Monday, June 4, 2007

Lost and confused?: Ways to develop the payment gateway of your offshore merchant account


The basic premise of a merchant account is you have a business that accepts orders using credit card payments. Of course, you always think of expanding, (who doesn't?), so you get into the growing trend of internet business. The more customers you attract, customers, the more credit card payments you will be processing.


In the midst of expansion of your business, you also need to upgrade your payment gateway, to ensure that the funds are securely processed to your offshore merchant account. It is always a good move to get the services of a Secure Payment Gateway company. These companies help other Processors conduct secure business on the internet using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. They provide a system that passes credit card data, authorization requests, and authorization responses over the internet using encryption technology.


Here's what happens, the transaction information is sent by the Payment Gateway secure server via leased line to the credit card network where the validity of the card is checked and the availability of funds on that account is verified. An authorization code is returned via leased line to the Payment Gateway; the authorization is encrypted by the Payment Gateway and transmitted in encrypted form to the web server of the merchant, which triggers fulfillment of the order.



For reputable and established banks, instead of trying to create their own Secure Web System, many Banks and Bank/Processor alliances will use a Secure Payment Gateway Provider to perform this task for them.



But if you have a genuinely competent, efficient and forward-thinking group of developers, you can incorporate the following simple yet economical practices in developing secured softwares for your offshore merchant account.


● initiate a comprehensive meeting between you ( offshore merchant accountholder) and the software vendor (or developer)


●foresee a reasonable budget allocation


●finalize the contract or agreement


●draw a constructive and attainable workflow – from creation to delivery


● develop and distribute the tasks in a close collaboration of both parties.


Some of the critical factors that should be considered in your talk with the software developers are maximum cost savings, time optimization and a pool of talented techno gurus. But mind you, there are always instances that present challenges such as communication gaps, lessened visibility to project status, unforeseen and roadblocks in budget allocation.


You need to keep in mind certain questions to fully come up with a reasonable budget.


●will the accepted rates be per project, per hour, or on a per month basis?


●what will be the risks involved in accomplishing the task?


●are you compromising the quality for an alluring price?


●are there any hidden costs?


The agreement that you have drafted should be solid as possible. Set due dates, with this comes a consultation with the actual group of people who'll be making the software. Ask them of their maximum capability. Avoid making impossible deadlines. Be realistic, match the number of manpower to their capability and the amount of work that they will be accomplishing.


Delegation of the tasks is truly vital. You have to know who matches the specific task in plan. But hindrances and surprise small problems will arise. But this can be solved by a consensus not eating a lot of work time.


Having a secured software for your payment gateway is a sure ingredient in securing your offshore merchant account. If the funds are settled accordingly, and hassle free, then rest assure that your business is in the best shape.

The unbreakable thread between offshore merchant account and payment gateway



An offshore merchant account processes a business' credit card transactions through a non-domestic processing bank. Many foreign banks are not subject to the same regulations and restrictions as U.S. banks.


There exists this invisible yet unavoidable link between offshore merchant account and an internet payment gateway. When your offshore merchant account is finally in the works, this is the time when you'll start accepting credit card payments online as well. This is the time when payment gateway comes into the picture.


Here are the step by step process being done by payment gateway:


●credit card authorization


●settlement processing


●transaction recording


Internet payment gateway, by definition, is an lets you process credit card orders from your business' website in real time. For instance, you're running a gaming website, once the bets begun to kick in, there's a link providing your customers the channel to key in their credit card account number, then the internet payment gateway processes the transaction like a normal credit card terminal in a retail shop, the transactions goes through the credit card networks, in an average of two seconds, the payment gateway reflects the results, saying if there were sufficient funds in the card or not.


Real-Time Processing means that when a web site's customer conducts an online purchase, that the check or credit card information is conveyed to the Processor at that exact time so that an authorization can be requested and received at that moment. Real-Time Processing always implies that a Secure Payment Gateway is being utilized, whether proprietary or third party.


Once the day closes in, usually there is a specific time when your payment gateway updates, the payment gateway collects and groups all the transactions for the day in a single batch. After this, the grouped transactions are passed to your bank so that the payment will be received. When the funds settle in, it will take an average of two business days for it to be reflected in your bank account.



You won't be kept in the dark on your offshore merchant account. Through your payment gateway, you'll be able to view the transactions, with the transactions history depending on your settings, you can print or download the transactions for further review or just to have a copy in black and white. Certain payment gateways even have Quickbooks, a financial and taxation software, so the accounting task will not be so painstaking anymore.

Your offshore merchant account will be fully utilized by incorporating an internet payment gateway. Since offshore merchant accounts in reality arise from the fact that high risk businesses are at the bottom of the merchant account application accepted list of domestic banks, you can definitely monitor your business better, know your clients, and have a better footing on expanding globally. These two, go hand in hand, they complement each other, thus, you need to utilize them both to ensure success.




Myths about Offshore Merchant Accounts


When you hear the term, Offshore merchant account, or just the word offshore, what initially comes to your mind? Suspicious. Somewhat mischievous. Sounds paranoid, isn't it? Don't worry. It's just but normal to be cynical about this. We have watched in movies businessmen being arrested because of having a “hidden” offshore merchant account. But in reality, an offshore merchant account
isn't as bad as it seems.


First, let's get to the basic premise of an
offshore merchant account. If you are engaged in an business that fall under the categories of travel, online gaming, online pharmacy, adult website, outbound telemarketing, escort service, etc., then, an offshore merchant account is a feasible option for you. But, actually, no matter what kind of business you have, setting it offshore is always a feasible option. Emphasis are given to the afore-mentioned types because they are considered high-risk businesses by domestic banks.


Talking about high risk, this is one of the myths surrounding offshore merchant account. Some say that opening up one is a risky step. One of the reasons seen is that you opt to make transactions with foreign banks. Foreign , being the operative word, smells like anonymity or hidden from the public eye. Clearing this, an offshore merchant account is not actually a secret account. You just have a privacy option. Domestic banks also have the same clause for you to check if you want to keep your account private in a certain level as well.


Another gray area regarding an offshore merchant account is that it is a way to escape tax obligations. In certain cases, you may be lured to the promise that there are super-low or virtually no U. S. taxes due on your account for the reason that you will use a separate offshore- company (your company) to handle your credit card transactions for you, or that you;'re not actually the owner, you just manage it, or that no taxes are owned on offshore trust incomes.

The reality is you may be be able to hold over taxes until you declare your offshore earnings, but the watchful eye of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is just computing on the shadows on how much you actually are liable to. You will not be able to legally set aside taxes without assuming an investment risk or make a total surrendering of your control over your assets. It is a complicated process that entails legal action from a legitimate financial consulting firm. Bottom line, taxes are an inevitable part of life. Every working citizen paid by the hour pays taxes.


Setting up an offshore merchant account may seem tricky to most, to get a better perspective, get the services of a merchant account provider. They have an established network of foreign and yes, domestic banks, to help you set up a merchant account. This move will help you be more knowledgeable of the inner workings of an offshore merchant account.


They say, what you don't know won't hurt you. But, at the end of the day, knowing what really happens makes you feel connected to the world, in the case of an
offshore merchant account, what you know will not hurt you as well.


isn't as bad as it seems.





As Featured On Ezine Articles


As Featured On Ezine Articles