Friday, June 29, 2007

High Volume Merchant Accounts - Avoiding your Business to Blow Off into Nonsense Proportions




Your monthly sales are up. The demand of is growing, so you produce more. You're on top of the world. What's next? A high volume merchant account.

If your business has monthly volumes costs more than $10,000, then your business is considered as high volume.


Normal dealings

Since you have a business that accepts credit card payments, standard procedure tells you to open up a merchant account. When you have a merchant account, you throw in a couple of cents per transaction that comes in. So the charge in the transaction fees section of your monthly statement depends on how many transactions come in. let's look at the pros and cons, on one side, it feels good to see that you have a high amount of transactions, which means business is doing great. But you will also pay a lot for the merchant account statement bill because of the per transaction fee charge.

Balancing act

Opening up a high volume merchant account can balance the situation. Through this kind, you will be able to acquire reasonable rates on mid and non-qualified sales, and alongside the other additional fees. What happens is you'll get lower rates for your per transaction charge, so even if you have a high volume sales, you won' get headaches over the transaction charges. Sadly, thus type of business is also considered as high risk because of the high percentage of chargebacks and refunds, so, where do you go to get stability and security, you go for an offshore merchant account.


Learn how to maximize your high volume business with a high volume merchant account by reading the whole article:

High Volume Merchant Accounts- Avoiding your Business to Blow Off into Nonsense Proportions


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Prescribing offshore pharmacy merchant accounts for your medicine business


If you're pharmaceutical business is in its early stages, then it's ideal for you to take advantage of an offshore merchant account. You may ask, what could be risky about a pharmaceutical business that it's better to be set up offshore?



Here's a rundown of why pharmaceutical business are consider high risk:



● sky-high amount of chargebacks

● shaky credit rating

● undetermined business life expectancy



Credit card processing companies are almost always nervous about accommodating pharmaceutical merchant accounts because of the high probability of chargebacks, unstable credit rating and the that the business may close sooner than never expected.


Get more information on pharmaceutical merchant accounts by reading the complete article:

Prescribing offshore pharmacy merchant accounts for your medicine business


Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Plunging into the world of escort service


The business of escort service, just as having an offshore merchant account, has been put on a controversial light for quite sometime. The reason being that escort service has been undoubtedly linked to prostitution. Shedding light on this will be tricky, but definitely interesting.


Operating an escort service is already risky, negative public impression, run-ins with the law, and client privacy issues. Setting up is more tricky, for local banks are having a lot of second thoughts on entertaining these kind of merchant accounts.

It wouldn't hurt if you take a closer look to this risky yet prospering business. For the complete and juicy details,read the whole article:

Plunging into the world of escort service


Sunday, June 24, 2007

The Era of Ecommerce


Applying for an offshore merchant account doesn't mean you have to fly an airplane to go offshore, literally.


Ecommerce is a good business avenue if properly used. Its origins date back to over 30 years ago and the benefits are endless. You just have to familiarize yourself with the basic inner workings. Offshore merchant accounts and ecommerce have an undeniable link.

The roots of doing business without actually standing in the conference room making a presentation, and then having coffee after and waiting for days for a mere yes or no.

Thanks to the birth of ecommerce.

Give in to the feeling of curiosity, for further concepts, read the whole article :

The Era of Ecommerce


Friday, June 22, 2007

Presenting the candidates for an offshore merchant account


Offshore merchant accounts are still a distant concept to most people. Many have a preconceived notion that “scrupulous” businesses are the ones who jump in to the offshore merchant account ship. This is an overstatement in a certain sense. Given the basic premise, the idea of an offshore merchant account will be anything but “scrupulous”.


Here's an overview of business that normally opt for an offshore merchant account, just to give you a head start:

● online pharmacy

● online gambling

● travel

● adult website

● telemarketing

● dating service

● escort service

● multi-level marketing


For a comprehensive observations on these businesses, read the whole article:


Presenting the Candidates for an Offshore Merchant Account

Friday, June 15, 2007

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Third Party Processors


If you're still in doubt who to turn to for a smooth integration of your offshore merchant account, then turning to a third- party processor is one of avenues you can seek for assistance.


Just for a quick overview, you set up an offshore merchant account in order to accept credit card payments over the internet. There are a couple of ways by which you can the setup:


● Contact a merchant account provider

● Contact a third- party processor

● Contact foreign banks through the internet or do overseas telephone inquiries


The role of a merchant account provider has been emphasized in recent articles. So, for this time, a ray of light will be shed on third-party processors and their role in an offshore merchant account.


