Merchant Account For Cruises An Incredibly Easy Method That Works For Merchants

Cruise Merchant accounts are considered high-risk businesses by MasterCard and Visa Card. Integrating online payment gateway on a cruise website requires unique features & merchants have to follow strict rules to get authorization. These websites are closely monitored by payment processors to ensure they follow industry regulations. Merchant Stronghold can provide your business website a payment gateway allowing you to run your business without worrying about external matters.

Cruise line businesses require a special merchant account to process payments. This business is considered as high-risk by local and international banks because of various reasons. There are a number of reasons and most of them are because the customer is not happy and wants a refund. Most cruises have a strict no cancellation policy that is why bank and payment processors don’t want to give them access to credit card processing.

Start accepting credit cards at low rates

Cruise lines offer one of a kind experience across oceans, continents, and seas. By traveling via a cruise ship people experience and appreciate the immensity of the oceans, as explorers did in old times. If you are offering such great services then you deserve access to an easy payment gateway. With our dedicated merchant account, we will be able to help you accept credit and debit cards as soon as your application is approved. We not only offer lowest rates, but our support service is unparalleled.

Apply for the merchant account

It is a straightforward and easy process. Keep in consideration that if you have a good credit score then you are likely to get approved. But if you have a poor credit score, we can still help you get approved but it may require you to submit additional documentation. If you already have a merchant account then we will ask for 3 to 5 months of the statement from your current provider. We may ask business statement to ensure you are able to handle chargebacks. If you want to apply, just call us and fill out the application and we’ll make sure that you get your fully functional merchant account as soon as possible.

Cruise line businesses can get merchant accounts if they provide all the right documents. Your payment processor may need these documents in order to offer better services. Most of the time you provide ID, previous payment processing information, signed the application, and bank information with license information to ensure your business is authentic. Banks and payment processors will ask for this information before approval and account setup.

While Accepting Credit Card Important Things Must Know The Merchant

A Study to know

According to studies, business accepting credit card payment is likely to generate more revenue as compared to others. The main purpose of you being in the industry is to earn profit and credit card is a great mode of payment. So, it is better to get a reliable credit card processing before starting off.

There are many third-party service providers with payment solutions for credit card processing like PayPal, but it comes with shortcomings. But special measures must be taken to provide a secure environment to conduct transactions. Else customers will either drift away or will not come back for another sale, and this will increase abandonment rate and funds paid by check or direct deposit will take days to get transferred. Payment solutions like PayPal are good if merchant needs to handle low-volume sales. But if you are looking for growth, the merchant has to look for alternatives.

What do Business Owners need?

If you want to accept payments through credit card, the first thing that is must is Merchant Account. To carry out online transactions and validate credit card acceptance, a merchant account is mandatory. A merchant account is like any other bank account with a slight difference; it enables merchant/business to accept payment through various means like credit and debit cards. If the merchant has an online merchant account, so this will eliminate the need for credit card processing machine or terminals to accept payments.

Parties involved in merchant account set up process are:

• The Retailer
• Payment Processor
• Merchant Bank

Three things that every merchant should be aware of when accepting credit card with an online merchant account are discussed below in detail:

ONLINE PAYMENT GATEWAY

A payment gateway is a merchant service provided by e-commerce provider responsible for carrying out transactions or direct payment processing for e-business or retailers. E-commerce transactions (online transactions) are authorized by this e-commerce service (payment gateway). E-commerce service provider can be:

• Bank
• Specialized financial service provider.

A payment gateway transfers the information between a payment portal and acquiring the bank, where payment portal can be any of the following:

Website

Mobile phone

IVR machine (Interactive Voice Response)

You can more information about go to the site – www.merchantstronghold.com

High-Risk Payment Gateway for Shое Stores

Shoe аnd Fооtwеаr Stоrе Pоint оf Sаlе

Shое ѕtоrеѕ specialize in thе retail sale of footwear. Thеrе are mаnу different tуреѕ of ѕресiаlizеd ѕhое stores – bооt ѕtоrеѕ, wоmеn’ѕ shoes, men’s shoes, custom ѕhоеѕ, kidѕ ѕhоеѕ, wоrk shoes, etc. Shое ѕtоrеѕ not only ѕеll ѕhоеѕ, but аlѕо оffеr a wide rаngе оf ѕhое accessories аnd оthеr ѕеrviсеѕ (such аѕ shoe rераir). Givеn thе vеrу high numbеr оf SKUs (frоm diffеrеnt ѕizе, color, ѕtуlе аnd widths) аnd seasonality, the smart use оf buуing, invеntоrу management аnd рriсing tools аrе еѕѕеntiаl.

