How To Grow Your Online Small Business

Doesn’t matter if you own a small business or a large enterprise. The challenge to keep your business stabilized and profitable is always challenging. And when it comes to choosing the payment processor, you need to be very careful. Here in this the article you will get information regarding the Payment Processor for Small Businesses. Determining your business model, identify your needs in terms of the payment processor. Make a checklist and ask the following questions to get the ideal Payment Processor for Small Business:

• Do you own a business with a storefront?
• Does your business include traveling?
• Where your market is and what kind of customers you have?
• What is the currency that you usually deal in?

You can create some of your questions to determine and create a business model. You know the technology has advanced. Furthermore, figure out the payment the method you use or want to use for your business in the coming days. This will help in narrowing down which Point of Sale solution you would be pursuing and save you a lot of time.

Look through different Payment Processors Do not give in to the first payment processor that you come across. Juggle the market; check out the different services depending on your needs, ask whether you can get some customized service according to your business type. Also, look for the service that matches your requirements. You will find cheap services with an attractive plan. But, always put the security at your priority. Discuss your business needs openly and get the best Payment Processor for Small Business.

Put Security as the First Priority As a merchant, you need to keep yours as well as the customer’s money safe. Also,  a chargeback is a much greater concern than you realize. The secure payment the processor can help you avoid Chargebacks. And as a small business, you need to keep your chargeback rate less. If you need guidance to get the Payment Processor for Small Business then get an expert. Moreover, you should verify that the payment the processor is fully compliant with the latest PCI (Payment Card Industry) and EMV (EuroPay, MasterCard, and Visa) standards.

Frequently Asked Questions - Merchant Stronghold

Some of the frequently asked questions about our existing customers.

• What is the best payment system for small business?
• Names of the Credit card processing companies for small business
• What is the Credit card processing monthly fee for small business?
• What is the best way to accept credit cards for small business?
• List of credit card processing companies
• What are Mobile credit card processors?
• Options for Small business credit card payments
• Names of the Payment Processor for Small Business

If, you're a merchant and looking more information on how to set up your online business. Look at this!

Go to Link @ Merchant Stronghold

PAYMENT GATEWAY COMPETITION IN ONLINE BUSINESSES

The eCommerce and online business in recent years have developed great payment gateways and side-by-side the ease of shopping too. Building the shopping platforms and integration of payment source has also simultaneously developed. A study subjects online commerce to reach $5.8 trillion by 2022-that would be more than 6 times the figure for brick and mortar sales shops. There is a steady growth in the cash flow of online transactions in contrast to the old school method. Most important drivers in the growth of eCommerce are the ease and security of paying online.

HERE ARE THE MOST POPULAR PLATFORM OR PAYMENT GATEWAYS GLOBALLY:

Authorize.Net: It has a huge base of more than 370,000 merchants for streamlining fast and secure transactions. It doubles as a virtual POS solution and supports wide interface integrations on big and small online businesses. A wide range of PSPs worldwide also trusts it.

Stripe: Stripe is an online payment processor, which is designed especially for small online businesses. It has a vast selection of integrations, features and transparent pricing schemes. It is a convenient platform for accepting credit card via online channels. It can handle all the backed processes involved in online payments like security and automated features.

PayPal: PayPal is built on the technology that enables users to accept credit cards as well as process mobile and retail credit cards. It is great for global companies, accepts 25 currencies from 200 countries and territories. PayPal can be integrated with shopping carts, CRM solutions, eCommerce platforms, and accounting tools to propagate the operations

Amazon: This payment gateway comes from the eCommerce giant Amazon, which is prepared for both Amazon merchants and customers. It’s very easy, reliable and a rapid platform. This gateway works more in an ecosystem-based model. With this, you can attract new as well as repetitive customers. You can even improve customer loyalty with their already inclined recurring payment options and offers.

Braintree: Merchants in more than 40 countries are using this payment gateway worldwide. It has access to a total of 130 global currencies. It offers global eCommerce tools to let companies build their own features on the platform and scale the businesses around the world. It has an interface that is best for customizability, making it great for new users.

