Setting Up a Merchant Account in The UK

Tuesday, March 6th, 2018

Are you a new business or you’ve already been doing business for a while? You must be interested in setting up a merchant account, mustn’t you? The ability to accept credit/debit card payments is vitally important for your business. To be able to accept face-to-face, over the phone or online payments, you’ll need to open a merchant account. So, what is a merchant account? How can you open one?

What Is a Merchant Account?

Millions of card payments are being processed each and every day. This number is expected to further grow. So, you can’t do without having a merchant account for your business.

What is a merchant account? This is a type of bank account, using which businesses can accept payments by debit/credit cards. To get a merchant account, you should sign an agreement, which is being signed between a retailer, a merchant bank and payment processor. This makes it possible to process credit/debit card transactions.

The process of your approval for a merchant account is based on various criteria. Your business may be classified as high risk due to several factors. These typically include higher chargeback rates and higher risk of payment processing fraud.

Are you interested in setting up a merchant account for your business? The payment expert Best Payment Providers can offer you a reliable and low-cost online merchant account UK. Best Payment Providers does its best to provide you with the best deal for your business. This is a great opportunity to enjoy free consultation and contracts reviews, as well as rates, and fees.

Best Payment Providers goes through the integration process offered by each provider so that to guarantee a smooth transition and onboarding process for you. If you need the most honest snapshot of the company at the time of writing, Best Payment Providers can help you with this.

How Your Payments Are Being Processed?

When a customer pays for a product/service using his/her credit card, the funds get deposited into the merchant account. Then, they get transferred to the business bank account. Transfers to the business account are typically processed on a daily or weekly basis.

If you’re a new business, expect to get a favorable review of your merchant account application from the very bank that holds your business and/or personal account(s). Even if your business is associated with higher risks, this doesn’t mean your application will be rejected in any case.

You can still get approved for a merchant account if you turn a reputable high risk merchant account provider. Only, you’ll be charged higher transaction or other fees to compensate for risk. As soon as your business is well established, you can negotiate the fees.

Other important things to take into account have to do with payment gateways and card terminals or online shopping carts. A payment gateway authenticates the submitted credit card information and submits the transaction request to the credit card company issuer so that it can authorize the payment. Moreover, to accept payments online, you should have shopping cart software that will capture the customer’s details and pass them to the payment gateway.

Setting Up Merchant Accounts: Fees and Other Details

Earlier, processing transactions methods were associated with sending credit card slips to the acquiring bank by mail. Today, transaction processing is almost always completed electronically.

You can find different fees related to merchant accounts. When applying for a merchant account, pay attention to whether all the fees are clearly outlined in contracts. These fees may include:

• Application fees
• Setup fees
• Monthly fees
• Discount rate
• Per-transaction fees
• Cross-border fees
• Rental fees for a credit card terminal

What about acquiring banks? You can find a number of banks in the UK, applying to which, you can get merchant accounts UK. Regardless of the provider you’re going to work with, your business will have to adhere to and be compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

When it comes to merchant account fees, take into account the type of transactions you’ll be taking. To bring you an example, if you’re going to deal with credit cards most of the time, then go with a per-card transaction account with a lower percentage.

When applying to a provider, a good sales team will discuss your requirements with you. Then, they’ll offer a quote that best meets your business needs.