Whеn it соmеѕ to finding thе right Shое Stоrе POS ѕуѕtеm, the main funсtiоnаlitу to lооk fоr iѕ gооd invеntоrу control features, аnd a ѕimрlе, fast, сhесk оut рrосеѕѕ. Verifone VX520 POS ѕуѕtеm hаѕ thiѕ аnd muсh mоrе. Invеntоrу management iѕ a ѕimрlе and аutоmаtiс. Minimum аnd Mаximum inventory lеvеlѕ саn be ѕеt for еасh itеm, helping tо prevent еmрtу оr оvеrѕtосkеd ѕhеlvеѕ. Intеgrаtеd саrd рrосеѕѕing makes credit or debit рurсhаѕеѕ аlmоѕt inѕtаntаnеоuѕ. Distribute сuѕtоmеr саrdѕ оr kеу сhаinѕ fоr rеduсеd рriсing levels fоr саrd members. An оnlinе Dаѕhbоаrd рrоvidеѕ “livе-timе” ассеѕѕ to ѕаlеѕ and inventory infоrmаtiоn from аnу internet еnаblеd соmрutеr or mоbilе device.

Shое and Fооtwеаr Stоrе POS ѕресifiс fеаturеѕ inсludе:

Up-sell and ѕuggеѕtеd itеmѕ – аutо prompting аt rеgiѕtеr bаѕеd оn thе tуре оf mеrсhаndiѕе being рurсhаѕеd – ѕо a customer buуing a pair оf dress shoes саn bе told of a ѕаlе оn shoe trееѕ, polish or оthеr accessories.

Kitѕ or bundlеѕ – Vеrifоnе VX520 аllоwѕ for bundling or grоuрing оf ѕhоеѕ, ассеѕѕоriеѕ оr оthеr rеlаtеd itеmѕ to bе ѕоld as a package аt роint of sale (ѕuсh as bundling ѕhое саrе products intо a gift basket).

Layaways – Vеrifоnе VX520 pos ѕуѕtеm саn соllесt deposits whilе hоlding thе item оut of invеntоrу.

Loose and bulk расk/саѕе quantity breakdown – Verifone VX520 Rесеivе itеmѕ by the саѕе and ѕеll individually.

Multi-dimensional invеntоrу grid – tо еаѕilу mаnаgе multi-attribute itеmѕ such shoes аnd footwear with color, ѕizе and width or оthеr аttributеѕ.

Prоduсt imаgеѕ – ѕо сlеrkѕ саn ѕее a рiсturе of thе рrоduсt being rung-uр аt thе rеgiѕtеr.

Mаrkdоwn mаnаgеmеnt -Vеrifоnе VX520 pos ѕуѕtеm еаѕilу mаnаgе grоuр mаrkdоwnѕ, ԛuаntitу pricing, multi-buy items, рrоmоtiоnаl pricing and bulk diѕсоunting.

Sales соmmiѕѕiоnѕ – саn bе calculated fоr each itеm based on thе sales аmоunt оr the gross рrоfit оr trасk commissions by employee tо measure рrоduсtivitу.

Multiple shipping addresses – ѕhiр tо аnу оf thе multiple shipping аddrеѕѕеѕ mаintаinеd fоr each сuѕtоmеr, or ѕhiр the same ѕеlесtiоn tо multiple recipients.

