Merchant accounts for mainstream adult, gaming, pharmacy, aggregator, Schools Which credit cards does Merchant Accounts accept? Merchant Accounts accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover/Novus, Diner's Club, and JCB cards. Note: Due to credit card association compliance regulations, a Merchant Accounts Client must choose the "Enhanced Shopping Cart" if they want Merchant Accounts to accept MasterCard in addition to the other credit card types for sales of their products. If a Merchant Accounts Client chooses the "Standard Shopping Cart", only Visa, American Express, and Discover/Novus, Diner's Club, and JCB cards will be accepted for sales of their products. For more information on the how shopping cart types affect the Credit Cards that are accepted for product sales, please refer that topic in the Service Details. This includes all card types that are derivatives of those brands. Some examples are: Visa check cards and debit cards, MasterCard "MasterMoney", EuroCard, etc. Does Merchant Accounts accept PayPal payments? PayPal payments are accepted online in the Merchant Accounts shopping cart. You do NOT need a PayPal account to accept payments from your customers. Customers will have the option to pay via credit card or PayPal when finalizing checkout. Visit our test store, Amy Love's Sportshop to see the shopping cart. All terms for a PayPal order are the same as a credit card order. The rates, payment schedule, dispute, and other rules all still apply. Does Merchant Accounts accept other forms of payment from Online Shoppers, such as paper checks, online checks, or EFT transfers? Currently, Merchant Accounts accepts only Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover/Novus, Diner's Club, and JCB charge cards, and other cards which bear those brands, and PayPal. Online Shoppers who want to pay for merchandise from their checking account can use a Visa or MasterCard check card or debit card, however. These types of cards are connected directly into an Online Shopper's checking account. Merchant Accounts may also support online checks in a future software release. Until then, clients may wish to offer a separate set of Web pages for Online Shoppers wishing to order by check. In the Products screens, what is meant by the "Product ID Number"? This identifier is used by your Web page to communicate with Merchant Accounts's software. It tells Merchant Accounts which product is being selected when an Online Shopper clicks on the "Add to Cart" button for that product. The product ID number can be any combination of letters, numbers, and dashes (-). What are the various product options at the bottom of the Products screens? The Products screens offer up to three multiple choice drop-down menus per product. These allow the Online Shopper to select product varieties (such as size, color, flavor, etc.) from a list that you have supplied. There is also a customer Text Option available, in case you need Online Shoppers to type their customization instructions or other information onto the order form. The Products screen supports one customer Text Option per product. What is the maximum number of products I can have in my Product List? There is no maximum size limit on your Product List. Merchant Accounts supports several clients with hundreds of products for sale, and we are happy to support catalogs of that size. What is the maximum amount of sales I can conduct each month? Merchant Accounts generally does not impose limits on a client's total monthly sales volume. However, please consult the Funds Availability schedule for important information for large-volume clients. If I have a large number of products, is there a faster way to enter them into the Product List? Yes. The Client Administration screens have a function which bulk-loads products into the Product List from a file, as long as the products do not have any product options. This feature is used by some of our clients who have a large number of products, and it can save a lot of time. Does Merchant Accounts's software track the number of each product that I have in inventory? How do I handle a situation where I have a low quantity available, or only one available, of a particular item? Merchant Accounts does not track how many of each product are remaining in your inventory. After you have run out of a particular item, we suggest that you remove the Merchant Accounts link for that product from your Web site, so that it can no longer be ordered. If an Online Shopper does place an order for a product that is no longer available, you should visit your Pending Orders screen and cancel that order immediately. There will be no charge to your account. How do I use affiliate programs with Merchant Accounts? Merchant Accounts is compatible with most affiliate tracking systems, such as ClickTrade, AffiliateShop, and Commission Junction. If you have joined an affiliate tracking service, you can use the "Settings & Options" screen to specify the HTML codes we should use to link your site to that service. Our software will automatically insert the codes into the "Thank You" page for your account. The URL which is used for the "Thank You" page will be: https://www.Merchant Accounts.com/cgi-local/checkout.cgi