Here are the main characteristics of a third party processor:

● Your business' processes will be under the name of the 3rd party processor.

● Your customer's credit card statements have the third party processors name on it.

● Disputes are made through the 3rd party processor and not the processing bank.

● Your business and customers have limited protection from being ripped off.

● You will be using the third party processors' checkout system

● There will be no fixed monthly fees.

● Some may have setup fees.

● Most have high processing costs

● No contracts involved

● Your business is partially liable for the transactions that the third party processors process.



Let me give you a run of the inner workings of a third party processor. First, after you have been approved and apaid your dues, you can now create the shopping carts containing your products and link in which your customers will click to make their purchases. These links are connected to the third-party processor's server, this is where they manage the product orders for you. Third party processors can process electronic checks and credit card payments, and even ordering over the phone.


After the purchase is confirmed, the sale is automatically credit to you, of course, which the third party processor's part has been collected. Confirmation of the purchase includes Address Verification Service (AVS) that matches the shipping address keyed in by the customer to the registered mailing addresses in their credit cards or checks.


Your profits are forwarded by the third party processor at a scheduled time that you agreed upon. It is appealing to note that they will only collect their part of the bargain when your business makes a sale. Seems like a fair deal, isn't it? But, of course, you will always want a sale, do you?


Just for a quick run down on third party integration, you create third party processor account, then you set up your business' website, then you integrate your website with the third party processor's system, then you do a test-drive and run a real transaction, lastly, when everything proves to be hassle-free, you go live.


It is safe to say that the process in dealing with third party processors has a less-complicated structure, but the difference is in the ordering. The things with them is, they handle the purchases first hand then gives you your part of the sale. Parting words, getting their services is a choice, you examine if you feel secured and comfortable. You always have choices, choose what best suits you.





Must-haves of an online store


Your offshore merchant account is an invaluable tool making your business successful. Through an offshore merchant account, you'll be able to accept credit card payments online. But what does it actually take to set up one?

Just like any standard business setting, there are a number of requirements you need to comply in order to actualize your offshore merchant account.


Below are the requirements for setting up a website offshore merchant account:

● registered website on the application must be “live”

● “doing business as” (DBA) indicated on the application should be the same on website

● products, delivery method, delivery time frame and prices must be indicated

● prices should be in US currency

● business privacy policy should be published

● customer service hotline should be indicated

● shopping cart must be active and secured

● domain name should be legally registered under merchant


When you indicate in your application that “www...” is the corresponding website for your merchant account, it should be accessed real-time. The website should actually exist, not “under construction” or “will be coming soon”.


The DBA should be the same as well. There shouldn't be a different name on the website and on the application.
Not a single letter should be missed or added.


The actual images of the products that you sell should be published on the internet as well. If not, then what's the point in selling online, right?. Also bear in mind to indicate the price of the products, the price, the shipping method, and also the number of days that the shipping of the products will take to get to your customer.


Even though you have multinational target market, tag your products in US dollars. This is an indication that you are competitive, for the US dollar is the most widely-used currency in international transactions.


Your company's privacy policy should be indicated at the website as well. Admittedly, most people don't read it, but it is a requirement so that you let them know what are processes in ensuring that the website is secured, after all, it it being viewed by people on every corner of the earth with internet access. Also, this is showing both of your rights and obligations as a merchant and the rights of the customers and the viewers of the website.


As we all know, making sure that our customers are continuously extremely satisfied. But, let's face it, there will always be grievances and inconveniences that they will feel. So, having a 24-hour customer service telephone number will be a reflection that your business is serious and committed in serving your customers and potential customers. This is a requirement to protect and ensure the rights of your clients to a fair service.



A shopping cart is the main selling point of your website. Since you are a merchant, you must establish a shopping cart that displays your products with the corresponding prices. A shopping cart makes it convenient for your customers to purchase as the product is just a click away. Technically, not a click away, because they'll have to wait for the item or items to be delivered. But, it saves them the time and energy to go to the store and tirelessly choose on the displays on the racks.


Lastly, you should have a registered domain name for your website. The names should be assigned by domain name registrar duly licensed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or by any other national ccTLD authority to register Internet domain names.


It is crucial that all of these have been meticulously set up and published on the internet. Once these are in up and running flawlessly, the probability of getting your application for an offshore merchant account approved will be higher.