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Using Offshore Merchants to Increase
Business Transactions and Visibility
When you click on the buy button to
complete an on-line purchase, your
credit card information is retrieved and
the transaction amount is logged onto a
special bank account known as a merchant
account. A merchant account is a type of
account used by businesses so that they
can accept payment using credit or debit
cards.
Domestic banks or member banks that
belong to the Visa/Mastercard network
may not provide such an account if the
nature of the business is prone to
chargeback and fraud. Offshore Merchants
offers such businesses, doing a lot of
selling via the internet or thorough
telemarketing, a chance to expand their
sales by letting buyers pay using their
credit cards.
If you are selling over the internet,
Offshore Merchants will provide you with
the necessary infrastructure so that
your customers will effortlessly process
the sales transaction. Offshore
Merchants will make your e-commerce site
attractive to most online customers
because both Visa and Mastercard credit
cards are accepted. The range of
services that Offshore Merchants offers
to interested businesses ranges from
complete e-commerce solutions to
recurring billings up to virtual
terminals.
The proportion of sales consummated over
the internet is increasingly becoming
bigger and may significantly improve the
bottom line. Most business nowadays have
an internet presence and more
importantly, it means that the market is
accessible 24/7 worldwide. Although your
domestic bank may look at you favorably,
it may mean that your market is limited
domestically. One way of making a global
presence is to avail of a merchant
account which will be able to process
sales internationally. Domestic banks
may set a cap to the number of
transactions and this may impact
profitability. Offshore Merchant does
not set a cap on the number of
transactions – typical turnaround range
is from $1000 to $39 million a month.
Offshore Merchant accepts applicants
from various industries ranging from
adult sites to online dating to travel
industry. Applicants need not worry
about credit history because Offshore
Merchants will not do a credit check.
Applicants who may be in the TMF or the
“Terminated Merchant File” may get a
second lease of life to recharge their
business.
When your application gets accepted, you
may be pleasantly surprised by the
absence of fees and charges. There is no
SETUP fee, no ANNUAL fee, no MONTHLY fee
and no TERMINATION fee. Instead what you
get is a simple charge ranging from
three up to seven percent. The rate is
calculated based on the type of
business, monthly turnover and risk
involved
Low volume accounts may be accepted
immediately after applying whereas it
may take a wait of four to eight days
before high volume businesses may get
approved. Offshore Merchants may expect
a cash reserve of equivalent to ten
percent of six month worth of
transactions. After the first month of
sales, ten percent of the gross is set
aside and will be returned to the
merchant on the seventh month. Another
ten percent is set aside on the second
month and will only be released during
the eight month. The value of ten
percent as rolling reserve may be
reevaluated and is typically reduced
when there is evidence of good
processing history. |
