Are you searching for a completely free merchant account? You cant find a service that offers you completely free merchant account services. It will not be completely free. Only one part of the scheme, that is membership or the setup fee will be made free.  This article will tell you about some free E-commerce services that are available online.

Compared to commercial E-commerce service providers, the free service provider will always be a better option for the customers. There are many advantages in the free merchant account services, but when you come to know about the disadvantages, you will think twice before signing with them. The important thing that you have to keep in mind is, it is not completely free. You have to pay them for the services.

Is free service provider completely free?

Some discounts that the free merchant account services offer are: no initial payment, no membership payment or no setup fee. This means, you no need a penny for registration and get relevant gateway information. The major disadvantage that you will face with 0$ registration plan is high processing rate and chargeback rates. Some research and comparison will help you in selecting the best merchant account service. Moreover, if you have conducted any research on these, you will get to know that the commercial Merchant Account services are better than the free services as they will charge you more that what a commercial merchant service asks for.

Advantage of commercial Service provider:

The simple reason for a free E commerce Merchant Account service provider charging you more is because it is a business and there is no gain for them offering you a free service. Offering a discount for something will make you pay more for something else. The integration of the shopping cart with your credit card may seem to be easy but it is actually not.

The commercial Ecommerce service provider will offer you the best guidance on shopping cart integration but the free providers wont. Check whether the free service provider is offering you the technical support as most of them wont. Due to the heavy competition in this field, some new service providers offer you free services to get fame. Think twice or thrice before signing into those service providers as there is a high risk of your account getting hacked with a newbie. There are many sites that offer you with the right information with the Merchant Account services

The commercial E commerce Merchant account service provider will fix your problems immediately as they will never want to lose their position. But a free Merchant Account service provider will not do this.

Disadvantage of free service provider:

The major disadvantage of the free Merchant Account service provider is that you need to sign an annual membership scheme. If you don’t like their service, you will be left helpless as they will never return your money back. In this case, the commercial service provider is considered as you can select the scheme.

You are in the path to profit and it is in your hands to go with either free service provider or a commercial service provider. For more information regarding Merchant account, check www.ccnetpay.com

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Why an online payment gateway is needed
You’ve set up your online e-Commerce website, ready to announce your products’ benefits to the whole world. You’ve acquired your own online merchant account, prepared to eagerly accept your customers’ credit cards. However, one thing is missing. Before you can process your credit card orders and reap untold profits, you need an Internet payment gateway.

Most online merchants see it fit to have a shopping cart software installed before they incorporate an Internet payment gateway. A shopping cart lets your customers select the products they need from your site, and later allowing them to customize as well as finalize their orders. Shipping and billing information is needed upon checkout after which the online payment gateway records the transaction, encrypts the transaction details and then proceeds to send the information to the credit card processor. Within a short time, the merchant will receive a notice whether the transaction has been approved or declined.

As you can see, a merchant’s Internet payment gateway does not interfere in the transaction – the customer hardly knows that it is there! The shopping cart sends the details to the gateway via a secure connection. Now that you know how an online payment gateway roughly works, let’s go into details about its three main roles, namely authorization, settling and reporting.

Authorization
It is important to know that before any online purchase can be made via a credit or debit card, it must first go through the card issuer. Before getting the green light from said card issuer, the online payment gateway must check that the credit or debit card is valid or acceptable. The gateway acts as a highly effective link (not unlike a super duper efficient postman) between a merchant, his customer and the credit card processor. With it, the credit card transaction can be proceed immediately – all in the span of 2 seconds!

Settling
Besides acting as a efficient link, the online payment gateway also collates a merchant’s daily transactions and ships them off to the bank in one go. Again, like a postman, the payment gateway sends the transactions to the bank so that the merchant will be able to obtain funds which are later deposited electronically into his bank account. This process is called settling, and it normally takes all of two business days before the merchant is able to enjoy his hard earned cash.

Reporting
Thanks to an online payment gateway’s reporting facilities, merchants can keep track of their transactions easily and without hassle. Gone are the days of endless stream of papers depicting your daily transactions – with these online reports you can view them anytime you like and print them for future reference. Check out which payment gateways are compatible with Quickbooks – this can really save you accounting time and fees!

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A lot of merchants think finding the perfect online merchant account providers is just a matter of depending on word of mouth and signing up with the provider that everyone is raving about. However, the actual truth is that you still need to take time to research properly in order to locate a really good merchant account provider and payment processor, instead of blindly taking in other people’s recommendation. Trying to spot and anticipate merchant account problems before they happen can also save you a lot of time without running around in circles, as well as help you save your earnings. Here are some basic problems and ways to counter them:

Disaster #1: Beware of providers who freeze your account if you made too much money!
Yes, you read it right. Merchant account providers have been known to freeze business owners’ accounts if they made too much money in a short period of time. Apparently a lot of merchant account owners have reported that they face immense problems when it comes to this issue. They claimed that the merchant account providers withhold their money until they are certain that all the customers have gotten their card statements in the mail, and that no complaints of fraud were reported. This could mean that business owners could have their hard earned cash frozen up to six months at length! An Internet marketer who earned $4 million in a short period of time found that his provider blacklisted him and took half of his profits as fees. That’s $2 million lost for not doing anything wrong at all!

