Instant Merchant Account

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By jasonstevens

An instant merchant account is a great way to get up and running with credit and debit card processing for your company in as little as one day.  You can search online for companies who offer an instant merchant account.

In some cases, an instant merchant account is merely a marketing ploy and will not let you charge credit cards instantly.  For example, if you are a completely new business with no revenue or credit history and you do not yet own a card processing machine, there's no way that you will be able to charge a credit card that day!  Even if you do already have a credit card machine, the merchant services provider will need to check your credit.  If your credit comes back okay, they may be able to help you reprogram your terminal over the phone and get you charging credit cards later that day.

It's important to make sure that you are not paying extremely high rates for the privilege of an instant merchant account when a more affordable merchant account may have only taken 2 or 3 more business days. A same-day merchant account can often make you pay for the convenience and speed by making you pay a large monthly fee, a large per transaction fee, or both in some cases!  Even if it takes you a few days of asking your customers to pay with cash or check, it can be a huge savings in order to find an inexpensive merchant account provider since the fees can really add up over time and will be coming right out of your gross revenues.

If you are a new business without a credit history, it's possible that there may be a delay in setting up your merchant account. They want to make sure that you are not a shady character and will participate in any criminal activity.  If you are the business owner and have bad personal credit as well, this can also cause a delay and may require a merchant account with higher fees or even a security deposit required.

In many cases, a credit card processing company can reel you in with promise of an instant merchant account but they typically are not instant or, if it is, usually you will be paying for the privilege with elevated subscription fees and per-transaction costs over time.

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