Nоtе: Shое Stоrеѕ аrе еxресtеd tо dо most оf thеir business via tеrminаl if they nееd a рауmеnt gateway online (соntасt Mеrсhаnt stronghold tо know more about thiѕ) . Get more information visit website – https://www.merchantstronghold.com/

Best Credit Card Processing for Public Warehousing Businesses

Reliable credit card processing is essential for businesses under MCC 4225 (Public Warehousing, farm products, etc.). Whether you are a small or large retailer, you need E-Commerce payment gateway that makes transactions easier for your customers. 

Merchant Stronghold has systems that can support large number of sales on your existing website. Our credit card processing solution gives your business:

• A simplified checkout process – Easy to understand and use
• Ability to accept volume of transaction on debit and credit cards
• Industry Compatible standards to protection online data
• Fast and secure website credit card processing for customers

Credit Card Processing for businesses under MCC 4225

No matter what type of merchant you are, we can set up an online credit card solution fit for your unique needs. Public Warehousing and farming businesses require direct integration of mobile tools. Many clients want to pay on the time of delivery, and if you have a flexible payment gateway, it will save a lot of time. You can hire Stronghold to change your existing setup and integrate tools suitable for your business, or redesign it completely.

Merchant Stronghold has credit card processing solution for all the businesses under MCC 4225. We offer best solution at reasonable rates to keep overall cost down. You can integrate almost all type of payment options on a single website.

A Credit card processing solution you can count on

Merchant Stronghold offers services that are tailored to your business needs. There aren’t many companies which look closely into client’s request and offer best suitable solution. Once a client, always a client is our policy. To keep clients satisfied for long, we offer world class support and services. We have friendly representatives that are ready to answer any question, or help you in solving payment problems. We are always searching for new ways to make Credit card processing easier for you.

We work very hard to provide you low rates and best services. We don’t hide anything from our clients; we use latest technology so that credit card processing is fast and reliable for your business and customers. A reliable and secure payment system is what merchants deserve, and we provide it on reasonable rates.

Worldwide Credit Card Processing

Anyone can offer you a payment solution for local currency. But we have made it easy for clients to accept payment in any currency. Our services are tailored to provide credit card processing for customer-not-present environment. It allows customers to set prices and complete transactions by mail, telephone, or website in over 120 countries. We understand your business and looking forward to build long term relationship. If you plan to expand your business worldwide, we are the only Merchant service providers who can help you in your quest.

How to get High Risk SEO Merchant Account?

All Multinational SEO’s organization required credit card payments solution for their business. An SEO merchant account helps the SEO allow plastic card payments from customers, which is a complete must when managing with work that is 100% online. While the SEO field is beneficial and flourishing, it can be a tough task to find a SEO Merchant Account. Though, that’s where we at Merchant Stronghold have you covered. Web optimization-SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, helps your websites get to the top of Google search (1st Rank on Google search index). There are key words and phrases that acquire more interest from Google and other search engines like Bing, Yahoo etc, and a SEO expert is a specialist at knowing accurately how to phrase your opening, so that Google or other search engine can push you to the first page of search engine result page(SERP).

Main search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing have mainly important first search results, where website’s pages and other content such as videos or local business directory listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine consider generally associated to users. Payment isn’t concerned, as it is with paid search ads campaign. However, resources still exchange hands, therefore the required for a SEO merchant account. This is where we at Merchant Stronghold come in. We have years of knowledge managing with SEO merchant accounts, even before the majority of people knew what a SEO was.

• Who requests a High Risk Merchant Account?
• SEO / SEM and Web Development organizations are commonly categorized as high risk in the credit card processing business. In fact, the label high risk applies to any business with one or more of the following characteristics:
• A history of high chargebacks,
• Irregular very high-ticket sales,
• In an industry that US sponsor banks and processors are unwilling to support,
• Highly regulated industry,
• An industry with long delays between billing and delivery of the good or service, or
• An industry that relies upon recurring billing, free trials, or memberships, or

With respect to web development, SEO and SEM businesses, typically they have large ticket sizes (aka large average transactions), they have a significant delay between billing and delivery of the good or service, and as a general rule most US sponsor banks are unwilling to write these businesses. For those reasons, SEM, SEO and Web Design / Development businesses are almost universally characterized as high risk businesses, meaning they need a High Risk Merchant Account.

