How To Obtain A Merchant Account

All too often merchants choose not to obtain their own merchant account because it is assumed to be a difficult process.  This brief is intended to clarify the process and remove that misconception.

On average, the bank approval takes approximately 24-48 hours for registered businesses once all applicable documentation is received and the website is ready for review.

Once the bank has approved the merchant account application, registration with Visa and MasterCard is required, this process can take a further 10 business days and has an annual cost of $500 per institution. Cost for both is $1000. 

The required documents necessary for the merchant account application are:

• Completed and signed merchant application
  (we can complete this with the aid of the other supporting documents)
• Signer’s Driver’s License
• Articles of Incorporation (not required if business is a sole proprietor)
• A voided Business Check or a signed letter from your bank confirming your business name, address, account and routing number.
• Proof of Domain Ownership: WhoIs or Screenshot from your domain provider
• Login Credentials if Website Requires it
• Most Recent 3 months of Processing Statements if existing business.

If your business is already accepting credit cards and processing over $50,000 a month, the bank will require your most recent bank statement and two years of your most recent corporate taxes to complete the application package.  

The website approval process requires the following to be implemented on the site:

• SSL/HTTPS must be present on checkout page

• No OFAC countries can be present. (If US based company). For an updated list of countries currently under economic sanctions by the US Government, go to https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx
  • For countries within the European Union, we recommend following the list maintained by HM Treasury and Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-consolidated-list-of-targets/consolidated-list-of-targets
    
    
• Terms and Conditions, privacy policy, and refund policy must be listed within the Terms and Conditions page or on its own page.

In addition to the Merchant Account, you will need to implement a Gateway to process your payments.  The Gateway is what communicates with the credit card company and customers bank, which then deposits the money from the approved transaction into your merchant account.   Gateways can be set up in just a few hours, have plugins for easier integration, or depending on your gateway selection, may already be integrated into the platform. All the merchant is required to do is to select which gateway they wish to use.

Once approved, the bank will produce a setup sheet, which is essentially all the information about your Merchant Account.   That information is then added into your gateway and then your account is ready to begin processing.

The myth about how difficult it is to acquire your own merchant account is simply untrue and the process for which it takes is purely reliant on how proactive the merchant is at providing the necessary documentation for the bank to review.

By investing a small amount of time to provide applicable documents, you’ll be rewarded with an undeniable increase in revenue and more customer control, which in turn puts more money back in your pocket for profit.

Isn’t this the objective of every business?

So, don’t delay, contact us today and let us guide you to infinite payment possibilities.