What Information Marketers Should Know About Merchant Accounts

If you're involved in marketing information products
on-line then there's no disputing the need for you to
accept credit cards in order to increase your overall
sales. Typically in a retail environment your sales will
increase anywhere from 15 to 40% when you have the ability
to accept credit cards. This article is part 1 in a series
of what information marketers should know about merchant
accounts.

Visa and MasterCard account for over 90% of all credit card
transactions, so the acceptance of those two card types is
mandatory. Amex and Discover are the other two significant
players, but account for only 5-7% of the market. If
you're selling higher priced information products
acceptance of Amex is highly recommended.

There are four primary components involved in the
processing of credit cards. The first is the actual card
issuing entity, be it Visa, MasterCard, or other. The
second is the company that sets you up to be able to accept
credit cards, which is called the Merchant Account
Provider. The third component needed for online processing
of cards is a payment gateway, such as Authorize.net or
Plug 'n Pay. And the fourth is your online shopping cart
system. All are required to do business on the Internet.

When a new information marketer applies for a merchant
account the primary thing the merchant account provider is
looking at is the personal credit of the requestor. The
underwriters for the company will be looking to see if you
pay your bills on time first and foremost. Then they'll be
looking to see if you own real estate. In the processing
industry, owning real estate and having decent credit says
to them this is a stable merchant.

Another big component of the underwriting process is your
refund warranty policy. What type of refund policy are you
giving? From the viewpoint of the merchant account
provider the longer the guarantee period the less desirable
it is. Why? Because it stretches out the risk of a refund
even longer. The greater the length of potential liability
the increased chances there are for a chargeback of the
sale.

There can be many different reasons for a chargeback, but
the bottom line is the customer is saying they don't agree
with something regarding that transaction. It could range
from the product not being received to the wrong product
received, to the product not being as described to any
number of other reasons.

Chargebacks can typically be made anytime from six months
up to a year. In fact, on international sales there are
some regions that may allow customers up to a year and a
half to request a chargeback on a purchase. Next
Month – Part 2 of What Information Marketers Should Know
About Merchant Accounts.

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Tired of trying to do it all yourself? Bret RIdgway is
co-founder of Speaker Fulfillment Services, a company
dedicated to working with authors, speakers and information
marketers. We provide product duplication and fulfillment
services so that you can focus your efforts on the more
important sales/marketing and product creation activities.
For more information visit
http://www.SpeakerFulfillmentServices.com

or call
812-877-7100.