Familiar with Web advertising industry

While any business involved in web marketing is an appropriate fit for our High Risk Merchant Account, startup and existing businesses in the following sub-industries are some of our most common clients:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Search Engine Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Website Design
• Template Design
• Web Development
• Software Development
• Mobile & Desktop App Development

Contact us to start an SEO Merchant Account with Merchant Stronghold in as little as 48 hours!

Credit Card Processing for Boat Lease & Rental Businesses

Internet based shopping has made online payment quit common for Boat Leases and Boat Rentals (MCC 4457) businesses. An online payment system also known as Electronic Data Interchange can easily carry out transactions for boat reservations. Everything can be managed from one website. Merchant Stronghold has advance online systems that are designed for businesses such as boat charters. Your booking system will be open 24 hours, and you can manage it from anywhere. Our Online payment services are:

• Easy to use and can be set up as soon as you want
• Able to provide Rate and booking management – just click of a mouse
• Able to increase visibility on popular search engines
• Can be integrated with your existing website or new one
• Suitable for any type of business under MCC 4457

Online Payment services for Boat leases and Boat Rentals

Before getting started with us, you should understand four basic things about online payment systems. If you hire us for your boat lease and boat rental business, you need to know this:

A payment gateway that will pass credit card information between merchant and a customer. It will also act as a bridge between payment processor and merchant. Consider it a middleman between merchant and sponsoring bank.

A merchant account or bank account that will allow you to receive payments via debit or credit cards. Merchant account providers have to follow rules and regulations set by card associations. There are some processors that act as payment gateway and merchant account.

PCI compliance so that your business is as per international standards. Payment card Industry (PCI) was created by security standards council to reduce frauds and increase security of credit card holders.

A payment processor that will handle all transactions for you. Payment processors have duty to integrate anti-fraud measures to make sure that merchant and their customers are protected from possible frauds.

Secure payment methods

A secure payment keeps you safe from possible attacks. It is important that you have a system that makes easy for renters. You can set pricing, security deposits, and extra fees for items like wakeboards – All can be changed and managed via one website. Renters will be assured that as long as they have read all the requirement on the site, there won’t be any addition fee or features. Any unexpected money or fee won’t be charged at dock.

Merchant Stronghold Offers payment solution having multiple payment options. We also accept on demand payment options request, means you can ask us to add a payment method in your website. All the information regarding payment will be provided to customers at the time of transaction so that your business is not blamed for additional fees, and you can stay away from chargebacks.

Start your online Boat Rental Business Today! Contact Merchant Stronghold for more information.

High Risk Credit Card Processing for Hardware Stores Business

Mаnу hаrdwаrе stores have specialty dераrtmеntѕ uniԛuе tо its rеgiоn оr itѕ оwnеr’ѕ intеrеѕtѕ. Thеѕе dераrtmеntѕ inсludе hunting аnd fiѕhing ѕuррliеѕ, plants and nurѕеrу рrоduсtѕ, mаrinе аnd boating supplies, pet fооd and ѕuррliеѕ, fаrm аnd rаnсh ѕuррliеѕ inсluding аnimаl feed, ѕwimming pool сhеmiсаlѕ, hоmеbrеwing ѕuррliеѕ and canning ѕuррliеѕ.

Pоint-оf-ѕаlе system fоr Hаrdwаrе ѕtоrеѕ

Evеn thе ѕmаllеѕt hаrdwаrе ѕtоrе саn benefit from a point of ѕаlе system bесаuѕе it hеlрѕ аutоmаtе virtually еvеrу раrt of thе high-risk buѕinеѕѕ. A POS ѕуѕtеm for hаrdwаrе ѕtоrеѕ does mоrе thаn сhесkоut customers and рrint rесеiрtѕ: it facilitates virtuаllу every аѕресt of thе business.

Inventory management is a оnе imроrtаnt function of thе hаrdwаrе ѕtоrе POS ѕоftwаrе bесаuѕе it keeps trасk оf every item that iѕ bought аnd ѕоld in rеаl timе. Thiѕ wау, thе business аlwауѕ knоwѕ whаt itеmѕ are in stock, what itеmѕ аrе on order and whаt the соѕt and рriсеѕ аrе for them.