How long does it take for an order to be processed, and what is the sequence of events that occurs after an order is placed? After an Online Shopper places an order, Merchant Accounts sends an Order Confirmation to the Online Shopper's E-mail address. This can also be used as an invoice or receipt, if the Online Shopper chooses to print the E-mail message. Merchant Accounts's system processes a batch of orders every four to six hours, depending on sales volume. Batch processing takes place continuously, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Occasionally, an order will take longer than four to six hours to process, depending on the issuing bank's computer systems, and whether the issuing bank requests special authorization procedures. After the Online Shopper's credit card has been successfully billed, Merchant Accounts then sends you the order. This means that by the time you receive an order from Merchant Accounts, the Online Shopper has already paid for it and the charge was successful. Our Client Agreement requires that you ship the order within five to seven business days. If you cannot ship it quickly (or if some of the items are not in stock), you agree to cancel the order. When we send you an order, we send it to two places: (1) The order appears in your Pending Orders screen; and (2) We also send a copy of the order to you in E-mail. In case of E-mail delivery failures, it's a good idea to log in to your Merchant Accounts account at least twice a week to check for pending orders. How can I check the status of an order? If you want to check the status of an order that has been placed, you can look it up in the "Information & Help" screen. This allows you to enter a Merchant Accounts order number and view the current status. If you do not know the Merchant Accounts order number, please ask the Online Shopper who placed the order for this information. Do Online Shoppers automatically receive a message confirming that an order was shipped? Merchant Accounts's system sends one E-mail message to the Online Shopper after an order has been placed. We do not send an additional message when the order is shipped; however, you are welcome to send that message yourself. You might want to include an estimate of the date the order will arrive, plus a reminder that the charges will be billed by Merchant Accounts. This is an excellent way to maintain good communication with the Online Shopper. How do I cancel or refund an order?
How do I confirm that an order was cancelled and/or refunded? You can look up the order number in the "Information & Help" screen. If the status code indicates that the refund is pending or complete, or that the order was cancelled, then that serves as your confirmation. How do I know whether I am approved to use Merchant Accounts? How do I find out whether Merchant Accounts will permit the sale of a specific product? If you meet the Client Requirements as listed on our Service Details page, then you are approved to use Merchant Accounts. If a product meets the Product Guidelines listed on the Service Details page, then the product can be sold by Merchant Accounts. I notice that Merchant Accounts requires clients to list all Web page addresses where products are sold. Does this mean that I need to submit the address of every page on my site? Fortunately we don't need quite that level of detail ! If you have a main page which leads to your product pages, then you can submit just the main page address. The other pages do not need to be submitted if they are part of a "tree" or hierarchy that includes your main page. How do I notify Merchant Accounts of new Web page addresses where I am selling products? To add new Web page addresses to our files, please log in and use the "Contact Merchant Accounts" function. Write a brief note with the new Web page address(es), and we will add them to our records. Does Merchant Accounts permit the sale of adult products? Merchant Accounts cannot be used for the sale of pornographic products or links to pornographic products. Please see the Product Guidelines listed in our Service Detail page and the Client Warranties section of our Client Agreement. How can I change the E-mail address that is used for Orders and Inquiries? The "Settings & Options" screen allows you to change the contact E-mail address at any time. This change takes effect immediately. How do I change the payment name, payment address, payment method, or payment threshold for my account? The "Settings & Options" screen allows you to change your payment instructions at any time. These changes will take effect immediately. For information about the various payment methods that are available, you can refer to the Payment Descriptions on our Service Details page. How can I change the name of my store which is displayed on my shopping cart screens? The "Settings & Options" screen allows you to change your store name at any time. This change takes effect immediately. This does not affect the name that Merchant Accounts issues checks to, it is only the name that appears on the Shopping Cart screens when Online Shoppers are purchasing your products. How can I set the Web page address where Online Shoppers can return to my site after placing an