Choose the right Payment Processor for Small Business

These steps can guide you to choose the best Payment Processor for Small Business:

Make sure you know what you need
After determining your business model, identify your needs in terms of the payment processor. Make a checklist and ask the following questions to get the ideal Payment Processor for Small Business:

• Do you own a business with a storefront?
• Does your business include traveling?
• Where your market is and what kind of customers you have?
• What is the currency that you usually deal in?

You can create some of your questions to determine and create a business model. You know the technology has advanced. Furthermore, figure out the payment method you use or want to use for your business in the coming days. This will help in narrowing down which Point of Sale solution you would be pursuing and save you a lot of time.

Look through different Payment Processors

Do not give in to the first payment processor that you come across. Juggle the market; check out the different services depending on your needs, ask whether you can get some customized service according to your business type. Also, look for the service that matches your requirements.

Stay Away from “Merchant Discount Rate”

Many payment processors come to the merchant with their attractive discount plans. But we advise our customers to stay away from these attractive plans. Here are the reasons why avoiding discount plan is better:

There are always some hidden charges.
The merchant gets mesmerized with the discounts and forgets to read the term and conditions.

Less money means low security

Do read the entire term and condition before purchasing your product or payment processor. When comparing pricing structures ask specific questions about these fees to ensure you’re fully aware of all the charges you could potentially incur.

Put Security as the First Priority

As a merchant, you need to keep you as well as the customer’s money safe. Also, the chargeback is a much greater concern than you realize. The secure payment processor can help you avoid Chargebacks. And as a small business, you need to keep your chargeback rate less.

If you having similar questions then feel free to contact our team at Merchant Stronghold.

Common Merchant Account Complaints and Deal with them

Every year, a plethora of complaints are registers that badly affect the business of the merchant. In this article, we have listed the Common Merchant Account Complaints and the tricks to avoid such issues in your organization. This article can help you look at both potential risks and rewards of working with a given company.

Poor Customer Service

Now your business and payment processing system cannot be perfect every time. And customer faces an issue with the management. At those times, it is the responsibility of the customer service team to provide the demanded attention to a specific topic. But if the customer support is unable to offer the desired support then the customer has no other option but to avoid the company.

• In such a case, you need to stabilize your customer support service.
• Tracking your product and customer reviews should be evaluated.
• You should take some time to minimize the customer waiting time.
• And nobody wants to listen to the automated answering service.

Cancellation Issues

This is one of the frustrating Common Merchant Account Complaints faced by the customers. Many times we order a product or service by mistake. In that case, you immediately try to cancel the order on the company’s website.

• It is difficult to distinguish between the mistakes and the frauds for a merchant.
• But if your enterprise makes your customer go through a lot of trouble while canceling the order then your business is under risk.
• Moreover, it could lead to unnecessary Chargebacks.
• Solidify the rules around the replacement and return of an order.
• And make sure you provide smooth payment processing to your customers.

Poor Agreement Management

Another complaint that is filed against the merchants is related to the agreement management. That could be related to the poor description, expensive services and many more.

Leasing services are generally non-refundable that further leads to conflicts.

Merchants always pay more when they are renting a terminal than just to outright buying one.

By the time, this all leads to costing thousands of dollars to the merchant.

Misleading Sales Practice

This is one of the worst sales practices. If you wish to lead a long profitable business then never apply such things to your business.

• For a merchant, sales are very important and to increase sales they try every method.
• Some merchants try these petty methods to increase sales.
• But the customer with one bad issue can report the business of this unethical practice.
• Advertise your product as it is.
• And if you offer some discount then make sure you clear out the terms and condition to the customers properly.
• Train your sales agent properly and tell them the customer satisfaction is always the priority.

For more tips and tricks, contact Merchant Stronghold, we always have a team of experts ready to help you with your queries related to the Common Merchant Account Complaints.

