Types of Merchant Accounts

by Wesley Gordon By now, you probably understand what a merchant account is and why you need it. Some companies have different types of merchant accounts that works well for them. There are different types of merchant accounts. The only difference between them are their rates, fees and the rules that come in using them. A merchant account allows a business or an individual to accept different forms of payments such as credit cards, electronic checks, debit cards, and so on. A merchant account makes use of various channels. One of them is the credit card terminal where retail merchant accounts use. This type of account is usually used in groceries, department stores and the like where the credit card sales is conducted by swiping the card and passing it through a physical credit card terminal. Retail merchant accounts offer the lowest transaction fee and comes with the most strict rules. They are also less risky compared to other type of accounts wherein the card is not present. The mail order/telephone order (MOTO) merchant account are used in the absence of a credit card. This type of account is created to process credit card needs of companies who receive orders by mail or phone. The credit card number is entered directly into a terminal that contains a keypad. A terminal software is used to virtually allow a merchant to process payment transactions on a service provider. Processed at a higher transaction rate compared to a retail merchant account, this type of account is mostly used by Internet businesses. However, there is a higher risk for charge backs and fraud, that's why a MOTO merchant account charges higher rates and fees.   (Wesley Gordon is a 42-year old Online Marketing Director for a Payment Processing Industry. He's been in the business for over 15 years now, traveling around the world, attending lectures and seminars. Aside from spending time with his wife and three kids, he also blogs. His blog can be seen at <a href="http://acceptcardsnowblog.blogspot.com/">http://acceptcardsnowblog.blogspot.com</a>.)

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Types of Merchant Accounts