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  • Our Services
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      • Castles Technology Terminals
        • VEGA3000M2 Wi-Fi
        • VEGA3000M2 GPRS
        • VEGA3000C
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        • PAX A920
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What is Merchant Services?

Introduction to Merchant Services

The term ‘Merchant Services’ can initially be confusing, especially if you are not working within this industry, therefore, to be completely transparent it is a good idea to try and explain this. So, describing what a merchant is first is a good starting point: A ‘merchant’ is defined as a “person or company engaged in the business of selling or trading goods” (www.yourdictionary.com/merchant). A wholesaler is an example of a merchant. A retail store owner is an example of a merchant.

Basically, the term ‘merchant’ is related to businesses and the ‘services’ part in merchant services is related to the payment processing. Essentially: accepting card payments from customers. Consequently, a business will need a merchant services provider, if / when they wish to start taking payments (other than cash). So, if you are about to open, or have already opened a retail store; you’ve most likely come across at least one merchant service provider (MSP). These are the gatekeepers between customers’ credit/debit cards and your cash register.

What’s Involved?

To qualify as a merchant, you will first need a registered business and a business bank account. These are easy steps to achieve. From here you will need to have a merchant account and a merchant ID then comes the payment gateway and the software to accept card payments.

Described above is the process that needs to be completed in order to qualify to be a merchant. The now established merchant will then have to make a decision on how they wish to take payments from their customers. This could have a big impact on which service provider fits the business requirements. Below are some of the payment taking options available and what they entail:

  • Face to Face – These are any shop that takes payments other than cash. Terminals will be required for this and there is a wide range of options (wired/wireless/mobile)
  • E-commerce – online website that accepts payments, for example, any fashion website like ASOS where you buy their products online
  • Over the phone or by mail – a virtual terminal so you can take payments over the phone or by mail (have a portal where you enter customer details within a payment page and make a sale)

The benefits of taking card payments

There are a multitude of positives of taking card payments but the main two that businesses are likely to care about most are that it will increase sales and profit and that it is now the main source of payment in the UK, therefore there is a huge market to tap into and if you don’t accept card payments then you are missing out on a huge revenue opportunity. People are now, more than ever, likely to only have their card on them and/or not have enough cash to pay for your products and services in store especially if it is an impulse buy. As a store you want to have access to impulse buys or for them not to be restricted to the amount of money they have on their person. Some of the key benefits are highlighted below:

  • Increased sales and profit
  • Security
  • Speeds up service (reduced queuing times)
  • Convenience
  • Essential with online payments
  • The main source of payments nowadays (overtook cash in 2017)
  • More flexible

Conclusion

Are you interested or involved in merchant services? Would you like to know more about what you are being charged? Click here  – this is a simple to use guide we have created, so you can independently look into how much you are getting charged for various aspects of the merchant service process. This is because some providers write complicated statements, but we are here to help make everything involved as transparent as possible. We believe in ourselves and what we offer, that’s why we offer a price promise.

In summary, the terminology in merchant services can be confusing but once you have a base knowledge of what this includes it is easy to understand and easy to set up. It is a crucial part of your business especially as the cashless industry is ever-increasing (for more info on this check out NetPay’s blog the week before this one), proving that this is a huge revenue opportunity.

Please contact us at https://www.netpay.co.uk/contact/ for any more questions or inquiries you may have.

Good Links to Consult

  • https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/what-is-a-merchant-service-provider/
  • https://www.fidelitypayment.com/resources/what_are_merchant_services
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Fleximize member statement comparison promotion Terms & Conditions

This Promotion is only open to Fleximize Silver & Gold members within the United Kingdom who have authorisation to act on behalf of the merchant account being reviewed. Entrants exclude anyone professionally associated with this Promotion.

      1. Purchase is not necessary.
      2. Entries can only be made directly by a person with authorisation to act on the behalf of the merchant account.
      3. The merchant must be a current member of Fleximize.
      4. A maximum of one submission can be made per merchant account.
      5. To Enter, submit a copy of a merchant services statement to the email address provided by the NetPay representative or uploaded direct via the Fleximize landing page.
      6. Eligibility criteria for receiving the price beat rebate is based on:
        –  The statement submitted must be dated within the last month.
        –  The phrase ‘can’t beat your current statement’ refers to the merchant services rates listed below when compared on a like for like basis as a total including all fees.
        –  Rates to be reviewed include Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Electron cards only as well as all associated and ancillary charges.
  1. The Promoter may refuse to award the price beat rebate in the event of an entrant’s fraud, dishonesty or non-entitlement under these terms and conditions.
  2. Rebate: £100 paid by BACS to the merchant’s nominated business bank account.
  3. The funds will be paid within 30 days of the Promoter confirming being unable to beat the merchant services rates on the supplied statement.
  4. By entering this Promotion, the merchant will be deemed to have accepted that they are bound by these terms and conditions/
  5. The Promoter will only use the personal details supplied for the purposes of the comparison exercise and for no other purpose, unless we have your explicit consent. Your personal details will always be kept confidential and in accordance with the NetPay Privacy Policy available at https://www.netpay.co.uk/privacy-policy/
  6. The decision of the Promoter shall be final.
  7. These terms and conditions are governed by English Law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts or England and Wales.

Promoter: NetPay Merchant Services Limited

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