As with anything, having an offshore merchant account has its advantages as well as disadvantages. The advantages outweigh the negatives for those that need it. This means the very reason you went after an offshore account was because of the difficulty of getting an onshore merchant account.
Advantages
- No limit to the number of transactions you can accept….. ever.
- Having an offshore high-risk merchant account is a little more money for you, but if you double or triple the sales you have, it will more than pay for the issues you had to deal with.
- You will have little to no taxes compared to onshore accounts.
Disadvantages
- You have a time difference because of the country you may be working with.
- Your per transaction fee will be 4-10% depending upon the country and your merchant account.
Your money
As with any merchant account, your money is available to you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You don’t have to decide right off the bat if you want an offshore merchant account. The merchant account servicer will fly your account to several banks and bring you a bid. You will have to search through them and figure out which one you feel works the best for your business.
No worrying
You won’t have to worry anymore about your onshore merchant account servicer canceling your account because you had an advertising campaign that was a success and you suddenly had an influx of new business. If that is a concern of yours, all you have to do is contact the merchant servicer and notify them of the campaign. Likely they will NOT cancel you for ‘suspicious activity, which would be a welcome relief.
Your Virtual Terminal
With your merchant account comes the button from the merchant servicer for your website. Load the information from your account processor and put it on your site for your customers to use when purchasing from you. With that comes a safe Gateway for the transactions to process through. This just means that not everyone can see the private information of your customers. The transaction runs through the system smoothly and your customers can feel safe using their debit and credit cards.
When that is completed, your money is placed into your account upon your request. In the meantime, it sits in your merchant account waiting for transfer. As with any merchant account, there is a small fee to move it to your bank. So just move money a few times a week to keep the fee down, and before you ‘sign up with your merchant servicer, find out what the fee is. Knowledge is power after all.
Offshore accounts
The biggest risk you face is the honesty of the banks offshore. Are they really who they say they are? After you have gotten a good bid from an offshore bank, do some checking to verify that they really are who they say they are. You don’t want to get ripped off by a total stranger. Finding your funds would be difficult and dealing with offshore authorities with different laws, beyond frustrating and humiliating.
Take your time. Do not rush and make mistakes. Good luck and good money.