These days, most customers go in for the credit or debit card payments as these are hassle free. However, as a retailer, you need to have a merchant account in order to facilitate such payments. Selecting the best merchant account can be a real daunting task.

While choosing a merchant account provider that best suits your business, it is important to save yourself from the frauds.

Here is a step by step guide that will help you to zero-in on the best merchant account:-

Verification

Begin with a research and make a short list of all the merchant account providers. Consider only those that have a reputable background. Carry out a research on their current and past performance. Look for any customer complaints or inefficient services, associated with them in the past. Authenticity – is the number one requirement here. The best merchant account is one that has an undisputed track record.

Check for features and benefits
Every merchant account comes with certain features and benefits that attract the potential customers. Compare these benefits and features, offered by all the service providers, to evaluate them against each other. Make sure they offer the basic features like acceptance of all major credit cards, fast and easy transactions, free technical support, free customer benefits and completely safe transactions.

The charges
There are usually a number of fees that are charged by the merchant account provider, some of which are fixed and some vary with the transactions. Make sure the fee structure suits you well. Here are some of the fees that you may be charged:

•    Firstly, there will be a compulsory application fee and a one time security deposit charged from you. Preferably, you should to go in for providers who refund that fee in case your application gets rejected or when you close your account with them.

•    Next is the statement fee. Some providers have a minimum account billing policy and in case the providers have any such minimum billing requirements, there will be no statement fee, provided you achieve the minimum sales obligation.

•    In case you opt for a refund policy in your business, you will have to pay a charge back fee.

•    Lastly, there is the transaction fee which is always charged by the provider. Make sure this fee doesn’t go beyond 3% of the transaction amount.

The fee structure for the above services may vary from one provider to another. Select the one that proves to be most profitable to you.

Fund transfer

Preferably, the funds should reach your account within 72 hours from the time of the transaction. Compare the time limit of different providers and decide on for the one that facilitates fund transfer within a shortest time.

The bottom-line is to decide on an account which complements your business needs. A cheaper merchant account isn’t always the best. Rather, providers who score high in areas of track record, customer services and technical supports are the best.