Finding An Offshore Merchant Account Provider
Monday, March 9th, 2009Finding an offshore merchant account provider for your high-risk business can be a challenge. Offshore merchant account providers are an option to keep open if you are having a difficult time meeting the criteria for traditional providers. Having a merchant account provider is essential in order for your business to process credit cards.
Without being able to accept payments efficiently, you lose a large amount of business. Did you know that consumers will spend an average of 20% more when not having to pay with cash? By offering the option to accept credit card payments, you open your customers up to more impulse purchases – which is good for you.
Some of the reasons you may want to choose an offshore merchant account provider as opposed to a US bank include owning a high-risk business, poor credit, or needing to process global payments. Finding the right provider can help you grow your business.
Offshore merchant account providers are more lenient with the credit approval process. As the US banks experience problems with clients with poor credit, it is getting more difficult than ever to get approved, and if you are, often the merchant account fees are ridiculous.
Many domestic providers have stringent requirements for providing credit card processing services. If your business falls into one of the high-risk categories – adult products, phone orders, or marketing products, to name a few, you may have already discovered the difficulty in getting a domestic account. Often high risk businesses are required to pay a high “deposit” and may have funds withheld in case of charge-backs. Offshore providers will often take more high-risk clients because the competition is not as steep. Expect to pay premium prices, but the return for your business will be worth it.
Offshore providers are more flexible when your sales increase. Many domestic providers will close accounts for “suspicious activity” if sales increase exponentially over a short period of time. This is due to the American paranoia of money laundering.
When marketing on the internet, your product becomes internationally available. Having an offshore merchant account provider will make it possible for you to accept payments from global sources. Being able to expand your market to an international audience means there is no limits to your growth potential.
Having an offshore merchant account will also put you in a favorable position tax wise, since you will be in a “virtual jurisdiction”. Research this fully before making your decision.
When looking for the right offshore merchant provider, keep in mind that many people unfortunately try to scam people through this outlet. Make sure that you are getting a reputable provider with an established history and a person you can talk to. Once you have found the right one, it’s time to get started.
By spending a little time doing the legwork, you can make sure that your business will be able to operate fully on the web to an international clientele by finding an offshore merchant account. Who knows how far your business can go?
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