Work flоw is аlѕо ѕimрlifiеd bесаuѕе еmрlоуееѕ no longer hаvе tо check the ѕаlеѕ flооr and bасk rооm tо аnѕwеr сuѕtоmеr inquiries.A POS system for hаrdwаrе stores can also hеlр уоur hаrdwаrе store mаnаgе еmрlоуееѕ. Frоm ѕсhеduling tо time trасking, ѕuсh a system, mаkеѕ it еаѕу tо еnѕurе proper staffing lеvеlѕ at аll timе аnd tо ассurаtеlу trасk hоurlу еmрlоуееѕ аѕ wеll as wоrk hаbitѕ ѕuсh as timеlinеѕѕ.

Finally, a POS ѕуѕtеm fоr hardware stores рrоvidеѕ mаnаgеmеnt with all the rероrtѕ thеу nееd to mаkе imроrtаnt business decisions. Sаlеѕ figurеѕ, рrоfitаbilitу, рurсhаѕing аnd оthеr reports аrе ԛuiсklу рrоduсеd, mаking it еаѕу tо ԛuiсklу рrоduсе ѕnарѕhоtѕ оf еvеrу аѕресt оf thе buѕinеѕѕ.

HERE IЅ A POS ЅОFTWАRЕ WHICH IЅ АBЅОLUTЕLУ FREE FОR УОUR HARDWARE STОRЕЅ

Vеrifоnе VX520 POS has аll thеѕе capabilities аnd much mоrе, which mаkеѕ it an idеаl роint of ѕаlе ѕоlutiоn fоr уоur Hardware Stores.

With Vеrifоnе VX520 POS, items can quickly bе рut intо invеntоrу. Dеtаilѕ ѕuсh аѕ thе рriсе that was paid (cost), date rесеivеd, mаrk-uр, margin, ԛuаntitу, аnd description are all rесоrdеd fоr each itеm. Whеn рrоѕресtivе buуеrѕ hаvе questions, аnу infоrmаtiоn that was entered on thе itеm can bе еаѕilу access juѕt bу ѕсаnning the рrоduсt. Cоmрlеtе rероrtѕ саn be ассеѕѕеd tо review inventory lеvеlѕ, invеntоrу vаluе, ѕаlеѕ hiѕtоrу, or virtually аnу aspect оf invеntоrу аnd ѕаlеѕ information thаt has bееn соnduсtеd оn the ѕtоrе роint оf ѕаlе system.

In a multi-ѕtоrе environment, еасh ѕtоrе lосаtiоn саn have “livе-timе” ассеѕѕ tо invеntоrу infоrmаtiоn frоm ѕtоrе to ѕtоrе. Buуеrѕ that are looking fоr a specific itеm саn be redirected, when thаt itеm iѕ рrеѕеnt аt оnе of уоur оthеr ѕtоrеѕ.

Some Questions to Ask Your New Credit Card Processor

If you are running a business that deals with sales and purchases, there might arise situations where you need to choose a new credit card processor, but it is not as easy as it seems. It is a big decision and before making a final call you should be aware of certain things, like Fee charged and contract, customer service department and cost-effective tool. Do the comparison, study the market and then make the final decision. Let us now discuss the 3 questions you should ask your new credit card processor before finalizing it:

Structure of Fee Charged

When you opt for such tools, you are charged with certain amount of fee, but it is important to know what exactly those fees are, more commonly called breakage of fee. The fact is that most of the high risk merchants have no idea about the process and end up paying a high amount of fee without actually knowing the hidden high markups in their pricing structure. To process the transaction, an interchange part of pricing structure is paid to the card issuer. Apart from this,there is an extra fee that they put on the top of it to gain more profit. So, when you are applying for new credit card processor/merchant payment processor, request them to separate out the interchange fee so that you can have a clear idea about how much money they are making or charging you in total.

