Merchant Account Application

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E-commerce : Q&A

Before you apply for a merchant account you should have this information on hand:

Your business and personal contact information

Your average credit card transaction amount

Your estimated monthly credit card sales

Your business Federal Tax ID number

A check from your business banking account

You must have a US business address and a US bank account

Once you have your information ready:

Complete and submit the merchant account application.
We will send the application to Cardservice International automatically.
Cardservice International will run a credit check on you and your business. When your application is approved, submit your MID submission form.
The application process is free. Once you've been approved, Cardservice International will charge a small fee per transaction (a complete list of fees appears near the end of this task).

Q. I already have a retail merchant account for my business. Why do I need another account?

A. Banks and credit card companies consider online credit card transactions different than traditional ones because you cannot "see" the customer's credit card. Because the risks are different, the transactions require different kinds of merchant accounts.

Q. I already have an online merchant account from another company. Can I use that for my on-line shop?

A. We chose Cardservice International as our sole merchant account provider. To use the website's Commerce area you need to have a merchant account through Cardservice International. Otherwise, your shopping cart will be a separate entity, your customers' orders will be sent to you via email and you'll have to process the credit card manually.

Understanding e-commerce transactions
There are several steps involved when your customer decides to use their credit card to buy from you online, just as there are in a traditional store. For your information, these steps are described briefly below.

Any customer who visits your store will see a shopping tool bar at the top of the pages in your catalog. This tool bar will include a link to his shopping cart. To order an item from your store, your customer will choose an item and add it to his shopping cart. He will see a shopping cart page that shows detailed information about the order. As the customer places more items in his cart, the shopping toolbar at the top of the pages of your catalog will show the number of items he's accumulating. Any time he clicks on the shopping cart he'll return to the itemized list of things he's planning to buy. When your customer is ready to purchase the things in his shopping cart, he'll go through your "checkout" process.

The checkout process includes:

a page where your customer can confirm his order,
a place to enter the his name, billing address, and credit card information,
a shipping chart that shows shipping rates and options,
a tax calculator that figures out the total price of the customer's order,
the opportunity to read your return policy, which clearly explains what you will and will not do,
an automatic confirmation email message that lets the customer know you've received his order and are acting on it.

When the customer submits an order, his credit card information is sent to the host through what is called the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, the most commonly used and safest way to send private information across the Internet today. The host sends the information out to the bank that handles your online Merchant account to authorize the transaction.

The issuing bank either authorizes or declines the transaction. An authorization reduces your customer's available credit limit, but does not yet place the charge on the customer's card.

If the transaction is authorized, you ship the item(s) your customer ordered. Then, you'll return to the Order Management section (we will teach you how) and choose the "Settle" button to finalize the charge to your customer's credit card. It's important to note that MasterCard and Visa association rules state that you are not allowed to settle transactions until the ordered goods are shipped.

At the end of the day, the host takes all of the orders you've settled that day and sends them in one 'batch' to Cardservice International. In this step, the transactions are finalized and the money is transferred to your merchant bank account within 48 - 72 hours after they are sent to Cardservice International.

If one of your customers returns an item either before or after the transaction has been settled, you may also void the transaction or issue a refund to their card using your merchant account through the e-commerce website.

Cardservice International is an independent credit card processor and an Internet communications company. Based in Agoura Hills, California, Cardservice International assists merchants who provide products and services to businesses and consumers around the world. Cardservice International is one of the fastest growing transaction processing companies in the United States. Incorporated in 1988, the company has more than 600 corporate employees, 200 sales offices and in excess of 2,200 Sales Representatives nationwide.

CARDSERVICE INTERNATIONAL, INC.
P.O. Box 2310
Agoura Hills, CA 91376-2310

Tel: (800) 456-5902 Fax: (818) 880-8393

Merchant Banks
Cardservice International is a registered service provider for the following FDIC insured banks: First Financial Bank, Atlanta, GA; Humboldt Bank, Eureka, CA; Redding Bank of Commerce, Redding, CA; Tehama Bank, Red Bluff, CA; debit network sponsorship: Total Bank, Miami, FL; Hudson United Bank, Union City, NJ; Redding Bank of Commerce, Redding, CA. American Express, Discover and Diners Club require separate approval.

First Data Merchant Services Corporation (FDMS) is the world's largest provider of merchant processing services for MasterCard, VISA, and other major credit cards in the retail, hospitality, supermarket, direct marketing and health care industries. FDMS currently processes and settles 5 billion electronic payment transactions annually--worth over $250 billion--for approximately 2 million merchants. While it may seem like a recent phenomenon, First Data has actually been processing credit card transactions for Web merchants on behalf of their client banks, for almost 3 years--that's a long time when you consider how rapidly the Web has grown since 1995!

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. Web addresses, or URLs, that begin with "https" indicate that an SSL connection will be used. SSL provides three important things: privacy, authentication, and message integrity.

Merchant ID and Terminal ID
Merchant IDs and Terminal IDs are terms that are held over from the days before ecommerce. A shop or restaurant had a specific Merchant ID, and could have several Terminal IDs, depending on the number of terminals in the place of business. A restaurant may have several terminals--one behind the bar, and one at the waiter's station. The restaurant needs to track transactions on the terminals separately, but have the funds sent to one merchant account.

The banks and the payment processors still need to know a "Merchant ID" (MID) and a "Terminal ID" (TID) in order to process transactions. Once your application is approved, you will be issued a MID and a TID by Cardservice International. In order to receive your free 'built-it-yourself' ecommerce website, you have to submit this MID & TID at the MID submission form.

