Your Money and Finances

WHAT IS A CREDIT CARD MERCHANT ACCOUNT: THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT BUSINESSES HAVE TO KNOW

With the proliferation of the Internet technology, everything revolves in a fast digital world of information technology, and credit cards had continuously dominated the scene with tremendous rate.

Today, credit cards had already brought shopping online. The convenience it brings to the people had made the credit card industry more than a phenomenon. And where people usually buys, businesses follows. And with e-commerce rapidly saturating the Internet, having a credit card merchant account is the name of the game.

But what is a credit card merchant account? Why is it that businesses consider it as a must-have feature on their online business?

Basically, a credit card merchant account is an account that entrepreneurs put up with a bank so as to enable the firm accept credit card payments from their customers. This goes to show that whether it is a small business or a home business, it is a must for every industry to have a credit card merchant account.

Credit card merchant accounts are effective ways in increasing the sales of a business. This is because credit card merchant accounts entice people to buy on impulse. Therefore, because of the convenience credit card makes, the business will be able to attract more people to buy online, and when they want to buy, the business must have a credit card merchant account so as to accept the buyer?s credit card.

Moreover, credit card merchant accounts can also accept payments by phone and fax. Therefore, it gives the business more flexibility in dealing with payments.

However, getting a credit card merchant account is not that easy. The approval of an application on a credit card merchant account is dependent on the relationship of the business to its bank. This means that if the business is still new, it might have experience some difficulty in obtaining a merchant account.

Nevertheless, credit card merchant accounts are still considered as a crucial element in one?s online business. It is the only way to maximize the business? potential online. Plus, there is definitely no other way to provide additional payment option to the online customers than what credit card merchant accounts can do.

Basically, experts contend that when people find it easy to buy online and doubly easy to pay the items online, then, chances are they would be more than willing to buy it instantly. And that is the main attraction of the credit card merchant account, to create a ?buy now? phenomenon.

Nowadays, businesses are more technology-wise, and where money is the subject matter, credit card merchant accounts is the name of the game.

Your Money & Finances

Opening store or bank credit is just one way that thieves can use your identity to illegally reap financial reward. Cloned debit cards obtained using skimmers are becoming more common thanks to high-tech techniques.

How does identity theft occur?

Identity thieves want to become you. And all it takes is a small amount of your personal information. Identity thieves can open new bank accounts, steal your money, sell your information online and commit several different types of fraud. They could even commit crimes in your name. What are the affects of identity theft?

From fraudulent charges, to stolen money, to an altered financial or criminal background, identity theft can have a serious cost to your wallet and name. In 2011, identity theft cost Americans $18 billion.1

The impact:

* Identity theft cost Americans $18 billion.1
* 11.6 million adult Americans were victims of identity theft last year.1
* Existing card fraud cost Americans $8 billion last year.1

10 Cons of an International Credit Card

Credit card fraud is a fast increasing crime in the world. International Credit Card holders are mostly the victims of this unauthorized access to their accounts. Let?s take a closer look of the problems faced by international credit cards.

1. Repetitive use of credit card numbers. After a credit card number has been used and disregarded, say cancelled, credit card companies would reissue the same number to other cardholders. The personal identification numbers (PIN) is changed as well as the credit cardholder?s personal information. But it still bears the same credit card number.

2. Low standards when it comes to the use of cards by the participating merchants. This is a common problem encountered by international credit cardholders. Employees of the participating merchants have the full access to the account number as well as the security number of the card.

3. Account Statements given out by credit card companies contains less information about the participating merchant. It does not include relevant information about the vendor that charged any transaction on the credit card.

4. Unreliable blocking functions. Once a card loss is reported, it will still take months for the credit card companies to block the transactions being made through the stolen or lost credit card.

5. Lack of validation software. Participating vendors should have better validation software installed on their computer system.

6. Consumer unfriendly policies on fraud management. The policies on the present fraud management take the blame on the cardholders though not directly stipulated. This means that the policies on the fraud management of international credit card companies protect not the consumers but the company.

7. Lax standards on investigation about fraudulent transactions. This is the sad part for the victims of fraud through their credit cards. Getting the suspects charged though proven guilty of fraud seems to take on slowly.

8. Credit card fraud is usually committed through online transactions. This means that credit cardholders are not protected with the authorized or unauthorized use of their cards on purchases or services paid online.

9. Most of the companies that typically appear on charges are those associated with pornography industry. These companies are the ones that accept transactions even without verifying the cardholder?s information.

10. Most of the banks? system is not compatible with other international credit card companies for the e-commerce. This is a potential weakness that would mean loss of clients so they would prefer to keep quiet about it.

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CPP Author

John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter. Check out Automated Traffic -> http://www.InstantComputerBiz.com/?rd=oj8VT7Uq

1 Javelin Strategy & Research. “2012 Identity Fraud Report: Social Media and Mobile Forming the New Fraud Frontier.” February 2012.

† Federal Trade Commission. “Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book For January – December 2011.” February 2012.