Accepting credit cards over the Internet requires putting a number of separate pieces together. What we have tried to do here is explain in simple terms what those pieces are and to describe how you can get everything up and running and the options which are open to you. Regardless of which bank or merchant service provider we deal with, we always insist they meet certain specific criteria, which appear below. If the Merchant Service Provider (MSP) cannot meet these criteria we do not deal with them because it goes without saying that security and reliability is a priority to everyone involved.
An Overview of the Facilities provided by Companies we deal with
Features
 

• SSL (Verisign) Secured professional billing / order processing
• Real-time credit card processing with instant verification
• Batch credit card processing (off-line processing)
• Address Verification Service (AVS)
• Monthly or Quarterly automatic re-billing of customer charges
• Negative credit card database for fraud detection
• Customised online shopping solutions for the Internet
• SSL secured order pages
• Real-time online stats and reporting
• The facility to send payment requests to clients by e-mail

 
These are the main criteria that will enable you to accept cards:

1.  The Merchant Account itself
2.  A website to sell products or services
3.  A bank account to receive the funds from the sales
4.  A payment gateway from the website to the Merchant Service Provider.

OPTION 1: VIRTUAL TERMINAL

Ideal for phone and e-mail transactions

Selling on the Web or by phone makes credit card processing absolutely vital. In fact, you will lose up to 70% of profits if you do not take cards! How many times have you decided that sending a cheque is just too much hassle? We offer a variety of routes to enable you to make it easy for your clients to pay. One is a credit card facility or another, if you are looking for a simple solution, is PayPal although it is not very flexible.

Below is the perfect solution if you do not have a website but need to process mail orders, it also enables manual processing of order received via the web. The payment gateway consists of an Internet terminal which enables you to accept payments by phone, fax or mail. It is easy to set up and use with no complex software to install. All you need is an Internet browser, connection to the Internet and your customer's card details and you can start trading.

Features

• Process payment details taken by phone, fax, via the web or e-mail.
• Quick and easy to set up with no complex software to install
• Hosted on secure servers
• Accepts a wide range of payment types - both card and cardless
• Accepts multi-currency transactions
• No software to maintain
• No need to integrate with companies systems
• All you need is an Internet browser and the processing firm's company ID. You will be given this ID once your application to become a customer has been approved

 
Benefits?

• Increase sales by giving customers a wider choice of payment methods, both card and cardless
• Support customers who may prefer not to enter all their card details online
• Enable consolidation of call centres and mail order operations
• No need for separate processing and reporting systems for Internet and non-internet sales
• Increase global sales by taking multi-currency payments
• Quick start: payments can be accepted before or during the construction of full e-commerce website
• Ideal if you have a shop based terminal but you need to process from home or when out of the office
• Fees average 4.5% for credit cards and just 50p or 80c for debit cards

Availability

The virtual terminal is available as a chargeable additional solution with various other customised packages such as website billing packages and other options.

The actual cost varies depending on exactly how the facility is going to be configured but, in general, it is very cost effective and is deliberately designed for both small and Internet / International based businesses that cannot easily obtain a flexible merchant account from their local bank or any business that wants to be able to accept payments in a range of international currencies - a service which is also unavailable from many payment processors and banks.

It is quick and easy to sign up. Over 90% of applicants are approved. You could easily be up and trading in just 7 - 10 days.
The average cost of the package is $625 /  €435 / £395 although it can be less and we can advise you in a brief consultation by phone or e-mail.


OPTION 2: NON - STATUS CREDIT CARD PROCESSING ACCOUNT

Boost your Online Sales: Accept Credit Cards

Those words have never been as true as they are today. To your clients it means convenience; they appreciate you for making it easier to buy from you. How many times have you decided that sending a cheque is too much hassle? We estimate that companies who do not accept cards could be losing up to 60% of the potential business available to them.
Of course, in reality, it is not easy for many businesses to obtain a merchant card processing account and, making matters worse, some merchant service providers are just plain unreliable. Some companies outside the US find it almost impossible to get a merchant account that lets them accept US Dollars which, if you are operating internationally, is really the key currency of the Internet. Many clients have already discovered that they need to accept credit cards to stay in business or even get the business off the ground. The reason is very simple; if you do not accept cards but your competitor does he is very likely to get the deal. Fortunately, it is straightforward for us to arrange for you to accept all major cards. Acceptance is virtually guaranteed and we can have you up and running in 48 hours.

The banks and financial institutions we deal with have developed a number of merchant accounts specifically for the worldwide online marketer. It doesn't matter if you are in the USA, Russia, UK, Spain, France or China, we can set you up with your own credit card merchant account. We offer services that include the ability to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Eurocard, Discover, Novus, Diners Club, Carte Blanche and JCB cards as well as US$online checks from customers all over the world. The credit card companies we deal with charge no EXTRA FEES, no monthly minimums, voice authorisation fees and daily closeout fees. They deduct the percentage rate (commission percentage fee) at the time of the transaction rather than at the end of the month so you always know where you stand.

The Merchant companies also offer you a system to generate shopping links for your website as and when you needed. This makes it very simple to add new products to the shopping cart at any time.

