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Can't Accept Credit Cards?Yes you can! Click the link below to find out more about our merchant accounts for non-US and high risk merchants! |
Merchant Accounts
Merchant Account FAQ
This section is intended to be more than just an F.A.Q. section for our own services, but rather a comprehensive guide to the merchant account process. If there is a question you don't see an answer to, please feel free to contact us and we will add it to our database.
Q. What is a merchant account, and do I need one?
A. A merchant account is set up with a financial institution to allow you to accept credit card payments directly from your clients. Unlike with most third-party services, money collected through your merchant account is deposited directly into your checking account within 2 to 3 business days. You need a merchant account if you want to take credit card payments from your clients using your own business name, and having the money deposited directly into your business checking account.
Q. Do you offer merchant accounts to businesses outside the United States?
A. Yes! We recently
partnered with a processor to allow for High
Risk and Non-US Merchant Accounts. This link is for you if
Q. How do I accept credit cards online?
A. You have two options for online processing. One is called "real-time", where your customers are actually connected to a server and their credit cards are charged immediately when they place their order. The other is off-line processing, where the credit card info for each sale is saved securely online and you must retrieve it and process the sale manually. If you are having trouble deciding which product to use, we will be happy to help. Simply fill out our Free Quote form and we'll be in touch!
Q. Do I Need a Shopping Cart for Online Sales?
A. Most online merchants do use shopping cart software to make the sales process easier for customers. You can choose from many different shopping cart programs. One shopping cart option is Dansie Cart. Dansie comes installed on all our "Commerce" hosting packages and just needs to be customized to your needs. Technical information | Compare hosting packages.
Q. I don't have a website. What if I want to process sales offline?
A. You can use a terminal to "swipe" credit card sales as they happen (card present sales) in your store, restaurant, or other office or mobile business or to process sales manually if you do mostly mail order and/or phone order sales.
Q. How long does it take to get set up?
A. From the time
we receive your application, it generally takes 1 - 3 days to receive your approval.
If you are ordering a terminal, it is shipped out upon approval, and will generally
reach you within 5 business days. You can begin processing as soon as you
have received your designated product.
Q. What if I don't get approved?
A. We have a 98%
approval rate, so it's very unlikely that you wouldn't get approved. We
will go over all the details of your business before you apply, so we will do
our best to be sure that you will get approved. If, for some reason, you
are denied, you will be refunded your setup fee, less a $25 processing charge.
(note - only internet accounts incur a setup fee.)
Q. Are there any businesses that you do not allow to apply?
A. Yes. Businesses
outside the United States and accounts where a principal business owner has an
open bankruptcy are not allowed to apply here (They can apply for a non-US or high risk merchant account using this link instead.) We also maintain a list of unacceptable,
or "high-risk" and conditional merchants. Conditional merchants
may apply if they meet certain restrictions. The bank may also impose some
additional holdbacks or require an up front security account to approve these
merchants. For a list of unacceptable, or conditional merchants, click
here.
Q. How long does it take to receive our funds once an order is processed?
A. Funds are deposited
directly into your checking account, within 2-4 days, depending on the time of
day/day of week you close your batch.
Q. Why are there different rates for different accounts?
A. The rates for
merchant accounts vary based on the amount of risk involved in the transaction.
The accounts with the lowest rates will always be the ones where the customer
is present and the card is swiped and a receipt signed in a face to face transaction.
The credit card companies view these types of transactions to be fairly low in
risk for fraud, whereas internet transactions and transactions where orders are
taken by phone or mail are generally considered higher risk since the customer
is not present and the card is not in hand.
