Hello,

I've a Us street address, and US bank account. What is left to get a US merchant account with merchant4less or cdgcommerce and the availability to "ACH" my mony in 48 hours?

- Delaware Inc/LLC ADVANTAGE Package
- EIN
- US Corporate Bank Account


Thanks

Oh yes..

I live and run my business out side US

As I recall, Merchant Accounts 4 Less has a 5 day delay for merchants located outside of the US. I dont believe CDG offers merchant accounts for non-US merchants.

Most United States processors are trying to protect themselves from the merchant. The merchant is trying to protect themselves from the consumer. And the consumer is trying to protect himself from the merchant. It is very difficult to purchase something online at times without actually seeing it.

The processors - some of the hold your money for 4 weeks at a time. And Some of them will require a rolling reserve for six months.

If something were to happen, the United States processor would have a much more difficult time to collect their payment from a business not in the United States rather in the United States.

Currently, it seems you biggest problem is that you have to have your money in 48 hours. Is there a reason for this? Three more business days really should not matter. Nor actually should 2 weeks for a stable business.

Corey,

OK :) , let us say 5 ACH delay is not a problem, but is it exactly 5 days no more no less?

Also, do I need SSN or EIN if this 5 ACH delay is applied?

Thanks

OK :) , let us say 5 ACH delay is not a problem, but is it exactly 5 days no more no less?
Well it is 5 business days. So if you process / batch out on the first, the bank might not received until the 8th. There are a lot of exceptions to be noted - like when the bank does get it, do they release it. And a lot of times, a processor will also hold the money in the very beginning to verify all the transactions depending on the business model. This is usually a big problem to the merchant, but once this transpires (usually takes one to two weeks), then the processor would have no reason to verify transactions unless complaints come in.
Also, do I need SSN or EIN if this 5 ACH delay is applied?
It is preferred but with the business being overseas - it depends.

I understand you are wanting hard answers, but in this there are none. You being offshore, the processor / risk analysis people have to take a hard look at your merchant application.

I have seen merchants get approved in two business days and have not heard anything else. All the processing was good and the processor never had a reason to verify transactions. I have seen them get approved in one week and all the processing was good. I have seen them get approved in a few days and the processor the holds the funds for a few more days while verifying the transactions with the customer and the merchant. Afterall, when you sign up for a merchant account, let's say $10,000 a month. You are basically asking to "borrow" $60,000 from that company. More if you have some type of membership / subscription service (like webhosting) that might be billed for six months.

For example, I remember Chris writing something to this nature. Let's say you have a hosting company. You bill everyone for a year's service at $100.00 each. And you have 100 clients every month. So each month you are billing $10,000. During the 10th month, your servers take a nose-dive and you cannot get them back up. All data is lost. So there is $100,000 that has been billed out. Your customers demand their money back. And guess what? Most will get it - and if the processor cannot collect this from you, they have to pay it. This is why the processors frown on yearly type of payments.

Hi Corey

On a related note, what if I need a merchant account for selling my software, custom built or boxed? Lets say, I am able to incorporate a company in US, with a corporate bank account and a EIN number, what else will I need?

Amitabh

Originally posted by amitabh
Hi Corey

On a related note, what if I need a merchant account for selling my software, custom built or boxed? Lets say, I am able to incorporate a company in US, with a corporate bank account and a EIN number, what else will I need?

Amitabh
At the very least, you need a United States bank account and United States address. The more things, on top of that, the better. It increases your chances of getting a merchant account.

It is not like programming - where you can say I want this process to be done unfortunately. It is not an exact science at all.

If a US Address and US Bank account is possible, what else do I need to increase my chances? One/Two of the primary stakeholders have SSN too, the problem being that neither of them is a US Citizen.

It might be easier for you to apply for an offshore merchant account.