Merchant account vs. Internet Merchant Account?

[superslurpee]

Hi,

If a business already accepts credit cards and thus has a merchant account, do they need to get a special Internet merchant account to start accepting payments online in a new online store?

What if the business will only sell a few products online and just wants to do the authorizing using their in-store swiping machine like they do for face-to-face payments? (rather than using a payment gateway and all the fees)

Would they still need an Internet merchant account? Simply, what's the difference?

Thanks in advance!

 

[CoreyBryant]

It all depends on your merchant agreement application. Usually when you get a brick & mortar merchant account, you tell the process that 90-100% of the transactions will be swiped. And if you key in a transaction, you might be charged 2% more in discount fees. So if you are paying 1.55% in a discount rate - you might be paying 3.55% or more in fee now for that transaction. The reason: the charge has more of a risk of being charged back. Who is to say that you actually saw the card? (Remember, Visa/MasterCard trust no one.)

For an internet account, if you are selling about $1,000 a month, get yourself an internet merchant account. The discount rate is about 2.25% now, but the interchange was raised so that seems to be going up at the end of the month. The internet discount rate is more because of the risks involved.

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/promo/tek.asp

 

[superslurpee]

Thanks for the great advice. It is much appreciated!