Thursday, October 10, 2013

High Risk Merchant Services - What You Can Expect

Offering your customers the option to pay via credit card is crucial for your business. Especially in case of online businesses, card payment is the only option customers have. Third party agencies offer merchant processing services that include credit card processing to businesses. But herein lies the catch. While everyone is willing to support low risk businesses, businesses that are risk do not get as much support from merchant service providers to help them open a merchant account.

They are offered only by specialized service providers.

Are You a High Risk Merchant?

You qualify for this services if your business is categorized as a high risk business. The online businesses that come under this category typically include those in the following areas- adult entertainment sites, those related to health and beauty such as websites selling weight loss, skin care, muscle enhancing and other similar products including nutritional and beauty supplements. Detective services, online dating sites, lotteries sites, sports consulting sites etc are some other examples of this businesses. These businesses are inherently risk for obvious reasons.

This type of merchant services are also required for high volume businesses, because these are more susceptible to credit card fraud. Small companies with low volume sales are also considered because they cannot afford the necessary fraud screening tools.

The individual business/ business owner characteristics are also important. Businesses not accredited with the local business bodies, those with poor/inconsistent credit histories, or where the business or the owner has been blacklisted due to any reason are considered high risk.

If you are a merchant, you will find it difficult to get a merchant account, which is crucial to enable credit card transactions. Hence you need the assistance of merchant service providers who especially cater to the needs of these type of merchants.

High Risk Merchant Services - What You can Expect

These type of merchant account providers charge enormous fees for their services. Merchant service fees are way higher than those charged for regular businesses.

For setting up a regular merchant account, often the set up fees are negligible or even nil. In case of these type of merchant accounts, your high fees start right from this point and include very high processing fees.

However, considering that enabling payment by credit card is crucial to the success of your business, you have no choice but to give in to the demands of merchant service providers. But as always, you must choose your service provider wisely and make sure you are not being taken for a ride.

Some Realistic Tips to Help Improve Credit Score

Each person's situation is different. But whatever your circumstances are, there are some important things you must pay extra attention to when you endeavor to improve your credit standing.

To have a noteworthy credit history, you should have a robust credit score to begin with. Your score will be used each time you apply for a loan, to calculate your insurance and interest rates, for background investigation when rent an apartment or apply for a job.

It has been proven that most "quick-fix" methods to improve it are most likely to backfire on you so take extra caution when taking any advice that claims to improve it very quickly. The only advice that can help you reconstruct your credit is to regulate it responsibly over time. If you have not actually started on it, then it's about time you do some major repairs to your credit history before you can expect any improvements on your credit history. Here some useful tips to help you achieve that:

1.) Make sure you have a copy of your credit reports

You need to have copy of your credit report that documents your credit standing. Your credit report will include a list of accounts that has negatively affected your credit score. You can get copies of your credit report from three chief credit bureaus--TransUnion, Experian and Equifax to know which accounts need an overhaul and which ones are just doing okay.

2.) Establish your credit reputation

One concrete way improve credit score is to take out a loan and make purchases using your credit cards. For you to establish a credible reputation to your creditors, you must first work on building your credit identity. Ensure that you only charge purchases you are able to pay with or else you will end up deflating your credit further.

3.) Let the credit bureau review their records to determine if they are correct

There are times that for you to boost credit standing you can simply let your credit bureau review your credit records if indeed they are correct. As opposed to what most people believe, credit bureaus are not always faultless; they are not immune to errors. You should make a comparison between all your purchases with that of your credit history record. If there are errors to your credit history, dispute this with your bank and have them fix it as soon as possible.

4.) Remember to pay all your bills and debts on time

Updated bill and debt payments are one of the most crucial attributes in having an impressive financial records. Even if you only owe a small amount, you still need to make payments on time. In addition, for you to be able to know on methods on improving credit score, you should also refrain from overextending yourself, reduce outstanding debts, and avoid getting credit unnecessarily.

5.) Get professional advice

Professional services like consumer credit consultations are there to help you if you are already swamped with your current financial situation. You can find the hotline to your credit counseling agencies on your credit card billing statements.

In conclusion, when it comes to knowing how to improve credit standing is just a matter of taking responsibility and control when applying for loans and using credit cards. User your common sense and always take concrete financial advice before you acquire these financial options.