Our country as a whole runs on the plastic industry. We swipe our cards wherever we go, from our groceries to our movies. It is an inconceivable thought to run a business without some sort of card reader, and a merchant account with someone to process those sales. As long as you have a modicum of decent credit, you should be able to achieve this. But if you have bad credit, your search will be long and arduous.
The long hunt for a merchant account
We have literally thousands of banks in the United States. They process money daily through all sorts of accounts, but very few do their own processing of credit card sales. Most outsource to other companies and then pass on the fees they pay, to the customer with the merchant account. Then this cost rolls on down to the consumer.
The hard part of a merchant account is finding one with fees that are not so costly, that when the fee gets to the consumer, they don’t look elsewhere to buy their products. It’s quite the double edge sword when searching. You need low fees, easy access and processing fees to get it to your account, that won’t wipe out what you just made. With some research, you can find some great companies. Such as eMerchantBroker for one, or The High Risk Guys for another. Each has low fees and affordable deposit prices. And there are many more like them. You just need to do the ground work to find what will work for your business.
Bad Credit Crunch
If your credit has a shadowy past, you can do several things to clear it up. Begin by finding the problems and cleaning up the credit report. Hunt down the bills that need paid and work out arrangements. It will begin to show a positive credit rating on your report.
Next, make sure that you tell the people you are applying with, about a divorce or health issue that got in your way. And follow the above paragraph to rectify the issue. Take charge of your life and your credit. Don’t let it dangle in your way. You have a business to get off the ground and you need a merchant account. Take responsibility for what happened and go get it cleared up.
Using Places like eMerchantBroker or The High Risk Guys, are more likely to help you, than the banks. Their policies and regulations are much stricter and less accessible. But don’t be afraid to shop around. Do research to find the Merchant Account that could work for you. If you have credit so far down, you may have delays with your business idea. The risk is on them, if you fail to follow through with a sale and don’t deliver.
Don’t be afraid
Even with these obstacles, don’t be afraid to try. The worst they can say is ‘No’, and you had that answer before you started. You can still talk with them and work out the kinks. After all, we are all here to make money, and so are they. Communication solves so many things. Go for it.