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Merchant Identification Number (MID) | Why Is It Important?

Worldwide, the number of merchants accepting credit/debit card payments increased by 13% in 2017, thus making up 69.2 million. Each time you process a transaction, your merchant ID number or MID guarantees your payments will reach where it’s intended to be.

This simple, little code plays an extremely important role in any kind of payment processing. Do you know where to find your merchant identification number? Just read below and you’ll know.

Merchant Identification Number or MID

If you want to enjoy safe and timely processing of your most sensitive information, you can’t do without specific identification data. That’s the reason why every online merchant owns a merchant identification number (MID) for credit card processing.

This MID is a unique number that merchants get with their merchant account. This is the processor or acquirer that generates the number. The merchant identification number is specific to each individual merchant location. As a merchant, you’ll also need a terminal identification number (TID), and a gateway identification number (GID).

When merchants process credit cards over a computer network, those networks aren’t operating in isolation: they’re in close connection with a credit card front-end processing center and a back-end settlement network through a network gateway.

All the 3 numbers or bits of information mentioned above are responsible for telling the network who should get the payment that’s being sent, how the receiver should be paid, as well as what network should be involved in the payment processing activity.

Each merchant identification number type comes with unique rules meant for authorization. Besides, these rules control the process of depositing and qualifying transactions. Moreover, each of these MIDs has its own base discount rate.

So, you get your merchant identification number attached to your merchant account. It’s transmitted together with the cardholder’s information as a practice of reconciliation and is used to identify you in your interactions and communication with your processor.

EMB Can Help You with Your Merchant ID Number

Merchant identification numbers and merchant account IDs may sometimes be confused. The thing is that these names seem to be the same, but they’ve nothing in common.

In fact, your merchant identification number is assigned to you since you’re making different types of transactions or running businesses under one payment gateway.  E.g., if you’re running a company with several brands, you’ll get a specific merchant account ID for each of your businesses. On the other hand, your merchant identification number will remain the same for the company as a whole.

So, expect to receive your merchant identification number automatically, just after you’ve opened an account with your merchant account provider. You can keep more than one merchant identification number if you make payment transactions via multiple merchant processors.

Since your MID plays a vital role in the whole reconciliation process, it’s quite obvious that you should turn to only a reputable merchant account provider to start accepting credit cards. A respectable payment processor and alternative online lender like eMerchantBroker.com can get you the most reliable and affordable merchant account in the industry.

So, with eMerchantBroker.com, you can stop worrying about your merchant ID number. EMB is regarded as the nation’s #1 high risk credit card processing company. In addition, the BBB considers EMB an A+ rating processor, and Card Payment Options’ rating for EMB is A.

Finally, let’s see what you should pay attention to. Well, first of all, you should keep your MID it secure. This also refers to your merchant account ID, as well as to any other identifying information. Lack of security can make you an easy target for online fraudsters.

The use of multiple numbers secures a transaction both to route it without error and to guarantee the transaction is legitimate. There’re cases when ISOs (independent sales organizations) serve as a middleman between the merchant and the acquirer. A new MID can be issued in certain circumstances like when changing your payment processor.

Credit card processing is an inevitable part of any online or brick-and-mortar business. So, take the time to find a true payment expert that can provide you with the best possible merchant services in the industry.