Less is More: Achieving Quality with your Low-Cost Offshore Merchant Account

July 11, 2007

Bookmark this: delicious

<div align="justify">So you thought you got the best deal in your offshore merchant account? Think again. With the soaring fees associated with offshore merchant account, is it wishful thinking to dream for a low cost offshore merchant account? Yes.</div><div align="justify"> Hey, I’m not trying to spoil your fun here. Just making sure you’re in good hands. Ok, your discount rates are lower, you have low minimum fees, you pay lower than the industry-dictated rates. That’s good, right? Or, it isn’t? </div><div align="justify"><h1>All or nothing </h1> </div><div align="justify"> Let’s start with the fees that you are required to pay when you set up your offshore merchant account. You have your Application Fee , Setup Fee, Programming Fee, Annual Fee, Monthly Maintenance Fee, Overlimit Fee, Gateway Setup, Transaction Fee, Retail Swipe Software fees,Check-by-phone/fax PC software fee, Web Shopping Cart fee, Discount Rate fee, Address Verification (AVS) Fee,and Statement Fee. Whoa, that’s a lot. So these charges are in your bill. For the industry rates, see this recent article, Paying you <a href="http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com/paying_your_offshore_merchant_account_dues.html">offshore merchant account dues</a>. Ask yourself, what ultimate purposes do they serve? <h2>Alternative route </h2></div><div align="justify"> With all these costs, is it dream to hope for a low cost offshore merchant account? A low cost offshore merchant account has prices below the industry rates.</div><div align="justify"> Application fee - this is rarely charged nowadays. This is so because of the growing competition among <a href="http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com/the_role_of_merchant_account_providers_in_an_offshore_merchant_account.html">merchant account providers</a>. Zero application fees are the one of the marketing strategies to attract clients. To give you a head start, industry rate for application fees ranges from $75 - $125. Setup fees -most providers don’t charge this anymore also as a part of the package to keep clients coming in. Industry rate is from $50 - $150. Programming fee -this is applied when installing a software or terminal. Most providers don’t charge this anymore as programming fees are considered to be part of the set up process. Industry rate is $50 - $95. Annual fees -this serves as a membership fee in certain ways. By the book, purpose is for the maintenance of the account. But it’s now also being taken out of the charges as part of attracting potential clients and keep the current ones in the loop. Industry rate is from maximum of $125. Monthly maintenance fee -this can be seen as an alternative for the annual fee. This is a choice of the merchant account holder if they want to pay the whole annual fee every year or dive the amount by 12. But in this day and age, monthly maintenance fees are also being taken out to promote client loyalty. Industry rate is up to $10. Overlimit fees -this is charged when the account limit has been breached. The industry rate varies because the overlimit amounts are grouped with the corresponding penalties. But with the advent of offshore high volume merchant account, overlimit fees are a thing of the prehistoric age. Payment gateway setup fee - this is installation of the <a href="http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com/Lost_and_confused_Ways_to_develop_the_Payment_gateway_of_your_Offshore_merchant_account.html">payment gateway</a> that is critical to your offshore merchant account. Payment gateway receives the credit card information of the your customers. This is also being taken out of the bill as it is regarded as part of the setup process. Industry rate is $99 - $299. Transaction fee -are the fees charged by the processor for every credit card transaction. This is charged even if the transaction was approved or declined. 20 - 30 cents is the charged for every transaction made either by swiping, keying, over the internet or mail-order-telephone-order (MOTO). Retail swipe software fee - this is for the use of the credit card processing software solution. This serves as an wireless terminal if you have a PC or a laptop with an internet connection. You can print out receipt real-time from top-of-the-line retail swipe softwares available in the market. For better client patronage, most merchant account providers and <a href="http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com/A_behind-the-scenes_look_at_third_party_processors.html">third party processors</a> are also charging zero for this service. Industry rate is $175 - $395. Check-by-phone/fax PC software fee - this is charged when payments using a check are made over the phone, or send by fax or electronic check payments. This is still done, but rarely. For better efficiency and security, online credit card transactions are preferred. Plus, currently, there is no charge for this service as well. Just so you know, industry rate is $149 per month. Web shopping cart fee -this is for the use and maintenance of your online shopping cart. Ofcourse, when you have an offshore merchant account, you can also enjoy the luxury of selling your products and services online, and with a shopping cart, you have global market. But this fee is also being charged free as well, for better client loyalty.</div><div align="justify"> Discount rate fee -This is the percentage charged for each transaction that the processing company (merchant account provider) charges to manage the transactions for you, either swiped, over the internet and MOTO. Address Verification System fee - The Address Verification Service (AVS) fee is a technology that double-checks the validity of the address that your customers enter for product shipping. What this system does is verify and compare the address keyed in with the address registered in the customer’s credit card issuer. Industry rate is from $5 to $10.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> Statement fee- this is the charge for the production and mailing of your monthly statements. Your monthly bills as an offshore merchant accountholder includes all the deposits in the account, total of volume sales, and other charges for the month. Now, this fee is also free of charge for improving customer service. But industry rate is $10- $15 per monthly statement. <h3>Look beyond what your naked eyes can see</h3>What you need to do is see if the services that the charges on your offshore merchant account statement are actually carried out. Take payment gateway as our model, is the payment gateway properly installed, if yes, is being regularly checked ? How ’bout the virtual terminal? Was it appropriately placed with the correct control panel? Does it function properly? Are the other softwares properly functioning? Are their performances still efficient as the same level from the initial installation? Don’t just be comfortable that just because they are on the bill means that they are actually properly functioning. Low vs. free Some of this fees are charged free. More or less the application and setup fees are often zeroed out. But watch out for this kind of tactics. We all know why they’re free right? Marketing strategies come to play. Be observant, if there are freebies, are the other fees unusually high? Are the fees that are charged lower than the industry rates live up to the quality? <h4>Never settle</h4>Don’t let yourself be lurked into the gray area of Just ok.. , go with the options that you feel most at ease. Also, it doesn’t mean that high cost equals high quality or low-cost means mediocre results, or free is synonymous to cheap. What you need to make dealings are options with payments that are reasonable, when the rates are approximately the industry range, then, that’s a good start. If the fees are closer to the market rates, it means the merchant account providers are competitive enough and established players in the field. <h5>At the end of the day</h5>Just remember to go with your instincts, and I bet that your instincts will tell you to go for quality. Quality doesn’t mean that you have to pay a high price to get the best service. Money isn’t everything,if it will take added time to reconcile your needs to that of what a merchant account providers offers, go ahead. It’s your business, you spent a great amount of time to expand. Quality always goes with the feeling you almost have it all, and you know you will, and getting a low cost offshore merchant account is one of the ways to achieve the highest quality. </div> <a href="http://www.onlywire.com/submit?u=http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com&t=Less%20is%20More:%20Achieving%20Quality%20with%20your%20Low-Cost%20Offshore%20Merchant%20Account&tags=low%20cost%20offshore%20merchant%20account,%20offshore%20merchant%20account" target="_blank" title="Add this Article to Onlywire"><img src="http://www.onlywire.com/i/onlywire.ico" border="0" alt="" align="absmiddle" /> Add to Onlywire</a>

Bookmark this: delicious

del.icio.us digg

digg

Less is More: Achieving Quality with your Low-Cost Offshore Merchant Account

Recent Posts

Offshore Merchant Account

High Risk Merchant Account

International Merchant Account