Merchant accounts allow you to unlock the power of online payment acceptance by serving as the link between customer credit and debit cards and your business bank account. Check out this detailed description of the setup process.

1. How to Set Up a
Merchant Account

2. A merchant account lets your business accept
debit and credit card payments. There are two
ways to get one:
Enter into an agreement
with a member bank that
has a processing
relationship with Visa and
Mastercard.
Enter into an agreement
with an authorized agent
of the member bank,
such as an independent
sales organization or
member service provider
(ISO/MSP).
1. 2.

3. Step 1:
Determine how credit card
payments will work for your
business

4. Step 1:
Consider these questions about how
credit card payments fit with your
business
1. What types of credit card brands do you wish to accept?
-Visa, MasterCard, American Express etc.
2. How do you want to accept payments?
-Mobile, Virtual Terminal, API to Integrate, Recurring Billing
3. How much of your sales volume will be through credit cards?
-Will you be accepting other methods in addition to credit cards?

5. Step 2:
Compare Merchant
Account Providers

6. Merchant Account Fees
Step 2:
There are two common types of fees for credit cards transactions.
1. A flat rate you get charged for each credit card payment that is processed.
2. A percentage fee based on the total amount of each transaction.
Other Merchant Account Fees. There can be many other fees associated with a
merchant account beyond the transactional fees.
Other fees to ask about include:
Monthly minimum fees, setup fees, cancellation fees, statement fees, customer
service fees, chargeback fees, batch fees, annual fees...

7. Does the merchant provider offer all the
software and payment options you need?
Step 2:
For Example
Are virtual terminal processing, email invoicing, recurring billing, website
payments and mobile payments all included in one solution?
The more providers you need to go through, the more costly and complicated
your experience will be.

8. How much control over your customers’
payment experience will you have?
Step 2:
Many business owners don’t have the time or expertise to set up customized,
online solutions, so finding something that is automated and hosted by your
solution provider is critical.
However, in order to provide a good experience to your customers, you’ll want to
make sure you can easily customize any invoices, payment forms and payment
communications.

9. Is the complete solution tailored to your
type of business and easy to use?
Step 2:
Does the merchant account provider frequently work with your
business industry and size?
Finding a provider that is dedicated to your business type means that
future developments will continue to match your needs.

10. Can your customer’s payment account
data be securely stored to meet PCI
compliance?
Step 2:
No business needs the headache of an in-depth PCI compliance
review, but yet you want to be able to provide your customers with
the best possible payments experience.
It’s important to find a solution that helps you have the best of both
those worlds.

11. How is the customer support?
Step 2:
Customer support is something that is extremely important to
any business, but especially when dealing with accepting
payments from customers.
To help you succeed, it’s important to have access to account
management and live support along the way.

12. Is the merchant account provider willing
to provide you with references?
Step 2:
Any business with good (or bad) experience with a merchant
account provider is usually willing to provide that information to
other businesses.
Learning about other businesses’ experiences with a merchant
account provider can be very insightful during your selection
process.

13. Step 3:
Merchant Account Set Up

14. When you choose a provider, here’s what
to expect in the set-up process:
Step 3:
The merchant account provider will require you to complete an in-depth
application and you will need to provide a lot of information pertaining to
your business model and finances.
If you are a smaller business, you will also be required to provide personal
information, undergo a credit check and provide a personal guarantee on
the account.
This process can feel cumbersome, so it’s helpful to work with a provider
that will hold your hand through underwriting to ensure the fastest and
least confusing approval process

15. Step 4:
Accept Credit Card
Payments

16. Step 4:
You're approved for a merchant account.
Now what?
Once your merchant account is set up, you will be ready to start accepting
credit card payments.
If you’ve gone with a great merchant account provider this can be as simple
as logging into a software product, entering your customer’s payment
information, and clicking the collect payment button to have the transaction
processed and funds deposited into your bank account.

17. Start a 14 day Free Trial and learn
how PaySimple can help you grow
your business:
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