Free Merchant Account Credit Card Processing Online

About Credit Card Processing

To accept credit cards as payment increases revenue for any business. As any merchant knows though, accepting credit cards comes with credit card processing fees and expensive processing equipment and software. These fees and equipment can get really pricey, some credit card processing machine can cost in upwards of $700, wholesale. That price does not include the price of software, training and access to Internet gateways to process credit card transactions online. The following is a general idea of what a business needs to process credit cards, and the correlating costs.

• Credit card terminals – These are the machines in which the credit card is "swiped". For a quality credit card terminal, expect to pay no less than $300.
• PIN Pads – Pin pads are necessary for brick-and-mortar retail stores when a customer must enter his or her PIN number in order to make a purchase.
• Credit card processing software– This software is necessary in order to process and manage credit and debit payments and can cost anywhere from $200 to $300. Another option to purchasing this software is to pay a monthly fee, usually around $15 a month, for access to the credit card processing company's software.

Where to Find Free Merchant Account Credit Card Processing Online Companies

• Sun Virtual – Sun Virtual offers free online credit card processing to merchants as a part of a fee-based package. The company offers a wide variety of merchant packages that offer free merchant account credit card processing online.
• Merchant Accounts Express – Again, for a monthly fee, Merchant Accounts Express offer free access to Authorize.net, an online payment gateway. A payment gateway is a computerized system in which credit card transactions travel. For example, from the merchant, to the merchant's bank processing system, then on to the credit card interchange, this then routes the customers' credit card information to the specific credit card issuer. With Authorize.net, merchants can complete this process in one simple step.
• Charge.com – This company offers free credit card processing software to merchants that open an account with them. Charge.com also offers the following items and services to merchant account holders:

1. Free shopping cart set-up for Internet based transactions – Average price $300.
2. Free Internet credit card processing software] with Web terminal – Average price $200 to $400
3. No fees for accepting payments by check, phone or fax – Typical price for this service is $300.
4. Zero Programming charges – A savings of $50 to $100.
5. No charge for American Express credit card set-up – Other companies charge around $25 to $50 for this service.
6. Free shipping and handling – Average cost to ship the credit card processing equipment is $25 to $35.
7. No account set-up fees – Other companies charge about $50 to $100.
8. No application fees – A savings of $95 to $250.

How to Find the Right Credit Card Processing Company

There is large number of credit card processing from which to choose. Take a few of the following things into consideration before making your final decision.

• Your business needs – If your business deals mostly in cash and checks, then choose the most basic of credit card processing accounts. You will not need all of the extra features those businesses that do a high volume of credit card processing needs.
• Weigh the value-added – Consider how much accepting credit cards will increase your business revenue. If the end result is a low amount, purchasing credit card processing software, equipment and paying the monthly fees will wind up as what is known as a sunk cost. A sunk cost refers to costs that cannot be recovered by future cash-flows.
• Listen to your customers – If you are hearing a common complaint amongst your customers about accepting credit cards, it is a good time to look into doing so.
• Whether you plan on developing a website that offers your goods and/or services – If you plan on accepting payments online, credit card processing will be equipment is necessary in order to accept these payments.