Get a High Risk Merchant Bank Account and Enjoy Increased Sales

Credit card transactions are an important part of business today – they help the customer enjoy cash-less shopping and increase the sale of the shop-owner. Their understanding is important for any awakened citizen.

A Merchant Bank Account is a contract between a business proprietor and the concerned bank in accordance with which the bank promises to extend a line of credit to the merchant. Intermediary service providers like Paypal have merchant bank accounts of their own.

The businessperson avails himself of a Credit Card Terminal – which is primarily an electronic equipment provided with a magnetic stripe reader where a credit or debit/ATM card is swiped, apart from having a keypad through which additional card details may be punched in. Most Credit Card Terminals ought to be plugged in to an electric power point and to a telephone line as well, but some systems do come with a battery backup and may utilize internet connection or cellular phone network to communicate. If the transaction is validated, the customer’s receipt is printed out using the printer that comes attached with Credit Card Terminals.

An alternative to Credit Card Terminals is the Automated Response Unit. A simple cellular phone or landline telephone keypad is used to enter the data of a given card and the authorization of the card is then carried out. An imprinter is used to imprint the customer’s card and the receipt is thus created.

The link between Credit Card Terminals and the acquiring bank is the Payment Gateway. This is an e-commerce service, which authorizes and safeguards credit card payments.  The credit card details of the customer are sent to the payment gateway via a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption that is responsible for a hacker-proof transfer of sensitive details. The payment gateway then forwards this data to the bank wherein the tradesman has the merchant bank account.

The acquiring bank now sends the payment details to the card issuing bank. The issuing bank checks the status of the customer’s account and, depending upon it, validates or nullifies the deal. It sends a message back to the acquiring bank regarding its verdict on the deal. The response also consists of a particular Response Code, which may be used to identify the cause of invalidation of card payment, if any.

The fate of the deal is communicated to the payment gateway, which reverts to the tradesman at his credit card terminal. The procedure typically takes no more than two to three seconds. If the transaction terminates smoothly, the amount obtained is deposited in the businessperson’s nominated account by the acquiring bank.

Depending upon the amount and type of credit card transaction data provided by the tradesman, the processing fall under three categories – level 1, level 2 and level 3. Level 1 is the standard, and includes the barest minimum details like the date of transaction, merchant’s name and location. Level 2 data incorporates tax ID, Merchant Category Code and Merchant Type Code apart from the standard information. Level 3 data include more detailed insight into the transaction and hence include Item Product Code, Item Description, Item unit of measure, Item quantity, Item tax identifier, Freight Amount and Item Discount indicator apart from others.

Contact one of our helpful account representatives to assist you in the setup of a high risk merchant account, high risk ach account or offshore merchant account for a high risk merchant.