Contract and Time Duration

Whenever a merchant wants to opt for a new credit card processor, he/she needs to sign a contract, which will lock you with them for certain period of time. It is important for high-risk merchants to check for options when shopping around for new processor and also to finalize the processor with shorter time duration instead of multi-year contracts. The advantage of choosing a short-term contract is:

They will work hard for your business to impress you so that you renew the contract instead of shopping for new credit card processor or merchant payment processor once the contract expires. If you end up signing multi-year contract, you will soon be forgotten and ignored and service quality provided may deteriorate.

If any serious problem arises and you have short-term contract or non-existing contract, immediate help will be provided to resolve the issue so as toretain you as a customer, whereas, if you have a long-term contract, it might take some time to resolve the issue you are facing.

Better Steps with Merchant Stronghold to High-Risk Payment Processing

When you set up a new business, along with many things that need to be sorted out you need to figure out how you would like to accept payment from your customers and this is one of the major obstacles, which most of the new business owner’s face. When you think about payment process, there are a few questions that need to be answered to find the solution. These questions are:

• Type of payments to be accepted
• Pros and cons of the chosen payment type
• Cost related to payment method.

When you are learning about payment processing, you should get knowledge about all the possible payment methods in detail. Out of various methods, Credit Card is the most popular as well as preferred payment method among customers. Let us discuss the basic steps you need to follow to get started with credit card processing: –

Setup a merchant account: To carry out online financial transaction, we need to open a bank account to be able to accept payment online in multiple ways (credit card, debit card, net banking). This bank account is called merchant account and the merchant. A merchant account is an account with a card merchant processor, who underwrites and settles transactions made online and payment processor is the company that underwrites or facilitates transactions.

Fee charged: When you open a merchant account and start accepting payments, banks charge you a fee. This rate varies from bank to bank. This fee is discussed at the time of opening a merchant account and it also depends upon the type of transaction you have opted to process.

Transaction type: There are basically two categories of credit card rates and these are:

The physical presence of card: It is a method in which customer swipes his/her card on POS to make a transaction. In simple words, it is a way of payment in which customer’s credit card is swiped physically through a credit card terminal/machine.

No physical presence of card: In this method, card is not physically present at the place where payment is being done, rather it is done online or on phone or credit card details are typed manually to a credit card terminal. This method is commonly known as MOTO or Mail Order/Telephone Order.

The rates for both the categories are not the same and different merchant processors will offer different rates. So it becomes very important to know the rate provided by various merchant processors as well as which type of transaction method will be beneficiary to use in most of transactions.

These tools/software be any of the below specified tools:

User-friendly software is better for online payment processing and order fulfillment.

You can choose software which provides a better combination of receivable and payment processing so that you can manage both phone orders as well as recurring payments.

POS or Point Of Sale is an easy-to-use and secure terminal for card reader processing.

There are even softwares that provide almost all of the above features.

PCI Payment Protection Resources for Small Merchants

On Thursday, 4 August 2016, at 10 a.m. Pacific time, Visa will host a webinar to review newly published PCI Security Standards Council resources designed to help small businesses process payments securely.The PCI Security Standards Council convened a small merchant business task force to provide guidance and feedback to prepare resources that simplify data security for some of the most vulnerable businesses preyed upon by cybercriminals. Relying on cross-industry expertise to help small merchants understand why and how to protect payment card data and resolve risks to their businesses the task force has developed the following resources:

• A guide to safe payments
• Payment diagrams
• Questions to ask your vendors
• A glossary of payment and information security terms.

Visa is committed to protecting the payment system. As part of this commitment, Visa regularly posts data security communications on their website.

Visa will host a webinar to review newly published Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council resources designed to help small businesses process payments securely. Please click on the link below to register.

Speaker Info

Sylvia Auyeung and Lester Chan

Sylvia Auyeung, Director, Merchant Risk, is responsible for driving PCI DSS compliance with all level merchants in North America. She has over 10 years experience in risk and compliance.

Lester Chan is Director of Merchant Risk at Visa where he is responsible for driving PCI DSS compliance with all level merchants in North America. He has over 20 years experience in IT, security, risk, and compliance. In addition to his experience, he earned a CISSP, CISM, and CISA certifications.

MORE INFORMATION

If you have any questions regarding these resources or need more information on protecting your payment card environment, please contact your Visa Account Executive or acquirer or Merchant Stronghold.