What is a merchant account
The definition of a merchant account varies according to the type of merchant account it is, but in general terms, a merchant account is a form of bank account enabling business entities to accept debit and credit card payments. The main types of merchant accounts sought are; international merchant accounts, travel merchant accounts and forex merchant accounts.
For further information on merchant accounts and any of the payment solutions we can assist you with, Contact DeltaQuest.
Merchant account defined
A merchant account primarily enables the processing of both credit cards and debit cards between an “acceptor” and the merchant acquiring bank. Under some merchant agreements, a third party known as a payment processor can be party to the agreement in order to facilitate the process.
Credit merchant accounts are accounts used primarily for the acceptance of credit cards for payment of products or services. There are 3 primary types of merchant accounts sought depending on the individual or company’s area of business.
An International Merchant Account is defined as an account which authorizes and facilitates online merchants to transact payments from clients on a global basis. A Travel Merchant Account is defined as an account which is used by travel companies to process monetary transactions. Travel accounts which use card present processing transactions require verification of card name, passport name check, signature and PIN number, thus making this type of travel merchant account relatively low in risk. However travel merchant accounts which operate on a card not present (CNP) basis adopt a greater level of risk of fraud due to the fact that no verification can be completed with regards to the cardholders ID.
Forex merchant accounts are defined as accounts used to process transactions by Forex brokerage firms. Forex merchant accounts enable forex traders to fund their trading accounts online. Depending on the type of license the Forex brokerage owns, this will affect the scope of transactions application via the forex merchant account. In some jurisdictions a forex brokerage is licensed only to allow payment processing within that specific jurisdiction.
Print This Post
