Are any of you guys a lawer here?

Do you absolutely need a lawyer to answer your question?

Yes, probably yes, I need advice.

Hate to say it, but I highly doubt any decent lawyer would give advice on an online forum. Try searching around locally for lawyers.

Hate to say it, but I highly doubt any decent lawyer would give advice on an online forum. Try searching around locally for lawyers.

Im not in the States and I need a US lawyer.

Also if I call they are probably want to charge me right.

If your question is concerning payment processing I may be able to help you with pre-legal stuff - worked number of years in credit and risk management.

Yes it is. I need to incorporate someone to my business and sign in for a merchant account. I was told a lawyer could do that. Other way is to make some partnership with a US company or any other legal advice is welcome.

To incorporate a company in the US is fine (DE and NV being the best choices for non US residents). A lawyer will not sign for you on merchant agreement. When you incorporate, you will be assigned a registered agent but they may or may not want to sign on your behalf on merchant agreement. Why would they guarantee your account if they do not even know you?

Besides, when you apply for a US merchant account, you need business presence on US soil. You can partner with a company but you will need to prove your business presence on US soil.

Why not apply for an offshore merchant account?

Alex,

Since you are volunteering information :) maybe you can answer this one, I am a US citizen, attempted to get a merchant account but was declined, the reason for the merchant account is the fact of webhosting, however its going to be a 60/40 between the US and Costa Rica I am currently residing in Costa Rica as a tourist renewing my passport every 3 months but plan on hitting the market here in Costa Rica for webhosting and such, I cannot obtain a US merchant account because they state the business like you said has to reside in the US and for the US, yes if approved I would be able to accept Visa/MC worldwide but I must show at least an 80/20 US purchases vs the 60/40 Costa Rica/US , is it just this one merchant account that I attempted or is that a general rule of thumb? As here in Costa Rica I cannot obtain a merchant account as I am not a resident, and if that is the case how do I go about getting an offshore merchant account?

Thanks
Tom

Hey dont infiltrate my post.

I already have incorporated in the US, Tax ID and all that stuff. Its a US business. Thats why I need a lawyer, to legally get someone to sign for me in the merchant.

Hey dont infiltrate my post.

I already have incorporated in the US, Tax ID and all that stuff. Its a US business. Thats why I need a lawyer, to legally get someone to sign for me in the merchant.

That’s good. If you have business presence in the US, you must have employees who have signing authority for your business, especially business banking. There are some processors who will waive personal guarantee in circumstances like this so the US director can sign on the merchant agreement and will not be personally liable. The underwriting department has to make that call and may require business financials and possibly some reserves to mitigate risk.

You can by all means get a lawyer but don’t expect lawyers on forums as they need to have full details before they provide legal opinion. And yes, they may charge you but that will be between you and the lawyer.

Alex,

Since you are volunteering information :) maybe you can answer this one, I am a US citizen, attempted to get a merchant account but was declined, the reason for the merchant account is the fact of webhosting, however its going to be a 60/40 between the US and Costa Rica I am currently residing in Costa Rica as a tourist renewing my passport every 3 months but plan on hitting the market here in Costa Rica for webhosting and such, I cannot obtain a US merchant account because they state the business like you said has to reside in the US and for the US, yes if approved I would be able to accept Visa/MC worldwide but I must show at least an 80/20 US purchases vs the 60/40 Costa Rica/US , is it just this one merchant account that I attempted or is that a general rule of thumb? As here in Costa Rica I cannot obtain a merchant account as I am not a resident, and if that is the case how do I go about getting an offshore merchant account?

Thanks
Tom

Hey Tom:

Did I say I am volunteering? :)

The bells go off in risk department when a merchant has excessive foreign cards. I cannot say for certain that there is 80/20 rule of thumb, but the risk department will have concerns when majority of processing is in foreign cards. Your best bet will be to go with offshore processing.

Depending on the processor you decide to go with for offshore processing, some may require you to register a company in the country of processing bank. There are other offshore processors who may be fine with your current incorporation. The costs are higher for offshore processing but these costs can be considered as business operational costs and you will need to adjust your hosting pricing plans accordingly.

Cheers,
Alex

Hey intom,
If you're in Costa Rica, your best bet would be to incorporate in next-door Panama and get a direct offshore merchant account there.