Credit Card Processing with Payment Gateway

Comparing and then choosing the credit card processor for your business can be beneficial for your business. Here is a guide that you can use to choose the best credit card processing with a payment gateway.

A Processor that Offers Business Specific Services

Does your business require mobile processing? Or online transactions? If yes, then look for your Payment Processor to fulfill your demands first.
What is the size of your business and your monthly transaction value? This can help you choose your chargeback limit according to the need.
Read the contract very well and then sign the papers after a complete evaluation.

A Service Provider with 24/7 Support

Credit Card Processing with Payment Gateway is your necessity.
But make sure you get sufficient support as well.
This means the Payment service provider should also offer good support in case of an issue.
And do check the services provided by the payment processors in the case of disputes and chargebacks.

Ask for Additional Fees and Other Service Charges

Do not forget to ask the details related to the Service Fees.
This includes the additional fees, PCI Compliance, and other charges.
Also, compare these charges of various Credit Card Processing with Payment Gateway to choose the under budget service.

Choose a Combination Depending on your Need

After evaluating all the service providers and their charges, you will be able to finalize the one that will work the best for your business.
A good Credit Card Processing with Payment Gateway for your business will be a combination of all the above-mentioned topics.

Payment Gateway vs Payment Processor 

Payment Gateway – A Gateway that simply allows the merchant to access the e-commerce market by allowing the transaction. This is an online point-of-sale for the business. You just need to have a merchant license and merchant account. Then you can get a payment gateway for your business.

Payment Processor – As the name suggests, they process the transactions by exchanging data between merchant and bank. Also, a payment processor will also provide credit card machines and other equipment you use to accept credit card payments.

If you need help while choosing a payment processor then you can contact Merchant Stronghold. We will provide you with an expert to guide you in the right direction and get your up and running in 24 hours.

What are Low-Risk Merchants & Industries

Low-Risk Merchant

Prior to applying for a merchant account, you must know if your business comes under low-risk. Reason being, merchants in our payment processing world come under low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk categories. various factors collectively decide the risk category for a particular business. For an example, while reviewing the business it is reviewed that how much risk is involved in the business, what is their risk level, which is the country wherein they got incorporated and their processing history and so on.

The following criterion is a perfect match for any business that falls within the low-risk category –

Monthly Processing amount lower than $20,000 is processed by you.

The average size of the ticket that you possess is lower than $50.

Your chargeback ratio is quite low.

The industry that you cater to reflects a lower risk.

The country of your incorporation falls within a low-risk category.

Common Low-Risk Industries

When you choose Merchant Stronghold for your Low-risk Merchant Account you get an Affordable,

Point of Sale or E-Commerce Solution with Fast approval and you can start receiving payments from almost all major cards and from Checks as well. You not only get this thing but you get dedicated customer support and assistance for the desired growth of your business.

Some examples of Low-Risk Industries include:

Home Goods/Retail Shop

Pet Supplies

Movies, CD’s and Books

Beauty & Health

Office Supplies

Online Apparel And Many More.

We at Merchant Stronghold offer an opportunity for real-time processing of a payment, secure and easy processing of payment with SSL and PCI compliant Gateway, and Woo commerce, Shopify, Plugins, and API integration with your E-commerce website so that you can start accepting payments easily through your website directly.

How to Find a Good Document Preparation Merchant Service Provider?

The best advice is to communicate with the people in the same industry as you are and gather knowledge about the credit card processor. Make a list of it or check the services provided by them. Also, see the reviews of them or give them a call and talk to them about your queries. And, it is always better to invest your time at the initial stage and choose the right service provider rather than regretting your decision later.

Merchant Stronghold is one of the trusted names as document preparation merchant service provider and offers high-risk merchant account documentation service for businesses dealing in:

• Debt Counseling
• Student Loan Consolidation
• Finance Industry
• Medical Industry
• Legal Industry

Services offered by Merchant Stronghold are:

• MoTo (Mail order/Telephone order)
• Recurring billing
• E-commerce account

Simply complete our online application form. In addition, our well-qualified team will help you with the document preparation and board you within 48 hours. At Merchant Stronghold. We make sure to provide the best services at a very reasonable price.