order? The "Settings & Options" screen allows you to change this address at any time. After finishing an order, the Online Shopper sees Merchant Accounts's "Thank You" page, which contains a link back to your site if you use this feature. How can I change my Merchant Accounts password? The "Settings & Options" screen allows you to change your password at any time. This change takes effect immediately. How can I change my Merchant Accounts Client ID? Our database does not support the changing of Client IDs. If it is important to change your ID then you could set up a new Client ID and stop using the old one, but this is usually not necessary. Can my Merchant Accounts account accept orders from multiple Web sites? Will Online Shoppers at one site see the products that are sold at another site? Am I allowed to set up multiple Merchant Accounts Client IDs? If you operate several different Web sites, you can use a single Merchant Accounts account to accept orders from all of your sites. As noted in our Client Requirements, you would need to notify Merchant Accounts of all Web site locations, including any new sites you add after you sign up. Online Shoppers who visit one site will not see the products offered for sale at another site, unless you have designed the sites to link to each other. You are welcome to create multiple Merchant Accounts accounts if you wish (although most clients find it unnecessary). If you do have multiple accounts and you want to combine your earnings into a single payment, please contact us and we will link your accounts together for you. I was expecting Merchant Accounts to generate a payment on a specific date but it was not generated, or the amount paid was less than my current account balance. Please explain. For details, you can refer to Merchant Accounts's Payment Schedule on the Service Details page. As shown on that Payment Schedule, the date when each order is paid to you depends on the date it was shipped. For a detailed listing of the amounts which make up your remaining account balance, and the date that each amount is payable, you can view your detailed Account Statement, available under the "Information & Help" function. The Funds Availability schedule on your Service Details page specifies that new clients (less than 3 months of sales history) can receive up to $1000 from each pay period's earnings immediately, and the remainder is paid 60 days later. If I have a high volume of sales, say $5000 per pay period, doesn't that mean that most of the funds will be paid 60 days after I ship the merchandise? If you are a new client with less than 3 months of sales history with Merchant Accounts, that is correct. In this example, if your earnings are $5000 in one pay period, then you will receive the first $1000 at the end of that pay period. The remaining amount ($4000) will be paid 60 days later. For a more complete description, you can refer to the Funds Availability section on the Service Details page. Although most of our clients do not experience a very large volume of sales during their first three months, this might cause a cash-flow issue for you if you do experience large volumes. In that event, you may wish to consult with a financial advisor in order to determine the best way to finance your business. Is it possible to grant exceptions to the Funds Availability schedule that is normally used for new clients? Merchant Accounts can in some circumstances find an alternate reserve schedule, provided you have had previous sales history with Merchant Accounts. Please contact us if you wish to request an alternate Funds Availability schedule. Can I use the service with a different shopping cart system, or another software package, instead of the one provided by Merchant Accounts? Can I use Merchant Accounts without any shopping cart? Our shopping cart system does not contain any external "hooks" or interfaces to outside systems, mostly in order to comply with several U.S. banking laws as well as the policies of our own merchant banks. Merchant Accounts is required to post certain notices and other information for each Online Shopper to read, and we are also required to maintain a record of what products are available for sale. Our industry standard "shopping cart" interface allows us to accomplish this, and it is patterned after some of the large online stores. What level of customization can be done with Merchant Accounts's shopping cart screens or Online Shopper E-mails? Can I change the colors, or add my company logo, or add more fields? Merchant Accounts provides several customization features in the "Settings & Options" screens, which allow you to control the appearance and behavior of Merchant Accounts's software. You can specify the name of your online store which Merchant Accounts will use in all Online Shopper communications. Additionally, you can customize the shopping-cart screen for each product that you sell. The software can offer the Online Shopper up to three drop-down multiple choice selection boxes, plus one text option box if required. When clicking on a Merchant Accounts link, an error message appears which says: "Cannot determine the originating Web page address." There are four possible reasons why this error can occur.