This is quite a hassle for people who do not know how much money is too much. Plus, won’t you all agree that it’s preferably to be MAKING money rather than LOSING them? Should there be a limit as to how much an e-Commerce business owner should be earning?

The solution: The answer to your problem lies in seeking the right merchant account provider that will not set a limit to the amount of money you can earn from month to month. It is almost impossible to anticipate just how much cash rolls in so if you were asked to estimate how much you will earn in a month, politely decline and look for another merchant account provider who is more sensitive and understanding to your needs.

Disaster #2: Sell something different and you could be shut down
One online marketer who began selling pressed flowers to complement her scrapbook supplies business found that her merchant account provider decided to freeze her account. The reason? She was “veering” away from her initial business plan without their approval!

The solution: Even if you cannot foresee additions to your business plans in the future, you should be able to be as general as possible when submitting the original plan to your merchant account providers. Don’t say you’re selling “jam” but instead, tell them you’ll be selling “food”. Also, if you decide to sell two or more completely different products, be prepare to enlist help from separate providers.

Disaster #3: Too many charge backs can lead to fraud accusation
When and if too many charge backs occur, you may find yourself being accused of heading fraudulent activities. When this happens, you may find yourself being blacklisted not only by merchant account providers but also by your local banks.

The solution: Ensure you have a no-questions-asked refunds policy in place. Try to call up or email your customers to verify the sale and if they cannot be reached, refund them anyway. Your credibility and profits are on the line.

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Hope for the future – even with bad credit

Each day, more and more people are getting into the business of e-Commerce. Whatever benefits they seek to enjoy with their new endeavors, most would agree that getting an online merchant account should be priority No.1… And for a good reason too!

With an online merchant account, you will be able to enjoy a whole new world of freedom in accepting payments from your customers. Your customers in turn will love the flexibility given to them when it comes to making payments. This means you can choose to pay via credit or debit card instead of having to perform bank transfers or mail in their checks. With an online merchant account, purchasing from your store is even easier than swiping their credit cards in a brick-and-mortar store. And when convenience is on their side, your customers will want to keep purchasing from you. All those repeat businesses mean one thing: more profits!

So you can definitely see the benefits attached to acquiring your own online merchant account. However, if you are new to the scene, you may be discouraged with the roadblocks on the way to setting up your own account. This is especially true if you have a less than perfect credit history. Providers will take a peek into your credit background. If they like what they see, they will usually approve you in 2 weeks or less. If not, they will deny you your much needed merchant account.

To prevent that form happening, here are the basic steps you should take in order to secure an online merchant account for yourself:

1. Locate merchant account providers who can help
It is no secret that some providers are very picky about who they give merchant accounts to. If you cannot convince them, then simply look for other providers who will be willing to help. Do your homework and research on providers and credit card processors who can overlook this wee weakness of yours. Once you locate them, find out what their requirements are, and pick honest providers who tell you upfront what is needed to obtain an online merchant account.

2. Enlist help from a cosigner
A cosignor is typically someone close to you, a guarantor of sorts, actually. Oftentimes, you will need to get a cosignor when you are faced with providers who may not approve your application. Your best bet is a business partner with good credit standing – someone who will assure your would-be providers. However bear in mind that the guarantor must understand the risk he is taking by being your cosignor. Each debt incurred will reflect badly on his financial standing and ultimately mar his credit history.

3. Borrow some capital
You can “embellish” your credit background if you are able to borrow some money from a local bank. Set up an appointment with your banker, present your business plan with supporting business history and you may obtain the business capital you are looking for – along with a speedy approval of your own online merchant account.

4. Apply for a merchant account
Now that you have everything in place, you can now shop around for merchant account providers. Read reviews on the providers of your choice, compare rates and fees (setup fees, percentage per transaction, etc.) and make your decision based on the providers that best fulfill your needs!

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Many web business owners have trouble finding the right merchant accounts. When they ask experience merchants, all they get is a one-word reply: “Research.” But how does a newbie merchant perform proper research without knowing the bare essentials? If they do not how to source for information in obtaining a merchant account, they may be discouraged and might potentially miss out on more than 60% of the profit opportunities that they can enjoy.

In this two-part blog post, we will discuss ways to get you started on establishing the right online merchant account for your web business.

1. Know your needs
Don’t be pressured into signing up for every single optional feature offered by a merchant account provider. The company may be trying to sell you features you do not need and that can cost you quite a pretty penny in the long run. Who wants to pay for something they don’t really need? You’ll be able to obtain them later once your business grows. Right now it’s wise to focus on your business and minimize costs.

2. Discover real-time processing features
Real-time transaction processing is offered by most, if not all, merchant account provider. This sounds very impressive and if you are tempted to buy into this feature, I won’t fault you but do know that this feature is more expensive and is generally more suited for those whose web business is involved in high volume systems or for merchants who distribute electronic products such as e-Books and software.

3. Technical compatibility issues
Some e-Commerce features offered by merchant account providers may be incompatible with your existing hosting solution. This will clash with your initial setup so before saying yes to a whole new e-Commerce system, check to see if they match.

4. Be cost-savvy
This is the time to really look after your money. Newbie merchants simply can’t afford to let precious dollars slip through their hands. That’s why it pays to be doubly aware of unexpected costs, high recurring fees and sudden penalties.

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