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MERCHANT ACCOUNTS - 101!

Intelligent choices are made by having the needed information. E Merchant - Direct is ADAMANT about making sure our clients are WELL INFORMED and UNDERSTAND everything regarding their Merchant Accounts. An informed client is a vital entity in our business. The more you know, the more intelligent choices you can and will make resulting in a bigger bottom line! In this regard, the following will describe what a Merchant Account is and the tremendous benefit you gain by incorporating it into your existing or new business. If you still have questions, we suggest you check out our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us directly by phone at 480 275 4444, or feel free to e-mail us at SALES SUPPORT. E Merchant- Direct invites you to check us out on the Better Business Bureau.

THE DEFINITION OF A MERCHANT ACCOUNT

A MERCHANT ACCOUNT is a (bank) account, established on behalf of the merchant, in which funds are collected by a bank from credit card purchasers and disbursed to YOU, the merchant holder. Because banks define a Merchant Account similar to that of a loan, they underwrite the issuance of a Merchant Account in a similar manner, requiring an application, supporting documentation like tax returns, acceptable products/services and good credit. Non-bank institutions tend to be more liberal in issuing Merchant Accounts, requiring only name, address, company registration and Identification. E Merchant - Direct works with both kinds of companies to ensure you receive the best deal available.

Typical merchant account charges include a percentage of each sale and a smaller transaction fee for each purchase. Despite some providers' claims to the contrary, these fees are almost always initiated.

The PROCESSOR acts as an intermediary between the purchaser (your customer) and merchant (you), receiving the purchase request from the purchaser, verifying funds available in the purchaser's credit-card account, transferring the funds to the merchant's Merchant Account, and confirming the successful transaction to both the purchaser and merchant.

Merchant Accounts established for the Store Front Operator versus the E-Commerce (Internet based business) have several differences. For your benefit, we have covered both areas.

THE STOREFRONT MERCHANT

A STORE FRONT MERCHANT ACCOUNT is straight forward. Our industry was founded on the advent of Visa and MasterCard offerings in your local department store, gift shop and drug store. Technology has improved this business from the bulky knuckle bruising slide machines to the electronic swipe terminals seen so often in retailers around the world! Today's technology has advanced to the point of also offering retailers the ability to mobilize their business through wireless technology.

E Merchant - Direct offers better than competitive fee and rate schedules. For more information and clarification, check out our Rate Schedule.

In addition, today's merchant will find greater value than ever in their merchant account. Advanced technology allow you to provide added offering, incentives and services to your customers simply through the utilization of your terminal. Speak to an EMD agent today to find out how you can expand offerings to your customers while increasing your profits with little or no cost to you!

As we said, a STORE FRONT MERCHANT ACCOUNT is really straight forward. Once approved, our implementation group will have you operational with your Merchant Account, Processor and Terminal in 24 to 72 hours... it's that simple, it's that straight forward .... that's E Merchant - Direct!!

THE E-COMMERCE MERCHANT

Today's E-COMMERCE MERCHANT requires a different kind of merchant account provider. One that is ready to move with technological changes to offer real time processing at a reasonable cost. E Merchant - Direct specializes in this area, offering the experience and support that most vendors strive for, but never truly achieve.

The E Merchant - Direct E-Commerce Package is an all-encompassing plan that ensures your Internet business can compete without interruption, 24 hours a day. Listed below are just a few of the features our plan has to offer:

E-Commerce Merchant Account - Internet-based businesses require a specialized merchant account designed to collect funds in real-time and transfer them to your account.

Order Automation - E-commerce fact - the easier you make it for a visitor to order, the quicker they become a customer. We create customized order buttons that allow your customers to place an order any time, from any page on your site. And, the code takes less than two minutes per page. It's as simple as cut and paste.

Shopping Carts - Allows your customers to select as many of your products as they like, and then order them quickly.

Securely Encrypted Order Forms - Using 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer technology, we ensure your orders are safe while providing a degree of consumer trust that can add up to increased sales.

Customer Database Management - Allow your customers to place an order at any time with a simple login and password. Meanwhile, your private access allows you to better use information for marketing and promotion purposes.

Web Site Hosting - Our E-commerce package can be structured to provide hosting so that you don't need a separate service with different support staff. We provide an all-in-one solution.

Virtual Terminal - Our Virtual Terminal enables you to process orders from any Internet connection in the world. This feature lets you close the sale immediately and run credit cards remotely.

AND MUCH MORE…

WEB SITE Design Services - Our professional team can create a web site for you at extremely competitive costs. User-friendly with terrific impact getting your message across to visitors.

WEB SITE Optimization and Search Engine Submission services - Internet traffic relies heavily on search engines to locate businesses offering services and / or products they need. Optimization of a web site will generally cost thousands, however, our designers can optimize and submit your website to over 1300 major search engines including MSN, LYCOS, YAHOO, ALTA VISTA and more for just pennies a day. Optimization and submission is the business of keeping you in front of your potential customer.

WEB SITE Advertising - Now you have a terrific website ... you need to let people know who you are and what you offer! Advertising packages designed for high response at low costs is the answer. E Merchant - Direct has teamed up with The Internet's Best of The Best to create advertising opportunities to fit your budget in increase traffic. Check out our packages in our ADVERTISING section. Don't throw dollars away buying lists, software and promises that don't deliver. Make your dollars work for you ... REALISTICALLY!

The E Merchant - Direct E-Commerce Package is one of the most competitively priced plans available today. Before you decide on a provider, make sure you contact us. Our sales associates are ready to design a package for you - at a guaranteed lower price.

THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY ... ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT??

Question the on - line processing service selling the "Deal of the Century"

An Online Payment Service is not specifically a merchant bank or processor, but it performs virtually the same services of both, accepting credit card funds from purchasers and disbursing those funds to merchants.

The main issue with Online Payment Services is that their fees are often exorbitantly high. This way, they can afford to accept good as well as bad merchants, write off losses from the bad, and still maintain extremely high profit margins.

Online Payment Services also protect themselves against 'bad merchants' by limiting the monthly processing amount This is a very important consideration because once the monthly maximum is reached, sales will be lost because the processor will simply stop processing orders.

E Merchant - Direct will ensure your service through our long time association with reliable providers in the industry. We ARE full E-Commerce solution providers!

Before you make a merchant account and credit card processing decision, we recommend you contact us, via e-mail or phone us at 480 275 4444. Alternatively, you may want to pre-apply using our quick pre-application form.