When clicking on a Merchant Accounts link on my site, an error message appears which says "The continue-shopping address is not in the correct format." Please consult the "Generate HTML" instructions, which tell you how to correctly substitute your continue-shopping address, or how to exclude the continue-shopping feature if appropriate. The "Generate HTML" instructions are located under the Your Products function in the Client Administration screens. I am having problems installing Merchant Accounts's HTML links, or I have installed them but cannot get it to work correctly. Where can I find help? If you have inserted the HTML segments and published your Web page on the Internet, you can contact our support staff at support@Merchant Accounts.com. Just let us know a Web page address (on your Web site) where we can observe the problem, and we will usually be able to diagnose it quickly. If you do not know how to insert the HTML links, or how to put your Web page onto the Internet where we can observe it, then we will not be able to assist you at that point. You would need to obtain assistance from someone with HTML web authoring skills, such as a friend or colleague. I changed certain things, such as shipping rates or product data, but those changes don't seem to show up in my current shopping cart. How can I fix this? The shopping cart "locks in" some of your store data when an Online Shopper first begins shopping, in order to avoid confusion caused by prices which change while an Online Shopper is shopping. Please read Page 4 of the "Generate HTML" instructions, which describes how to delete the current shopping cart after you have made changes, in order to see those changes while testing. A live order was placed by me or someone I know, but it does not appear to have been processed. Please review the Client Agreement and the Client Requirements for important requirements for using Merchant Accounts. Clients agree not to place orders on their own credit cards, because this would constitute an illegal cash advance (see Section 6[a] of the Client Agreement). Additionally, Merchant Accounts does not support in-person sales, or sales to personal acquaintances as listed in the Client Requirements referenced above. The correct procedure to place test orders is described in the next question. How can I test my online shop, to ensure that it is working properly and that Online Shoppers are able to order successfully? To place a test order without using a live credit card number, type the word TEST in place of the card number. For important information about testing your shop, please refer to Part 4 of the "Generate HTML" instructions. How do I submit my product photos to Merchant Accounts? Actually, Merchant Accounts does not use your product photos or other product details. Instead, you will place these materials on your Web site for Online Shoppers to see. For an example of how this works, you can visit our demonstration Amy Love's SportShop. There are some technical notes near the top of that page which explain the responsibilities of the client, and of Merchant Accounts. If a credit card company refuses or declines a charge, how can I get more information? To protect the card owner's privacy, credit card companies do not tell the merchant (Merchant Accounts) the reason why an Online Shopper's charge was refused. If an order is refused or declined, the Online Shopper should contact his/her credit card company and ask the reason why the charge was declined. My credit card company refused my Merchant Accounts order, because they require a voice authorization or fax authorization. What can I do to get the order processed? If your credit card company does not permit electronic authorizations, then Merchant Accounts will not be able to process your order on that card. We would suggest you try a different card which does not have that restriction. In order to keep our administrative costs low and offer our competitive rates, Merchant Accounts focuses exclusively on electronic orders, which are the most cost-efficient. Telephone authorizations would require a large clerical staff, which is much more costly. An Online Shopper placed an order which was refused by the credit card company due to an incorrect U.S. billing address. But the credit card company says that the charge was authorized successfully, and they have even reserved funds for that purchase. Why the discrepancy? This confusion occurs over the difference between the words "authorized" and "billed". If your credit card is valid, then the charges will be authorized. This means that the credit card company has reserved a portion of your credit line for this purchase (typically for a period of 5 to 10 days). But if you did not supply the correct billing address according to your credit card company, then Merchant Accounts was not able to bill your card for this order, even though the charges were authorized. In this case, you would need to supply us with the correct U.S. billing address so that we can re-attempt the transaction. If you are sure that you did supply the correct U.S. billing address (particularly the ZIP code), then your credit card company would need to correct their records to fix the problem. If this problem cannot be corrected in a few days, then the funds held for this order will be cancelled. The amount of time before unclaimed authorizations are cancelled can vary; please check with your credit card company. An Online Shopper placed an order which was held for Manual Authorization. But the credit card company says that the charge was authorized successfully, and they have even reserved funds for that purchase. Why the discrepancy? This confusion occurs over the difference between the words "authorized" and "billed". If your credit card is valid, then the charges will be authorized. This means that the credit card company has reserved a portion of your credit line for this purchase (typically for a period of 5 to 10 days). But if your credit card does not carry electronic address verification, then Merchant Accounts was not yet able to bill your card for this order, even though the charges were authorized. In this case, you would need to supply us with the Manual Authorization materials so that we can re-attempt the transaction. An Online Shopper's credit card company has refused the charge because the correct U.S. billing address was not supplied. But the Online Shopper's billing address is not actually in the U.S. How can I correct this problem? If this occurs, you should ask your credit card company to correct their files to indicate that you do not live in the U.S. If your credit card company is unable to correct this due to a technical problem in their systems, then Merchant Accounts will not be able to bill that card for your order. We would suggest that you try using a different credit card to place the order. Which client information is made available to Online Shoppers? Here are the guidelines used by Merchant Accounts in giving client information to Online Shoppers.