Please read thru the agreement and fill out the merchant account application form

INTERNET MERCHANT AGREEMENT

it is very important that you read the internet agreement thoroughly;

Merchant Account Application Form

What services are you applying for?
(All merchant accounts require that you accept MasterCard and Visa.)

Do you currently accept American Express for internet business?
If you already have an account with American Express for Internet-based sales, choose Yes. If your American Express account is set up for any other purpose (like offline sales) or if you don't have an American Express merchant account, choose No.
Yes
No

If Yes, what is your American Express Merchant Number?
Enter your 10 digit American Express merchant account number without spaces, dashes, or any extra characters.

If No, would you like to apply for one?
If you would like Cardservice International to apply for an American Express merchant account for you, choose Yes.
Yes
No

Do you currently accept Discover for internet business?
If you already have an account with Discover for Internet-based sales, choose Yes. If your Discover account is set up for any other purpose (like offline sales) or if you don't have an Discover merchant account, choose No.
Yes
No

If Yes, what is your Discover Merchant Number?
Enter your 15 digit Discover merchant account number without spaces, dashes, or any extra characters.

Legal name of business
Enter your legal business name or corporation name (even if it is the same as your Doing Business As name).

Primary business phone
Enter the primary business's phone number, including area code. Please enter your number in this format: 888-555-1234.

Primary business fax
Enter the primary business's fax number, including area code. Please enter your number in this format: 888-555-1234. (If you don't have a fax number, leave this field blank.)

Customer support phone
If your business provides a customer support phone number that is separate from your primary business phone number, enter the customer support phone number here. If your business doesn't have a customer support phone number, use your primary business phone number. This field is required. Please enter your number in this format: 888-555-1234.

DBA (Doing business as) name
Enter your store’s “Doing Business As” name. This is the business name that your customers recognize and may be different from your legal business name.

Authorized company contact person
Enter the first and last name of the person in your business who'll be responsible for all correspondence concerning your merchant account application and account setup.

Title/Relationship
Enter the job title, position, or business relationship of the authorized company contact person. For example, "Owner," "Accountant," "Independent Contractor."

Authorized company contact's email address
Enter the email address of the authorized company contact person.

Business address

Street
Enter the business's address.

City
Enter the business's city. Please do not abbreviate.

State
To enter your state, click on the drop down box and pick your state.

Zip
Enter the business's five-digit zip code. (Do not include your 4-digit zip extension.)

Principal's first name
Enter the primary business owner/principal's first name.

Last name
Enter the primary business owner/principal's last name.

Social security #
Enter the primary business owner/principal's social security number. Please write the number without any spaces, i.e., 999999999.

Date of birth
Enter the date of birth of the primary business owner/principal. To make this date valid after the year 2000, please write out all four digits of the year you were born. For example, a person born March 10, 1948 would write "03/10/1948" as her date of birth.

Home phone
Enter the primary business owner/principal's home phone number, including area code. Please enter your number in this format: 888-555-1234.

Ownership
What percent of the business does the primary business owner/principal own? Enter the percentage of business ownership using only numbers. (We will insert the "%" sign. For example, a fifty percent ownership would be entered as 50 with no other characters.)
%

Home address

Street
Enter the primary business owner/principal's home street address.

City
Enter the primary business owner/principal's home city. Please do not abbreviate.

State
To enter your state, click on the drop down box and pick your state.

Zip
Enter the primary business owner/principal's home five-digit zip code. (Do not include your 4-digit zip extension.)

Please enter (up to five) keywords to describe your business

Please select a business type that best describe your business

Business ownership type
What is your business ownership structure? Use the pull-down menu below to choose the business ownership type that best describes your ownership structure.

Federal tax ID number
Enter your nine-digit federal tax ID number, without spaces, dashes, or any extra characters. If you are the owner and use your Social Security Number as your Federal tax ID number, enter that here. (Use this format: #########) Please enter this number carefully.

Average monthly sales volume
What is the average amount of total credit card sales you expect per month? Please estimate as best you can and enter the amount here. Note: We'll add the dollar sign for you; you only need to enter the numerical amount (for example write out four thousand dollars as "4000"). Do not use decimals or commas.
$

Average sale/ticket amount

Enter the amount of your average sale or average credit card transaction amount expected. (Please use whole numbers without a decimal. We'll add the dollar sign for you; you only need to enter the numerical amount.)
$

ABA bank routing number
Refer to the diagram to determine the bank routing number for your business checking account. (Please refer to the numbers on your business checks.)

Direct deposit account number
Refer to the diagram to determine the direct deposit account number for your business checking account. Enter the number without any spaces (even though there may be spaces in the account number as it appears on your check).

MICR number
Please enter the MICR number on your check without spaces, dashes, or any characters but the numbers themselves (no symbols needed).

Basic Rates and Pricing (if you are applying for your on-line business, the figures in blue will be applicable)

Service	Discount Rate	Transaction Fee
Standard Swiped Retail	as low as 1.40 %	as low as 0.15
Home Based Business	2.35 %	0.25
Internet Business	2.35 %	0.25
Telecharge (no equipment or software needed)	3.15 %	0.30
Based outside of the U.S. (email for details)	email for details	email for details

Monthly statement/ 24 hour 800 Help Desk	$10
Monthly minimum	$25
Site inspection fee (when leasing)	NO CHARGE!
Processing Surcharges	NO CHARGE!
Application fee (when leasing)	NO CHARGE!
AMEX Set Up Fee	NO CHARGE!
Discover Set Up Fee	NO CHARGE!
Availability of Your Funds	48 Hours to your OWN bank account
Warranty program	NO CHARGE!

Please verify that all information that you entered is true and correct, press 'submit' if you have checked