Find the best credit card processor for your Identity Restoration Business

Are you running an Identity Restoration business? If you are then you need a merchant account to accept credit card and debit card payments. Your merchant account works as a bridge between your bank account and the customer’s bank. When you get a merchant account, you are required to follow rules and regulations established by credit card companies and your bank. This includes a number of fees associated with both the accounts.

There are various fees associated with a merchant account, some of them are based on percentage and others are on an item basis. Some of the fees are set by issuing bank while others are by merchant and credit card companies. It is necessary to understand fees associated with an account to run your identity restoration business successfully.

Fees associated with a merchant account

Cancellation fee: It is charged when you send your contract with an online merchant account before the due date of your contract. Not all the providers require a contract, but those who have this police ask for a cancellation fee.

Chargeback fee:

When money is returned to the customer. This fee is initiated by the bank of your customer, often because of fraudulent transactions. A chargeback is one of the reasons why merchants around the globe lose thousands of dollars. It is a fee that merchant account providers take for processing the chargeback request.

Gateway Fee:

It is a monthly fee to keep your merchant account. This fee is a charge to maintain your online merchant account. Some online payment gateways don’t charge money, while others may charge as much as $20.

Monthly minimum:

This is the amount your account is required to process on a monthly basis. The fee is charged to maintain the account, but if you don’t exceed the minimum, then the merchant account provider will charge you accordingly.

Statement fee:

A statement fee is charged by all the online merchant account providers. This fee is associated with your statement and it is taken at the end of the billing cycle. You will pay between $7 and $10. It is charged when you get a paper base or paperless statement.

Transaction fee:

As the name suggests, it is a fee that is charged every time a transaction is processed. Usually, it is between 20 and 25 cents. This fee remains the same no matter how big the transaction was.

Address - 10300 49th Street N Suite 427 Clearwater, Florida 33762

Email ID - info@merchantstronghold.com

Contact No. - +1 (888) 622-6875.

Quick & Easy Way To Get Merchant Account Services

What is Merchant Processing Services?

In the world of business, the merchant processing service is very important, in simple words, the merchant processing is nothing but the ability of the merchant to accept the payment without any error or issue. The payment could be in different forms such as cash, debit card, credit card, internet banking, and other online methods. These aspects of the business can immediately boost your business or take it down in one go.

If you need guidance with the Merchant Processing services or need to compare merchant processing services then contact the Merchant Stronghold. We provide specialized help for the high-risk merchants, credit card processing, and high-risk payment gateway.

What are the Factors influencing the Merchant Processing Services

Now that you understand the Merchant Processing Services, let’s get to the point and discuss the methods to get the best merchant processing services. Here are some factors that can influence the Merchant Processing or Card Processing Services.

Types of Payment under Payment Processor

• The merchant service provider of the payment processor needs to be according to your demand.
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• You can explore the market with different payment processors and get the one that suits your demands.
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• Also, you can Compare Merchant Processing Services and payment processing services.
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• Do not get confused by the payment processors and their offers. Contact Merchant Stronghold for the information to select the best payment processor for you.

Price of the Merchant Processing

The different processor offers different plans for their services. It is your responsibility as a merchant to select the best for your business type. Here are some different pricing methods discussed.

• Fixed Rate Plan – This where the merchant works with a business or only one merchant account. You need to pay a fixed amount for the payment processing service.
• Leveled Pricing – When the merchant needs to pay a different amount depending on the risk factor. This method can be beneficial as the risk can vary each month and the merchant is not needed to pay anything extra.
• Interchanged Pricing – Where the payment processing fees and processors benefits are clearly mentioned in the bill. This is the most transparent pricing system ideal for medium to large business.

Contract and Support for the Processing

This means you need to compare Merchant Processing Services and their contract as well.