We recognize, however, that not all clients are ready to list a telephone number on their Web sites. In these cases, Merchant Accounts will usually not give your telephone number to Online Shoppers. We encourage Online Shoppers to contact you by E-mail first. But in cases where an Online Shopper is uncomfortable receiving only an E-mail address, or if they specifically emphasize that they would like the phone number, then we will agree to supply it. Is there any sales tax when selling via Merchant Accounts? Any order that is placed with Merchant Accounts carries no U.S. sales tax because our company is located in Delaware. Merchant Accounts acts as a retail reseller of our clients' products. As our client, you sell your products to Merchant Accounts and we re-sell those products to Online Shoppers. In the U.S. it is the responsibility of the retail merchant, not the drop-shipper or supplier, to collect any sales tax that is due. This is true even if you are shipping products to an Online Shopper in your own state, because the Online Shopper is buying the products from Merchant Accounts, not from you. U.S. sales tax is only collected when the Online Shopper is located in the same state as the retail merchant. This means that any Merchant Accounts Online Shopper who is outside of Delaware will not owe sales tax. Any Online Shopper who happens to be located in Delaware would not owe sales tax either, because Delaware has no sales tax. Please keep in mind that this applies only to Online Shoppers who place their order with Merchant Accounts using a credit card. If an Online Shopper pays you directly by check or money order, and that Online Shopper lives in the same state as you or your business, then you must collect sales tax from that Online Shopper. Two other caveats to consider are:
I notice that Merchant Accounts does deal with some clients who do not meet certain client requirements or product guidelines. Are there exceptions to the rules listed on your Service Details page? These clients began using Merchant Accounts before some of the current requirements and guidelines were enacted, and we have allowed them to continue under the older set of requirements. Regrettably, Merchant Accounts cannot grant any new exceptions to our requirements and guidelines. If I use frames on my site, will this work with Merchant Accounts? Can I direct the Merchant Accounts shopping cart screen to a specific frame? We do have some clients who use frames along with Merchant Accounts. No formal support is provided for this practice, however. If you experience problems using Merchant Accounts on a frames-based site, you must be prepared to diagnose and solve the problems yourself. One factor in deciding whether or not to use frames is the issue of the Secure Icon that is displayed in the Online Shopper's browser. Most users are familiar with the "padlock" or "key" which is displayed when a browser is running in secure (SSL) mode. But if your site uses frames, the Online Shopper's browser will not display the Secure Icon (even if one of the frames is in SSL mode). This is because the browser program requires that every frame on the screen be in SSL mode, in order to display the Secure Icon. I noticed that with some types of Internet access, two people who are geographically close to each other (for example, in the same office or the same neighborhood) end up accessing the same shopping cart, even though they are using two different computers. Can you explain this? This can occur if two people are shopping at your site at the same time, and they are using a corporate "firewall" or "proxy server" to access the Internet. This type of Internet connection forces several users to share the same IP address, rather than the standard practice of assigning each user a unique address for the duration of their Internet session. In the vast majority of cases, this will not cause you any problems. Visitors to your site from around the world will very rarely be shopping at exactly the same time, and using the same Internet provider, and be using a proxy server at the same moment. I clicked on an item in order to add it to my shopping cart. But the shopping cart screen shows several items, not just the one I clicked. Sometimes, the same item is listed more than once. This is because you previously added those other items to the shopping cart during your testing. The other items will stay there (even for several hours) because Merchant Accounts remembers which items you previously put into the cart. If you want to delete your current shopping cart, you can read Part 4 of the "Generate HTML" page for instructions on how to do this. How can an Online Shopper delete an item from their shopping cart after it has been added? These instructions are located on the shopping cart screen. To delete an item, change the quantity to 0 or spaces. What anti-fraud measures does Merchant Accounts use in order to help protect against credit card fraud and Online Shopper fraud? Merchant Accounts makes use of several fraud-prevention measures to help protect our clients. These procedures include:
When will Merchant Accounts support the new SET security standard that is being promoted by Visa and MasterCard? The SET standard is designed to offer a higher degree of security for Internet credit card transactions. Visa and MasterCard completed work on the SET standard in 1997, but its implementation in the U.S. has not been a success. The implementation of the SET standard is cumbersome, because it requires that Online Shoppers use special software on their computers to make a purchase. Currently, SET is not supported by any of the major Web browser programs, nor by any of the major U.S. credit card banks. Merchant Accounts will continue to monitor the progress of SET implementation. We look forward to supporting the SET standard, as soon as the major banks and software manufacturers support it. Does Merchant Accounts issue paper receipts or invoices to Online Shoppers? Merchant Accounts's software is Web-based, and no paper receipts or invoices are generated. If you need to generate a paper invoice, you can print out the order from an E-mail message, or from the Order Inquiry screen. Merchant Accounts's refund policy does not state a fixed time frame when the Online Shopper is allowed to return a product for a refund. Why is this? Merchant Accounts prefers to let our clients set the amount of time allowed for Online Shopper refunds. This period should be at least 30 days. If possible, we would prefer to see an allowance of 90 days. If an Online Shopper wants to return a product after your refund period has expired, we ask that you work with the Online Shopper to try to ensure their satisfaction if possible. Can I use Merchant Accounts for a gifting service, or gift delivery service? Yes! Merchant Accounts has the ability to take alternative billing info for gift orders (both US and International). You have the ability to accept orders with an alternate shipping address, alternate addresses in different countries or only to ship to a US billing address in your Settings & Options area. How can I verify that Merchant Accounts is a reputable firm? In order to verify that Merchant Accounts is a true provider of E-commerce services, and to check our reputation as a financial services firm, you can consider checking with these sources:
How do I stop receiving monthly charges on my bank or credit card statement from Merchant Accounts? In order to discontinue monthly payments, you must cancel your Merchant Accounts service, which will deactivate your shopping cart. To do this, click on Settings and Options and choose Fee Billing Method. Choose the button next to Cancel Billing and click on Make Changes. Your shopping cart will be deactivated and you will not receive further monthly charges from Merchant Accounts. What is the Merchant Accounts Mall? The Merchant Accounts Mall is a list of links to the website of all of the Merchant Accounts suppliers where shoppers can browse, select and buy merchandise. Who is listed in the Merchant Accounts Mall? All Merchant Accounts clients are required to be displayed in the Merchant Accounts Mall. All Merchant Accounts Clients are responsible for selecting accurate and appropriate mall categories from the Merchant Accounts Mall Category List for client's web site or product for sale using the Merchant Accounts online retailing service. The Merchant Accounts support team may review and revise the Merchant Accounts client's selected Mall Category for accuracy and appropriateness. How do I select the appropriate Mall Categories for my Merchant Accounts Account and products? The Merchant Accounts Mall Categories can be selected by:
What product categories are available in the Merchant Accounts Mall? What is the Merchant Accounts Repeat Purchase Program? The Merchant Accounts Repeat Purchase Program is an consumer appreciation and repeat purchase incentive program that rewards consumers immediately after they make their purchase and encourages them to make a repeat purchase from you. This feature will appear as a text link on the confirmation page consumers see after they complete their purchase. The text link will say "Click here to get your special reward for your purchase today!" Once a consumer clicks on the link; he or she will see a thank-you offer that presents a variety of special discounts and protections, along with a $10 rebate off their next purchase with you. If the consumer takes advantage of the offer and purchases from you in the next 90 days, he or she will receive a check for $10 directly as a cash-back incentive. There is no minimum purchase amount, there is absolutely no cost to you for this incentive, and no fulfillment is required of you. Merchant Accounts has contracted with WebLoyalty.com, a well-established provider of loyalty programs to manage the entire Repeat Purchase Program. If you have further questions about the Repeat Purchase Program, please follow this link to more detailed Merchant Accounts Repeat Purhcase Program information. What is the Significance of HackerSafe Logo? The HackerSafe certification provides your customers with an extra sense of security when shopping with Merchant Accounts. Sites that display the HackerSafe logo have passed over 2,500 individual tests, including the FBI's Top Twenty Most Critical Internet Security Vulnerabilities Test, on a daily basis. HackerSafe sites are also certified to meet the security requirements of American Express' Data Security and MasterCards' Site Data Protection (SDP) programs. And best of all, sites that use the HackerSafe logo have seen significant increases in sales. On average, HackerSafe has seen sales increases of 15% by adding the certification and logo to sites. We've tested the certification ourselves and have seen similar results. You can check out the success stories at under the Merchant section. No action is required on your part to enjoy the benefits of HackerSafe, and Merchant Accounts pays for all fees associated with the HackerSafe implementation.
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