Statistics from 2005 show that online business grew by more than 22% from the year before. You need a merchant account to accept credit cards for online sales. Not everyone can easily get a merchant account. There is a lot of money involved. The use of third-party factoring services, also called credit card processors, is a fast-growing solution to this problem. Through their own merchant accounts, these processors take care of orders from other people. A good processor provides a safe place to sell, makes sure the supplier meets their trade obligations and makes sure the trader gets paid for the sale.
Criminals are coming up with more and more ways to steal information and money on the Internet, which is very scary. To help with these problems, these processors offer a very useful service to new merchants who can't afford their own merchant accounts. They also play a big role in stopping fraud and protecting the interests of consumers. A good credit card processor gives customers a strong sense of satisfaction, protects their interests, and does this at a low cost, which helps online traders make more money.
Because they have to answer to their own merchant account provider, good processors have to be very strict. If they have too many unhappy customers or traders, they might go out of business.
2CheckOut (2CO), which is an online distribution center for more than 300,000 products and services, is a well-known and well-established credit card processor. It offers a transaction interface that can be changed, multiple levels of customer service, and security features that use the SSL encryption network. One can start right away without having to worry about long-term contracts or extra equipment, and they can work with any international supplier, except for a few products that aren't allowed.
How much does it cost?
It may not be the cheapest, but based on how customers rate it and how much they like it, it stands out. One-time set-up fees of $49 are part of the initial costs. A fee of $0.45 is also added to each transaction, and a commission of 5.5% is charged. On some types of goods, these transaction fees can go up. Prices are even higher for extra services. 2CheckOut lets you pay in 28 different currencies. The wire option can be used to send money in local currency if it is one of the supported currencies. Each transfer costs $5. You can also choose to get your money in US dollars, but each transfer will cost you $20. These fees are high, especially for small payments. However, 2CheckOut lets you set a release level for payments, and payments will be held until that level is reached. There are also fees for chargebacks and stopping payment on a check.
But since this processor has one of the lowest fraud rates, these high rates are also in line with the market.
Paying your suppliers.
Most payments are made on the 1st and 16th of each month. All transactions that happen within 48 hours of these dates are processed and payments are sent. But suppliers who make more than $1,000 a week in sales can get weekly transfers.
Different kinds of goods
Some things, like adult content, firearms, ammunition, tobacco products, and multi-level marketing, are not allowed to be sold by a supplier.
Protecting the interests of consumers
A credit card processor needs to protect the interests of the people who use their cards in order to stay in business. As part of the deal with 2CO, a supplier agrees to handle all customer complaints that come to him directly or through 2CO in a way that makes the customer happy and keeps the peace.
To protect the interests of sellers, it reserves the right to put limits on how much a certain buyer can buy a certain product for any reason it sees fit.
After 2CO checks out an account, payments are made. It also holds money from a supplier's account to protect the buyer's interests. In general, 5% of the total sales would be kept as a reserve for at least 90 days, and in some cases, a higher percentage of the reserve would be kept for longer than 90 days.
It also lets you get your money back or charge it back. Either 2CO or the supplier can ask for the transaction to be reversed and the money to be put back into the customer's account. The bank that issued the credit card can question the validity of a transaction made with it, either on its own or at the request of a client, and start the process of getting the money back. We call this "charge back." When this happens, if the supplier feels wronged, he may choose to start a dispute and ask 2CO for help. 2CO would help by giving the supplier any paperwork they might need and would charge $14 for each dispute that the supplier wants to fight.
Most users have said that 2CO's service is great. The only things that could be made better would be to have more detailed sales reports and to be able to add custom form fields. It is known as a company that lets businesses get money from other businesses and consumers around the world without any fraud and at a much lower cost than traditional wire transfers.