The type of contract you signed is what’s going to lead further payment processing in your enterprise.

The contract includes details related to pricing, security, terms and all the other important details related to the processor.

These are some of the common issues faced by our users related to “Compare Merchant Processing Services”. If you are also having these issues then contact Merchant Stronghold. We provide customized support to the high-risk merchant account, payment gateways, and credit card processing. Call now or visit the website at app.merchantstronghold.com

Benefits of E-Checks Payment Processing Services

Let’s take a look at some amazing benefits of E-checks.

COST-EFFECTIVE

Pricey credit card networks can be avoided with the use of ACH as transaction fee is comparatively low. There is no limit on the transaction amount. If any merchant, looking for a cost-effective processor to accept large payments, ACH is where your search ends.

FUNDS

In the traditional paper check method, it might take days to process a check whereas it is not the same with e-checks. Via E-checks funds get transferred faster and more conveniently.

RECURRING PAYMENTS

If a business is working on memberships or subscriptions, it is wise to choose ACH electronic network rather than the traditional method.

IDEAL FOR SUBSCRIPTION-BASED BUSINESSES

There are many benefits to choosing E-checks for subscription-based businesses. Some of them go as follows:

SAVE MONEY

Business can save a huge amount of money from long-term subscriptions. With electronic payments, network exchange fee is not applicable, which in turn helps the merchant to save a lot.

AUTOPAY

Irrespective of a canceled credit card, ACH payment processing makes sure that the customer does not miss payments. Credit card numbers may change rapidly but it is very rare that the account details of the customer will change. With the use of ACH payment processor, it becomes easy to avoid payment gaps.

EASY & SECURE

In addition, it is easy to initialize online e-check payments. A merchant can create a simple and secure form as per the customer’s convenience. Autopay feature can be set within minutes that avoid extra work of writing checks every month.

REWARDS

With the use of ACH, savings are amazing, which can be available to attract new customers while retaining old ones. Schemes like an incentive for customers, rewards, discount offers or cash offers help businesses attract more customers.

If you’re looking eCheck payment processing services. Don’t worry, Merchant Stronghold providing best e-check payment processing services. Contact us today for more information @ +1(888)622-6875.

E-Cigarette Merchant Account for High-Risk Industries

For E-cigarette businesses, it is difficult to get a merchant account. They must accept credit cards payment processing for your high-risk business. If you have a web eCommerce store, it is surely difficult to discover a merchant account provider. You should also be careful about payment processors who charge high rates and service fees. It is essential that you find an easy and respectable Merchant account, provider.

Consult Merchant Stronghold

Merchant Stronghold spends significant time in helping E-Cigarette and Vapor Products get validated for low rate merchant account processing. We work with both on the web and retail businesses! Our operators are trained & prepared to deal with your particular needs and answer the majority of your inquiries.

Merchant Stronghold has made exceptional plans with our processing associates to provide a low rate High-risk Payment Gateway and additionally purpose of offer machine to require the necessities of your developing business. Regardless of the possibility that you have been turned around different suppliers for any reason, there is still a very good chance Merchant Stronghold can help you get your Merchant Account approved.

Online retailers that offer vapor items such as vaporizers, tanks, e-juice, starter kits, E-Cigs, and other related items online are among high-risk merchant account. In common all online e-commerce business is high risk. As credit cards are absent, that is increasing the risk of fraud.

To stoke the fire, Vapor Retailers and Ecig Merchants that offer online go out to a member of pitching to minors. Thus, most banks would prefer not to guarantee the danger of this High-Risk Merchant Account. Other outsider processors, for example, Paypal are always shutting Ecig and Vaporizer dealer accounts.

You might get lucky and keep your account for several months. It’s only an issue of time before they do an inner review for you and understand that you’re offering an item regarded as restricted by Paypal. When Paypal discovers you, keep an eye out, in light of the fact that you will be closed down and any assets in your Paypal record will be solidified and come back to the client.