Q. What is a Chargeback?
A. A chargeback
occurs when a customer disputes a charge on their statement by contacting the
credit card company instead of contacting you. If a customer does not recognize
the charge on their statement, or if they believe the amount was wrong, they may
call their credit card company and ask them to investigate. Thus begins
the chargeback. The merchant bank will charge you a fee for the retrieval
of information, and if it is determined that the customer is right, there will
be another fee for the chargeback itself. The customer will be refunded
their money directly through the credit card company and your checking account
will be debited. Eventually, if your account has excessive chargebacks,
the bank may choose to cancel your account. The more you do to protect yourself
against chargebacks, the better off you'll be. There is a great forum on
this topic at merchant911.org. It's absolutely free and they will provide
you with tools and information to help you cut down on the amount of chargebacks
and fraudulent orders you will receive.
Q. Please explain the monthly minimum?
A. The monthly
minimum for your merchant account is derived from your processing fees.
The minimum of $25 should be collected in MC & Visa fees. The actual
amount of processing to achieve that minimum will depend upon your discount rate.
For example, if you have a discount rate of 2% and you process a transaction for
$100, then $2.00 in processing fees will be taken from that transaction and applied
towards your monthly minimum of $25. If, at the end of the month, you have
not processed enough transactions to cover the minimum fee, you will be charged
the difference.
Q. What is the difference between qualified, mid-qual, and non-qual transactions?
A. Qualified discount rate is applied for all transactions meeting the "normal" operating guidelines as outlined below:
* All Merchants
Close batches daily
* Retail (Terminal) Merchants
Magnetically swiped & electronically authorized charges
* Internet / MOTO Merchants
Electronically authorize charges using AVS and including order numbers for Visa
and MasterCard transactions
Mid-Qualified discount rate is applied for all transactions meeting the operating guidelines as outlined below:
* Retail (Terminal)
Merchants
Manually keyed orders using AVS & order number on Visa and MasterCard transactions.
* Internet / MOTO Merchants
There is no
mid-qual rate for Internet / MOTO merchants.
Non-Qualified discount rate is applied for all transactions meeting the operating guidelines as outlined below:
* All Merchants
- Not Closing batches daily
- Not using AVS & providing order numbers on manually
keyed or Internet transactions for Visa Cards
- High Risk Merchants (Visa Transactions Only)
- Following Card Types:
: Business and Corporate cards
: MasterCard/Visa Business cards
: Procurement cards (Government)
: Visa Signature cards
: MasterCard World cards
Q. What is the statement fee?
A. The statement fee is charged by the bank each month to process and send you your statement. Our merchant accounts have a $10 statement fee.
Q. What is the gateway fee?
A. The gateway
fee is charged by the real-time processor you have chosen for your account if
you sign up for an Internet account. We use Authorize.net as our gateway.
Charges for gateways vary from $10 to $20/month depending on which gateway you
are using.
Q. What is the AVS fee?
A. The AVS fee
is charged by the processor to allow you to use the Address Verification System
on your Internet and MOTO charges to protect against fraudulent orders.
The fee for your account is $0.10 per transaction. This is in addition to
your regular merchant account fees. This does not apply to sales "swiped"
through a terminal, but it does if transactions are "keyed" or typed
into a terminal.
Q. What is the Overlimit fee?
A. When you apply
for your merchant account, you indicate how much monthly volume you expect to
process. As such, your account is approved for that amount and if you go
over you may be subject to an overlimit fee. You may be able to avoid the
overlimit fee in any given month if you believe your sales will be over the top
by calling customer service and letting them know in advance. If your sales
will continue to be over the limit for the following months, you can simply ask
them to bump you up to the next level, which may require some paperwork.
Q. How do I get set up for Discover Card and American Express?
A. When you sign up for your merchant account with us, you are signing up to accept MasterCard, Visa and Discover transactions only unless you note on the application that you want to accep American Express card payments as well. Please note, Discover and AMEX charge different discount rates than Visa and Mastercard, and they send you separate statements as well. Please be sure to ask for more details.
Q. Who's who?
A. This website is owned and operated by Hosting Connecticut, LLC based in Windsor, CT. Hosting Connecticut is owned by Paula M. Pierce, an Independent Contractor for Humboldt Merchant Services, a division of Moneris Solutions, Inc. sponsored by Harris N.A., Schaumburg, IL.