Merchant services providers act as the middleman between people who want to make payments and those who want to receive them. This includes providing any physical equipment such as point of sale terminals and also any digital requirements such as encryption with simple and secure merchant processing services with fast payment transactions.

Being able to accept credit card payments gives you access to customers who live anywhere in the world, expanding your business reach.

What different areas of payment do they cover?

1.    Retail/Swipe

Combined with processing payments quickly and efficiently, any good Merchant service should also offer additional services which can include the ability to run loyalty programs, a customer management or CRM type database and support services. All of these additional services will help your business to grow in other ways, such as marketing incentives as well as just taking the payments.

2.    E-commerce

An easy to use shopping cart is a must when making transactions online. If customers struggle to make a payment, it’s likely you’ll lose them to the competition. If you’re integrating the services into existing software, then support from your chosen merchant services provider to do this should be a standard part of the service.

3.    Virtual Terminals

These are more commonly known as wireless terminals and provide the same security and convenience that customers have become used to when making a payment in a shop or other face to face environment.

4.    Mobile transactions

Any mobile transaction should be completed using point encryption, electronic invoicing, and even reporting capabilities. This is now one of the most popular ways for customers to make payments in shops and online.

What are the different types of account available?

1.    Merchant Account

Merchant accounts work as separate business accounts which control and manage the business payments and transactions for your company. They manage the interchange between all the various banks required to complete the transaction until it reaches you. They can be more expensive but do provide you with added security and support.

2.    Payment Services

Merchant services are usually able to offer these if you require merchant processing services for lower transaction volumes. Established Merchant service providers will be able to offer rates and more combined services.

Which Industries do Merchant Services companies work with?

Most merchant companies will work with everything from health and beauty through to e-commerce. These service providers are more about the actual transaction rather than the product or service itself. If you operate in a small or large industry, you’ll definitely be able to find a company which offers you the simple and secure services you need to process credit and debit cards.

Transactional Security for Peace of Mind

Processing credit card transactions can seem like a daunting prospect, but security has come a long way in the last ten years. There are now end to end encryptions, fraud protection systems, and even transactional forensics available when it comes to processing these types of payments.

Merchant services have to comply with the financial regulations for each country they operate in, which leaves you free to just go ahead, and process the payments.

If you are a high risk retailer (CBD guns or firearms), then you may want to choose a comapny such as Pinpoint Payments.