Hello,

I am going to likely be applying for a merchant account today. It seems all of them need me to have a biz checking account so I am going this AM to open one. I'd like to know if I'll have everything I need to apply for the merchant account after I visit the bank today? Or.. will the biz checking account take a few days to be setup?

Thanks

Well the only other thing you need is good credit. Not really anything else.

A business checking account is easy to open. They will probably require a copy of your incorporation or LLC papers along with a copy of the "minutes" making you an officer of the corporation. Call your bank and ask what they will need. Don't be afraid to let them know this is your first account and to explain things very simply. You don't want to be missing something due to a misunderstanding of a term.

As for the merchant account, many banks require something on your letterhead (easy to create on your pc) and usually want a picture of your business or home. I know this seems odd but they just want to be sure you are real. They usually require you to have good credit too.

When filling out your application, ask for more credit than you will need so when you grow you won't have to apply for increases in your limit all the time. This can be very time consuming and during the process you may not be able to process credit cards.

They typically want to understand a bit about your business too. Oh and many of them want you to have a business telephone number, which is reasonable. All stuff that proves you are real.

I guess they are all a bit different in what they request. It's like a mini mortgage application.

I'm actually kind of scared to go through all of this after reading some of the horror stories regarding frozen accounts and such. How do you guys screen for fraud?

This is what we do to screen for fraud:
--
1. Authorize.Net does a Billing Address verification
2. Traceroute on IP address of signup
3. Whois on registered domains
4. Call new client to verify information
5. Don't allow free email accounts (hotmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.)
--
That usually gets everyone.

what's next ? after u got the merchant account.
do I need to hire some programmers to write scripts for accepting credit card payments?

We use ModernBill as our billing program. I suggest you take a look at it. It is fairly expensive but worth every penny. They do have monthly plans that make it easier for smaller companies to afford. www.modernbill.com

Originally posted by ServerSonic
We use ModernBill as our billing program. I suggest you take a look at it. It is fairly expensive but worth every penny. They do have monthly plans that make it easier for smaller companies to afford. www.modernbill.com

i can back that statement. It was kinda pricey, but it has been worth EVERY penny. It takes the hassel away from billing, the new versions just keep getting better. I love modernbill

Originally posted by ServerSonic
We use ModernBill as our billing program. I suggest you take a look at it. It is fairly expensive but worth every penny. They do have monthly plans that make it easier for smaller companies to afford. www.modernbill.com


so after I've got my merchant account from my bank, I can use this modernbill program to accept credit cards ? do I need to know a lot of programming stuff to set up the whole thing ?

There's a difference between a standard bank merchant account and a gateway and a processer.

We have our system setup like this:

Take order online.
- Billing system sends CC info through gateway (cybercash/verisign)
- Cybercash/Verisign then sends it over to Card Service International to process it
- CSI sends the money to my banking merchant account

Cybercash was only gateway back then, and I needed a way to get the money from the gateway to the bank. We use CSI as our "processor" which is now combined in a lot of things. We could use Verisign for our processor too, or Authorize.net is a Gateway/Processorr I believe.

Originally posted by IntraHost
There's a difference between a standard bank merchant account and a gateway and a processer.

We have our system setup like this:

Take order online.
- Billing system sends CC info through gateway (cybercash/verisign)
- Cybercash/Verisign then sends it over to Card Service International to process it
- CSI sends the money to my banking merchant account

Cybercash was only gateway back then, and I needed a way to get the money from the gateway to the bank. We use CSI as our "processor" which is now combined in a lot of things. We could use Verisign for our processor too, or Authorize.net is a Gateway/Processorr I believe.


does this mean even if I've got a merchant account , I still have to use services from autorize.net ` worldpay ..etc ?

is it possible to not use their services and let my company act as the gateway / processor for all the web sites owned by my company? where could I apply for this thing ?

ty

A merchant account at your bank CAN be different then a lot of merchant accounts that are talked about here. We have a merchant account at a bank, but basically it just provides advanced routing and what not, its like a business checking account. Talk to a rep at your bank and see if they have any partnerships with companies, or if they themselves, process credit cards.

Or find a company like Authorize.net, then just have the money deposited to a bank account.

Originally posted by ktvktv



does this mean even if I've got a merchant account , I still have to use services from autorize.net ` worldpay ..etc ?

There are companies out there who can handle the whole application process and set up each type of vendor you will need. They are much like a mortgage broker.

We used safesolutions.com. Michael Chamberlain was the rep. Very nice folks, easy to deal with and have been very helpful sorting out challenges.

Good luck.