Businesses that have never accepted credit or debit cards before and are new to card processing can use a payment service provider to set up card payment facilities. Using a UK payment service makes it simple to set up secure credit card processing facilities.
The first step in setting up credit card processing is getting a merchant account. A merchant account is a financial contract between the business and a bank. The majority of merchant accounts in the UK are provided by high street banks such as Barclays or Lloyds TSB. Going through a UK payment service provider means they can advise you on the best deal and which bank offers the best deal for a particular type of business. It is possible to shop around for the best rates before setting up a merchant account; you do not have to go with your existing bank. A UK service provider such as Secure Hosting will obtain quotes from a number of different banks and guide you through the process.
If you already have a business bank account, it is still necessary to set up a merchant account. Without a merchant account a business cannot take credit and debit card payments from customers, it is a facility provided by the bank and is usually subject to extra checks before it is issued. Once a merchant account has been set up, you will receive a merchant number. It is this merchant number that is needed to set up credit card processing facilities. With a merchant number it is also possible to set up online card payments. In order to take payments from customers over the internet you must have both a merchant account and a payment gateway. A UK payment service provider will connect your website to your merchant bank via the internet. