International Merchant Account

An international merchant account is something no online business should be without. The real beauty of having an online business is your ability to reach everyone in the global market. But what good is being seen, if you are unable to process currency from other countries. With an international merchant account, offshore businesses can accept currency from most countries around the globe.

An international merchant account is not generally needed by US based companies. It is other countries like India, China, Africa and so forth that really benefit from having this type of an account. It’s not just Internet companies that benefit from these accounts neither; even brick-and-Mortar companies in many countries need these accounts to be competitive.

With the rapid advancements in today’s technology, it is now easier to imagine a world that does not revolve around paper money or paper checks. More and more banks are doing away with the use of paper products for currency and advocating the use of debit cards and credit cards. Adding an international merchant account to your business will cost you not only for set up, but accepting credit cards incurs a fee on both ends, for the merchant.

To remain competitive in this electronic world, to not have a merchant account is unthinkable. The problem is that when you start to search for international merchant account there such a variety of them to choose from, and,unfortunately, many of them are bogus or do not offer everything you need to process your credit card successfully.

• The ideal international merchant account provider will be a company who has been in business for a while and who have proven to be trustworthy. They will be able to take all of the4 most popular credit cards such as MasterCard, Visa, and American Expressand Discover.
• When deciding on where credit cards, your business will receive theprice is a major concern, American Express charges 2.89% tothe merchant, whereas MasterCard and Visa only about 2% in fees.

Most online retailers are looking to sell their wares to the average American citizen. So of course they would accept the credit cards that are most used by them. MasterCard and Visa are not credit card issuers; they are actually credit card processing companies. Companies that use them for credit card processing purposes often are allowed to privilege of issuing credit cards will receive MasterCard or Visa logo.

As an entrepreneur in the online market, MasterCard and Visa are 2 forms of payment that are must haves for your business. As for the higher fees charged by other cards that cater to more affluent clientele. Many offshore most merchants simply cannot afford these higher fees, and if that is you, that’s okay. You can still start your business andaccept payments from all over the world using only MasterCard and Visa as your gateway payment card.

What do you have to pay to get an international merchant account?

Rates for these accounts assessed differently for every new business. Generally, if you have a high monthly sales, volume of over $1 million you expect to pay 3 to 4% of that amount in merchant account fees. Ironically, the less your turnover volume, the higher your rate will be.

Find more information relating to high risk merchant account, and online credit card processing here.