Acquiring Online Merchant Facilities

Establishing a system for processing credit cards online is a relatively simple process, not unlike acquiring a merchant facility to process credit cards via an EFTPOS terminal.

Do you need one?
Your EFTPOS Merchant Agreement does not permit you to process payments using credit card numbers acquired online!

Credit card details acquired on a website offer a different risk profile to banks. The banks also offer customers, using credit cards online a higher amount of consumer protection, including different refund options.

Hence, an Online Merchant Agreement is required to acquire and process credit card details acquired from a website.

What will you need to do?
The Online Merchant Agreement requires you to complete a number of tasks.

Completion of an Application Form
Presentation of an outline Business Plan
Payment of an Application Fee (<$200)

How do you get one
It is best not to attempt to get one from your Bank Manager, Branch Managers tend to be relatively uninformed about their e-Commerce Payment Systems.