If you are a business owner with a physical store location, you may already accept cash and checks as payment for your services or products. But many individuals use credit and debit cards to pay for purchases large and small. Being able to accept credit and debit card transactions makes it possible to cater to these individuals and ensure that you can accept nearly every form of payment that is offered to you by customers.
Choose a card-processing unit (terminal) that you will use to enter card numbers or swipe cards. You can lease or buy terminals from the acquirer or from third-party credit card--processing supply centers.
Contact the acquirer or directly apply with the card processors that you want to accept. In the Resources section of this article, you can find links to three of the card-processing companies and information about their acquirers and applications to begin accepting their cards.
You will need to include information on applications such as your name, business name and address, average sales numbers and whether you already accept other cards.
According to Discover, the bank that you regularly do business with may already be authorized to set up and maintain a credit-card point-of-purchase system.
Allow the acquirer to set up communication lines in your business. They may use phone lines or dedicated Ethernet lines to connect the terminals to the processing system.
Enter the authorization codes for each card processor into the terminal before use. You will receive this information when your application to become a merchant that accepts a certain issuer is approved. For example, Visa will send you paperwork with your authorization codes and merchant details.
Once your terminal is set up you will be able to accept cards for the issuers that you have been approved for. You can accept new issuers by applying with them and receiving authorization codes if your bank or acquirer works with the particular processor.
Look for an acquirer. This is a financial institution or third-party processing service that helps set up and maintain credit card processing. Acquirers work with each processing company, such as Visa and American Express, to approve transactions. Sometimes the processing company allows you to apply directly with them to begin accepting their card.
Order free decals and signs from each issuer, such as Visa and American Express, to put on your registers and in your windows so people know which cards you accept.
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