ese days it is essential for an Online Business which sells their services or products throughout the Internet to accept credit card payments.  

Many just fail to know what it exactly is they need to be aware of when they do their business planning and apply for a merchant account to accept credit cards on their web site.

Looking at the Payment Service Industry the possibilities is many, the number of payment service providers is almost impossible to see through so the services they offer. In the latest 2 years you also will find many Offshore Company Service agency which will try to setup a merchant account and payment gateway facility for you as a “complete package” but which simply fail due to a leg of knowledge and even them self understanding the Payment Service Provider business.

Below we will outline a few of the major and important conditions you need to consider and be prepared for when you apply for a Merchant Account and it doesn’t matter who you are going to use, the regulations are set forth by the Card Association and in front Visa / MasterCard.

You will need to apply for a Merchant Account in the jurisdiction of where your company is registered; this isn’t necessarily the same country but more often the Region in which the country of company registration belongs to.

Many fail to comply with the regulations already before they get started, for instant when they incorporate their company in some “grey zone” offshore jurisdictions like Panama, Belize, BVI or Seychelles, those countries are only hardly accepted by the major Banks in this Offshore jurisdictions and often you will pay high fees too, since they know your business now is bound to them.

To have your company registered in the European Union will take much of the hassle from your shoulders and you will find yourself with the right merchant account and payment gateway solution quickly if you prepared yourself with the next few things.

The first thing you will need to know is that your Web site need to be compliant with Visa and MasterCard (I name those brands because they are the most important once) make sure you have your Terms and Conditions and Return policy online and that it is easy for customers / card holders to find and read them. Make sure your Company name, address and a phone number is available, a postbox isn’t sufficient and will not be accepted. If you don’t provide 24/7/365 phone support, put it on your website and let people know when and how they can get in contact with you.

To attract more customers, it is always a good idea to have a Live Chat on your Web Site, this will let your customers feel comfortable and that they always can be in touch with you.

We hope above can help you the way up the road and will again outline the importance to choice the right Company to help you to find the right Merchant Account and Payment Gateway providers