Cash or credit? In order to accept credit cards for purchases businesses need payment processing services. Card merchant account services have to be set up before they can start processing credit cards.
Beginning in 2007, electronic bill payments have outnumbered bills payed using paper checks. In 2011, mobile devices were used to visit online retailers by 12 percent of shoppers, and 6.7 percent of them made purchases. The numbers doubled from the year before.
Just like personal banking and bill paying, businesses are going online. Online credit card processing and internet merchant account services are commonplace. Using an online payment processor means less paperwork and fewer security issues for small businesses. Office supplies, time, and postage costs are saved because customers can be billed via email.
Credit card merchant account services are utilized for processing three different levels of credit transactions. As the level numbers increase, so does the amount of information required for the transaction. The first level is when a consumer makes a purchase from a business, and only requires the name of the merchant, the transaction amount and the date.
The other two levels are business to business or B2B transactions. For a level 2 transaction, additional information such as the tax amount, customer code and the merchants zip code are also needed. Level 3 processing usually involves either corporate or government issued credit cards, and requires even more detailed information; item product codes, item descriptions, quantities and tax rates to name a few.
A lot of businesses look to merchant account services for level 3 transactions. Since they are so detailed, level 3 transactions allow businesses to keep track of purchases made on the company credit card. Being able to monitor where and how the money is being spent can help reduce costs and quickly identify needless spending.