Thanks Alex and jalami

Jalami,

I will look into Panama as I go there all the time to renew my passport :)

Thanks Again
Tom

Well laws are quite strange in the US. You can open a US corporation being a foreign pay taxes but still you cannot do allot of things that are basic steps for every business.

For example to mention some stupids things. To obtain an EIN you have to fill the SS-4 form. And voila you can only fill the SS-4 form with a SS#

Also, its says for example an ITIN can be used anywhere legally where a SS# is requested, the ITIN has the same purposes for foreigns just like the SS# when it matters to taxes. Thats is also not true in real life. Not a single bank or merchant will open you an account with an ITIN. I even have talked to the american embassy and they said a bank should legally open an account and they cannot deny it based on an ITIN, they said i should get a letter from the bank where it says they cannot open it and they will review it personally. Thanks to that idiot of bush and the Patriot Act is now almost impossible to make any business relationship with the US. I have seen at least 30 people , investment people that have turned their money to Europe now because of this laws. All this rules came like a dream to europe, people turning banks to euros, people opening banks and merchants in europe instead of the US. Look in Google how many people are now opening business in the UK for example. Almost all foreigns find it hard to make any relationships with the US based on all this rules. And this security rules are just plain ********, they dont stop money laundry or terrorism at all. Terrorism comes because of other things more deeper then just opening bank accounts and fake business. The laws that came in have not benefit the american people in 1 single thing, exactly the opposite, the US is bleaching money every day, mainly because of people turning to the euro and people putting their money somewhere else.

Anyway how i got so far is another story. I have all documentations and the business is already operating. I just need the merchant, so if someone is willing to help me or maybe make some joint venture to open together im open to suggestions.

Nibb:

Can you please tell me nature of your business and approx volumes you will be processing? Is it retail or MOTO/Internet?

I have send you a short PM.

I have send you a short PM.

I sent you a reply.

Tom,

We are located in Nassau, Bahamas and are doing the same thing you are. We went with a company in the UK called WorldPay for our merchant account and have had no problems with them. We have had an account for many years with them.

Regards,
Richard.


general rule of thumb? As here in Costa Rica I cannot obtain a merchant account as I am not a resident, and if that is the case how do I go about getting an offshore merchant account?

There's loads in my local phone book :)

so,

create a company -> obtain EIn -> open business account -> open merchant acc. then done?

about the EIN, how to get it? I see in the form, it requires ITIN, and in the ITIN form, i dont think i can apply for one, i'm totally not US resident, do not live there. thx

so,

create a company -> obtain EIn -> open business account -> open merchant acc. then done?

about the EIN, how to get it? I see in the form, it requires ITIN, and in the ITIN form, i dont think i can apply for one, i'm totally not US resident, do not live there. thx

If you do not live in the US, you can incorporate a company in the US but I doubt if you will be able to obtain EIN. Your best bet will be to contact companies that handle US incorporations.

Regarding merchant account: If you do not live in the US, you do not have US SSN, you do not have business presence in the US, I seriously doubt any US payment processor will open you a merchant account. Your best bet is to select a good payment processor to see if they will accept your business and then apply for a merchant account with them. Some payment processors may accept you with your own country's incorporation. Some may require you to incorporate a company elsewhere. You have to make those calls and see which options suits you the best.

Hope that helps...

Yest that what I needed a lawyer. And I do have an EIN, I did with an nominee service and it costed me like 200$.

My idea was to incorporate the lawyer or someone into as an officer in the company and he signs the merchant documents. I did found someone that was going to do this but he wanted like 150$ a month and he would not give me the full access to the account and money, so that was a bad idea to pay something and let him get my money, its not so easy to trust someone you dont know. He also wanted to leave a reserver in the account all the time. My idea was to reduce costs by stopping to use 2CO not to increase them.

You are right nibb - careful who you trust. It is better to pay a percent or two higher and have full control of your account and your funds.

If you have good processing history with 2CO and you are looking for direct merchant account, there are some offshore processors who may be able to beat 2CO rates.

I really prefer to get a US one. I dont want to play with currency exchange so a Us merchant in USD $ get direct deposit to your US account. Theres no way a merchant anywhere else can beat a US merchant as well us banks.

Well you do not have many options till you find someone you can trust with your money and also someone who understands your business. You have to realize that if the account goes under, it is the person signing the application has the responsibility and not you.

Im not in the States and I need a US lawyer.

Also if I call they are probably want to charge me right.

Wrong... they only charge you IF you let them as for that they need to have your details and fot that, you need to give them...