Merchant Services: Everything You Need To Know
- New Payment Innovation Ireland
- July 26, 2022
No matter how much easy and convenient smartphones get. A huge chunk of customers will still prefer their credit/debit cards for both their online and onsite payments. According to Federal Reserve Payment Study (FRPS) published in Dec 2019, the total card payments in the USA were $7.08 trillion, which increased up to $1.56 trillion since 2015 which is 8.6% by value. The amount also increased up to $29.7 billion since 2018 which makes an acceleration of 8.9%. As compared to their previous two growth results which were 6.8% and 5.9%, the trajectory of card payments has only observed a positive steady growth.
With the advent of the latest technologies in the card payment industry and merchant account services, the number of total card payments has almost equated to that of in-person cash payments that happened in the year 2018. These trends, contrary to the report from 2016 that suggested a drop by 2019, will see steep acceleration (2019 study). The reason behind this is that more customers are more comfortable doing card payments than carrying cash than ever.
If you’re interested in running your own business online, you’ve probably already considered the need to find merchant services to help you accept payments online, right? While there are many options out there, it can be tough to find the one/ that best meets your needs at an affordable price. This guide will help you learn everything you need to know about merchant services so you can make an informed decision when choosing NPI as the right payment processor for your business.
What Are Merchant Services?
Before we go any further, it’s probably a good idea to clear up what merchant services are. Not to confuse “merchant” services with the trade services, we are talking money here. More specifically, online payment services. In broader terms, merchant service is an umbrella of services that include payment tools, methodologies, and processes that are utilized by businesses to align their finances. To choose the right merchant service for your business, you must be completely aware of what these merchant services account for.
Precisely speaking, merchant services are a type of payment gateway that facilitates credit and debit card transactions for online businesses. They play an important role in today’s business climate because they allow brick-and-mortar and internet businesses to accept credit cards, regardless of where they are located or how much they can afford to invest in processing equipment.
How Does a Merchant Account Work?
Your merchant account acts as a gateway between your customers and your business account when it comes to entertaining credit/debit card payments. All the payments that are made at your business are confirmed/declined after going through your merchant account and thus all the transactions have kept a check.
- Customer wipes their card or debit card at your payment terminal
- Your merchant account provider forwards the transaction details to the customer’s card issuer
- The card issuer approves or denies the transaction and sends data back to your payment terminal.
- The transaction is completed; funds begin a transfer process from the customer’s bank to yours.
What are the Main Features of NPI Merchant Service?
Before you begin looking into merchant services, it’s important to know what kinds of services are out there and which ones will be right for your business. If you want to process credit cards but only have one or two employees, a service like PayPal Here may be a good choice. But if you’re worried about fraud, larger businesses that have more frequent transactions should use an electronic payment gateway service or traditional merchant account.
- Your merchandise account only holds payments for a while before the payments are processed and don’t store it like a standard bank account.
- Your merchant account is responsible for clearing payments to and from banks while dealing with card issuers, card processors, and card networks simultaneously.
- You can only get reliable merchant accounts from your acquiring banks.
- When your sign your merchant account contract, you agree to cover all different costs included in debit/credit card transactions like card processing fees.
- Once your merchant account is accepted, you will be provided with a unique merchant ID for your commercial purposes.
- Your merchant account provides an extra layer of security to your online card payments and ensures enhanced customer convenience.
How You Can Set Up Your NPI Merchant Account Today?
The global rise in the online payments trends justifies the need for reliable merchant account services for businesses. A study from Jupiter Research found that the value of global e-commerce payment transactions will exceed $7.5 trillion by 2026, from $4.9 trillion in 2021 — a growth rate of 55% over five years. With such great potential of online transactions, what business will not like to grab some cake at the ongoing party? While NPI makes it to the top when it comes to businesses looking for reliable merchant service, here is the guideline that will help you set up your merchant account.
The first step to setting up your merchant account is deciding which type of account will work best for you. An online store, for example, should use a different merchant account than a brick-and-mortar business. The next step is to choose whether to associate your merchant account with a member service provider (MSP), an independent sales organization (ISO). Find out which types of accounts are available to you, how secure they are, and what all they offer in terms of customer support solutions. And make sure that you pick one that is both effective and cost-efficient. This is followed by your application for your merchant account providing all necessary information, reviewing the terms and conditions, and finally signing the merchant account contract.
How Much NPI Merchant Account Charges?
Depending on what type of business you have, an NPI merchant account charge can vary. For instance, an online store will incur higher monthly fees than a bakery. Keep in mind that just because one merchant provider has lower-than-average fees doesn’t mean it will be more cost-effective for your business to go with them instead of another provider. It all depends on how much money you expect to make from your transactions over time.
Why Choose NPI as Your Merchant Account Service?
If you’re a business owner, you probably accept credit cards. After all, your customers expect to pay with plastic these days, and you don’t want to lose out on sales because you don’t have an effective payment processing solution in place. However, if accepting credit cards is something that you do only part-time, or if it represents only a small portion of your overall business revenue, then accepting payments through a third-party payment processor might not be right for your operation.
NPI has been one of the most trusted merchant account service providers which are trusted by hundreds of developing and developed businesses across the globe. Assisting millions of dollars via thousands of transactions for hundreds of businesses, NPI is on a mission to make online payments easy, safe, and integrated for all. Your business deserves a secure gateway for online payment solutions and NPI is all set to do it for you!