If you’re running high-risk business industries and you need a merchant account & payment gateway for your businesses. This is very important for payment gateway for customer transactions. Some merchants don’t know, how to open a secure merchant account processing. Merchant Stronghold for open a high-risk merchant account for all type of businesses.  

Set up Merchant Account easily with Merchant Stronghold

Setting up a merchant account is critical and for the most part, it isn't so much that difficult to do it either. What makes a merchant account great is the fact that it allows your organization to accept both credit and debit card payments. Ordinarily, you should have either an agreement with the bank that they procedure credit card payments or you can work with an independent sales organization, MSP et cetera. Either solution works as long as you collaborate with a dedicated financial institution and have a designated point of sale system.

The primary thing you need to do

Decide the manner in which credit card payments will work for your company. This implies you have to make sense of the kind of credit card payments that you need to accept and how you accept those payments. You have to check whether you accept website payments If you want to use a POS solution or mobile payments. You will also have to consider the amount that you get from credit card sales, to begin with.

Aside from that, when you create a new merchant account you will need to think about the merchant payment processing and you will also have to make a comparison between all the services offered to you. This way you will be able to see which one actually delivers the best value for your money, so you should consider that as fast as possible. Each merchant account provider has a flat rate that will be charged each time a payment is processed or it might have a percentage fee based on the total transaction amount.

Stay in Control

Sometimes you will see that merchant provider options will have software and payment acceptance solutions. Of course, if you do opt for these merchant services you still need to have something that allows you to be in control. It might be challenging at first, but results will end up paying off quite a bit which is exactly what you want to focus on here. Having control over the way your customers pay is very important to try to keep that in mind.

As you can see, setting up a merchant account isn’t that challenging, to begin with. It will take some time though, so try to keep that in mind and it will help you quite a bit which is exactly what you want to have!

Few Important Merchant Responsibilities and Pricing

Have you ever seen all the pricing on your Merchant Account Agreements and asked what they mean? Online Business must always read and understand the terms and conditions for their payment gateway. Merchant Stronghold explains the pricing schedule of fees:

Tiered pricing

ERR Pricing (Enhance Recover Reduce)

Pass-through interchange pricing

Pass-through Pin Debit

Tiered pricing: Tiered discount pricing allows you to group interchange programs into different tiers “buckets” and then price those buckets separately based on the range of interchange costs grouped into each bucket.

ERR Pricing (Enhance Recover Reduce): Pass non-qualifying interchange costs to merchants. Using err, you have the option to assess a surcharge to the merchant’s downgraded sales volume. The surcharge is a client-defined percentage that is applied to the downgraded sales volume of participating merchants.

Pass-through interchange pricing: Using interchange passes through allows the expenses associated with interchange fees and dues and assessments to be billed directly to the merchant. If you are using interchange pass through plus, a sale transaction fee and/or a percentage rate would be assessed against the monthly volume and would be billed to the merchant along with the dues and assessments and interchange fees.

Pass-through Pin Debit: Allows you to pass through PIN debit network fees to the merchant. In addition to passing the network fees to the merchant, you need to bill a per item charge, a percent on the volume, and a monthly flat rate debit access fee.

IMPORTANT MERCHANT RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Ensure compliance with cardholder data security and storage requirements.

2. Maintain fraud and chargeback below thresholds.

3. Review and understand the terms of the Merchant Agreement.

4. Comply with Visa Operating Regulations. (Go to www.Visa.com, select Small Business and Merchants, select Operations and Risk Management, select Rules for Visa Merchants)

The responsibilities listed above do not supersede terms of the Merchant Agreement and are provided to ensure the merchant understands some important obligations of each party and that the Visa Member (Acquirer) is the ultimate authority should the merchant have any problems.

In order to comply with all Visa and MasterCard regulations governing Internet Credit

Card sales, Merchant Processing Bank requires that you will not accept credit card transactions through your website and/or e-mail and then manually enter them into your POS equipment or software. You must obtain a separate and secure e-commerce merchant account to accept credit card transactions for products and service purchased through a website or the internet.