All our merchant service providers also use 100% electronic batch and real-time processing with AVS (Address Verification Service). This makes it 100% safe and reduces fraud from stolen credit cards. It is for this reason that we can place almost any business i.e. Multilevel Marketing, Mail Order, Phone Sales, Home Based Business, Internet based Business, New Business, Small Business etc.
You will be able to accept your customer's credit card purchases and orders by directing their orders and credit card details to a secured order page with your company details on the Merchant facility secure server. An instant sales copy will be emailed to your sales department at the time of receiving the order. Immediately after the transaction has been processed, the customer is redirected back to your website or any URL of your choice. If you are away from the office for a few days or a client phones to place an order, you can also send him a payment request by secure email which is ideal if, for any reason, he or she prefers not to buy from the website.

Initial Set Up Fees

Our initial set up fee for a 48 hour US or Canadian based Credit Card Processing Facility is $325 /  €225 / £195 call us and we can have you up and running within 2 days!

If you prefer a European based account you could also try clicking here. European Accounts are preferred by some clients for a number of reasons just as some clients based in Europe prefer their transactions to be processed through Canada or the USA. To addition, it is possible to place more difficult types of business through European Merchant Services providers. The details below summarise the services available through our European Merchant provider we have outlined everything below.

Please Note: Recurring billing is available. The Payment Gateway is compatible with most affiliate programs and/or commercial shopping carts. They can accept almost any Internet Business within 48 - 72 hours.
 

• Simple, Reliable, Flexible and Secure
• Ultra Reliable
• Multi-currency - EURO, USD, GBP, AUD, NZD, CHF and most other leading currencies
• Free 24/7 Technical support
• One-stop Payment Solutions
• Almost any Business Accepted
• Open for Vendors Worldwide
• Easy Signup and Implementation
• Accept All Major Credit Cards
• FREE order page
• Real-time Online Account Stats
• Free Screening
• Choose your OWN rate
• NO Monthly or Statement Fees
• NO Equipment or Software needed
• Option for MOTO (Mail and Telephone Order Transactions)

Frequently Asked Questions
We have prepared  below a series of questions and answers which should deal with any queries you have. However, if you require further information please e-mail us with your question.

1. How will the items appear on a shopper's bank/card statement?
Regardless of the provider, as a general rule, the buyer's statement will carry both the merchant's name and your trading name. E.g. Interpay - Your Company Name.

2. Does the customer get a receipt?
Yes, it is generated automatically by the system.

3. How does the Merchant get paid?
Weekly or fortnightly to your bank account which can be anywhere in the world; if you prefer you can also receive payment by cheque.

4. What is the acceptance rate?
Approximately 95%. We get very few companies denied. Should you be declined we would refund your fees in full.

5. What information is required when setting up a Merchant facility?
To set up an account, you must provide your name, address, phone number, domain, bank account details (to receive payments) and an email address. Normally, you also need to choose two different security questions to answer such as your city of birth or your pet's name. This required information is necessary to process transactions or issue a new password if you forget or lose your original password.

6. How do they prevent fraud?
By complying with all current card issuer fraud prevention requirements. They also have software which monitors fraudulent activities on their system, which essentially credit scores each transaction based on its activity.

7. Can the Merchant be protected against fraud?
Yes, the fraud avoidance system makes fraud very difficult due to various details which are checked, such as address (AVC) and the three digit code check (CVV).

8. If a customer gets bad service or does not receive the goods charged for, can the customer charge back the items?
Yes, it's the same as if you bought by mail from a normal shop.

9. What security is used?
Browser security: 128 bit Thawte SSL certificates. Bank security: 4096-bit encryption over a private circuit to the processing centre.

10. What is the normal uptime?
They were up for 98.4% of the time in 2004 and 99% of the time in 2005. Most of the downtime is scheduled between 11pm and 4 am.

11. If a customer wants to start selling hard pornographic, illegal or 'blacklisted' goods and does not inform the MSP, what happens?
All MSPs employ a team of people to keep an eye on the sites to make sure this does not happen. If you are selling items previously not disclosed, this could mean reassessment of your risk. Then you may be closed down without notice. You would be reopened upon either removal of the items OR a positive reassessment.

12. Which items are difficult to place? Does this mean that if I sell these items I can't get an account?
No, we can set up an account so, if your business falls into a difficult category, we are still able to place the business. The applicable categories are listed below. We can arrange accounts which permit the sale of these items within a few days; these accounts are called Specialty Merchant Accounts.
 
Adult Entertainment
Internet "Fulfilment Houses"
Airlines
Investment
Annual Sales
Advice/Opportunity/Services
Auto Dealers
Jewellery
Cheque Cashing
Precious Metal or Stamps
Credit Counselling, Restoration or Repair
Psychic Reading
Credit Card Protection
Pyramid Sales
Data Services
Travel of any kind
Employment Agencies
Water Softener Products
Escort Services
Weight Loss Centres
Freight Forwarders
Video Streaming/Audio Text
Hair Growth and/or Replacement
Vitamins and Herbs
Import / Export

Other Options
If you have a trading history and an established website, we arrange a number of other accounts in most offshore centres such as the Channel Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The set up fees for these accounts start at £450 / $850 / €645. These banks and MSPs are much more rigid in their criteria than some of the banks we use elsewhere although they are still much more straightforward than the well known MSPs such as Barclays in the UK or Citibank in the US.
Please feel free to contact us by phone and we can analyse the options that are open to you. If you prefer, you can e-mail us at info@privacyservices.de

Our Fees
Please note that our fees are quoted in US Dollars, Euros and British Pounds. We have chosen these currencies as they are the most commonly used by our clients. If you prefer to use a different currency, that is fine with us and we will accept any major currency. Fees can be paid by Standard Credit or debit Card although we also accept PayPal, Moneybookers and US Electronic Checks.