Shopping Cart Software: Online store and ecommerce solutions.

Answering your questions about Merchant Account Provider, Merchant Account Processor and Small Business Merchant Account options

What is a merchant account?
A merchant account is way for businesses to accept credit cards both online and offline. Merchant account processor companies provide credit card authorization and charges in real-time. The merchant accounts Easy Webstore Creator works with provide a programming interface that allows for direct integration between our software and their processing services.

Why accept credit cards
80% of the world buys products and services on credit. Over 87% of all Internet customers use credit cards and businesses loose sales over 60% of the time if they don't accept credit card payments!

Credit cards are ecommerce and trying to do business without them is like swimming against the tide. You need 2 things to accept credit cards, first a small business merchant account and second a way to process these transactions. At brick and mortar stores the processing takes place when your card is swiped through the card reader. At online stores the processing is done when a shopper types in their credit card information and it is verified by a merchant account processor. Easy Webstore Creator's partnerships with many different merchant account providers allow you to both have a merchant account and process credit cards. We provide a variety of merchant account provider companies so that your company can find the solution that is right for your business.

How does it work?
With most merchant accounts, during checkout the shopper will be asked which method of payment they prefer to use, if they select a form of credit card payment they will be redirected to a secure page within the store to enter their credit card information. After the shopper selects submit, the credit card information will be sent to the correct merchant account where it will be verified and either accepted or denied by the merchant account service provider. If the transaction is denied the shopper will be alerted immediately so that they may correct and continue or cancel the transaction. The advantage of this system is that the user has never left your store and yet their transaction has been either accepted or denied and the goods can be immediately sent. The disadvantage is that a monthly fee must be paid to the merchant account service provider for this service.

PayPal works slightly different from other payment processors. During a PayPal checkout the shopper will be asked which method of payment they prefer to use, if they select a form of credit card payment they will be redirected to the PayPal login and/or signup page. If the shopper already has an account they will login and complete the transaction. If the shopper does not already have an account they will be asked to enter a variety of information about themselves before the transaction can be completed. Then the shopper will be redirected to your store. The advantage of this system is a lower startup cost. The disadvantage of this system is that a shopper must leave your site to complete the transaction and some shoppers will not be willing to register with PayPal just to pay your store. In addition PayPal's discount rate is higher than most other merchant account provider companies (discount rate is percentage of each sale which is deducted to cover merchant account service provider processing fees.)

Types of merchant accounts
Merchant accounts come in 2 varieties, card present and card not present. By law ecommerce stores are required to use card not present transactions because the shopper is not standing in front of them with a credit card. By their nature, card not present transactions are more risky and therefore are charged a higher discount rate. For companies which already have a credit card processing terminal we recommend talking with your bank before entering card not present transactions.

Credit Card Fraud
Internet credit card fraud has always been a problem. All of our merchant account provider companies do their best to catch fraud. We have a variety of mechanisms in place to check shipping addresses against the credit card billing address and to check card verification codes with Visa and Mastercard. We recommend you use these features to their fullest in order to lessen your companies liability. The benefits of accepting credit cards far outweigh the negatives but you should be aware and vigilant to lessen the impact on your business.

Credit Card Fraud
Internet credit card fraud has always been a problem. All of our merchant account provider companies do their best to catch fraud.
Conclusion
There are many companies out there that offer credit card processing. Easy Webstore Creator has chosen to partner with some of the largest and most well respected in their fields and we are confident you will find a processor that meets your companies needs. If you would like to use a small business merchant account not listed here please contact us, we might be able to integrate their services for you. Be careful when dealing with companies which don't list all prices and fees upfront. These companies will get you in the door and then hit you with high costs and high pressure. We are only here to help you and will never pressure you to do something you don't want or need. If you have any questions regarding payment solutions please feel free to contact us. We are here to help.