I'm new to merchant accounts and SSL, and I'm trying to set this up right so that my customers will feel (and be) secure.

Here is the scenario and proposed solution... looking for comments on whether this is the best approach....

I have company, an LLC, that owns multiple websites involved in ecommerce. Lets say that one site sells webhosting, one sells cellphones, and another cells domains. Rather than have a merchant account and SSL for each site, I'd like to have one for all. The merchant account is in the company name, so when they get their bill, it will show as comming from that company name. That name is present on all the sites, but not in big bold print... but the payment page will explain this. I'm about to setup SSL, and I'm thinking that what I should do is create a secure.companyname.com subdomain, and get the SSL for that. Then all my shopping cart secure pages would use that subdomain and certificate, rather than having a certificate for all the domains. All the domains are on one server, so it shouldn't be a problem to redirect back and forth to the subdomain.

Does this make sense? Is there a better way to accomplish this... multiple websites, one merchant account. I'm thinking that them seeing the url of the company name when they process the credit card will make them feel more secure and jog their brain on the credit card bill to avoid any chargebacks.

Thanks.

Yeah the easiest way is that you can fwd all your clients to a one place ( your secure server ) for example use secure.companyname.com.

You can do this for the merchant account. When you apply for a merchant account - they will ask what you are selling. You can enter web services & electronic supplies (this way if you expand on your business, you are OK).

As far as the SSL - that should be fine.

Also - you will run into a few agents that will try to sell you a merchant account for all three services. As long as your business name is on the footer & the business name appears on the payment page as well as the receipt, you are OK.

Thanks guys... this looks like the best way to go. If any of the sites grow large enough, I can always change. I just want everything to look professional so my customers are feeling secure (and are, of course).

Hi McCollin,

Make sure when you purchase the SSL you spend the extra few dollars and get the emblem. Customers are much more likely to complete checkout if an emblem is clearly displayed during the checkout process.

Originally posted by mccollin
I have company, an LLC, that owns multiple websites involved in ecommerce. Lets say that one site sells webhosting, one sells cellphones, and another cells domains. Rather than have a merchant account and SSL for each site, I'd like to have one for all. The merchant account is in the company name, so when they get their bill, it will show as comming from that company name. You can combine companies through a single merchant account provided that all the companies are owned by the same parent company and it sounds like they are. Two things to keep in mind though: 1) The card associations have to classify your business as either goods or services and many times your discount rate is tied to this classification -- goods is "usually" lower risk and thus cheaper for you than services. 2) The more descriptive and relative the company name that appears on customer statement, the lower the chargeback rate -- customers that purchase from "www.CellPhonesRUS.com" don't always relate "MyMegaCompany, LLC" with the transaction and many issue will issue a chargeback without even calling you.

At a minimum, I would separate goods from services but I would argue for separate merchant accounts for each. It does not sound like this is a problem but multiple merchant accounts can funnel into the same back end bank account.

Good luck with whatever path you decide...

I'm going to give it a go in a combined manner. All of the sites will say they are owned by the LLC, and the payment page for all sites will display the LLC banner and explain which companies are owned by the LLC. If business is good, I can always pay the extra money and upgrade to multiples. Just don't want that burden out of the gate as I have several commerce sites all startign from ground zero. Thanks for all the advice.

Exactly. Just create a footer - that should be sufficient & make Visa/Mastercard happy. Do not apply for a merchant account though until you have the site up & your LLC on it. Otherwise Visa/Mastercard will look at it & then it comes back to you to add the information. A lot of people like to apply for the merchant account months before but there is no need to - why pay some of those costs when they are not being used?

Also, when you send the "email receipt" you should be sure to present the information properly.

For example:

"Thanks for purchasing your cell phone from CellPhoneCity, a division of ParentCompany Ltd."

This way, they can see the name of the "real" company right there in obvious place. So when they get their cc statement they will hopefully recognize the charge...