) A credit card processor;
4) An Internet merchant account issued by a bank or other financial institution.
What Is A Third Party Credit Card Processor?
A third party credit card processor may be the answer to your problems if you can't afford your own merchant account right now.
With a regular merchant account, you will have to pay monthly statement fees, transaction fees, etc. With a third party credit card processor, the company you choose to work with simply takes a percentage of your products cost - usually 3-15%.
