Merchant Account Alternatives

If you don't want to use Total Merchant Accounts, there are literally hundreds of different brokers out there. However, be careful as there are a few that will take your application fee and give you the run-around.

We recommend Total Merchant Accounts, as they specialize in online and home based business and we have used them for years with great success (plus they will bend over backward to help you).

Click here for more detail about Total Merchant Accounts.

And try to fill their online application form to see how they work. 

This form is not a "formal" application. It goes to Ed Freeman at Total Merchant Accounts (which is the "broker", not the "bank"). This is to help him understand what type of business you are in and a little about your company (so he knows the best way to fill out the formal application that goes to the bank for approval).

Just fill out the "pre-application form" as best you can (if you leave a few fields blank, don't worry, the bank will never see this "pre-application form"). Once Total Merchant Account receives your pre-application by email, they will contact you within 48 hours to go over some specifics and get out a formal contract to you so that they can set up the details with the bank. It is super easy and takes almost no time at all. I highly recommend them.

Note: As mentioned above, you will be required to lease a processing terminal to "swipe" the credit cards. You have the option of a stationary terminal or a software program called Total Merchant Manager. Make sure you lease the software as this will allow you to render credit cards through a secure server as well as process them manually through your home computer. Don't worry, this is simple software to operate

Merchant Account Alternative #3:
Hire a fulfillment house and use their credit card accounts. 

A fulfillment house is a company that is designed to do all your "dirty work". They will take your orders through an 800 number with live operators who will keep track of your customer data base, provide some customer service, process credit cards, and ship out orders. In other words, they make running your business completely hands free. These companies have their own merchant credit card accounts and will let you use them to process your orders for a fee. The fee is usually a 5%-6% discount rate instead of the normal 2% to 3% you would pay if you had your own accounts.

If you are only processing a few thousands dollars worth of orders every month, this is the way to go. But if you are doing more business than that, it is more cost effective to get your own, merchant credit card accounts. Also, please note that most fulfillment houses will only allow you to charge orders to their credit card account when the orders come in through the 800 number line (they will not let you use their credit card account for direct sales from the Internet), which can cause problems if you are doing any kind of volume.

As mentioned we deal with MWC at (1-800-642-9378). Ask for Jeannie, she is a sweetheart and will help you to the best of her ability.

Merchant Account Alternative #4:
Use a payment type such as Cybercash or First Virtual.

As I mentioned above, I do not recommend using a "transaction company" as it is just to much hassle for the amount of sales you will lose (which will be almost nil).

Merchant Account Alternative #5:
Use a third party billing company (in other words, use someone else's merchant credit card accounts for a fee).

These third party billing companies let you use their merchant accounts. Your page would link to their order form and they charge the customers credit card. They then mail you a check for all sales 20-60 days after the sale (the time delay before you get paid depends on the company you are dealing with and the plan you have chosen with them). 

These companies charge anywhere from $200 to $800 for set up fees and then a percentage of each sale (between 5%-15% depending on your volume and the plan you pick). It can get expensive, but if you have a high markup item you are selling or if you are doing really low volume in sales, it may be a solution. 

My opinion is to always get your own merchant accounts as they can be obtained for next to nothing these days. However, one great advantage to these third party billing companies, is that if you are a foreign company that wants to accept credit cards and charge your customers in US dollars, it is a way for you to instantly start accepting credit cards for a lower cost in comparison to getting your our US merchant accounts (which can cost a few thousand dollars if you are a foreign company). The most well known company for this is Internet Billing Company.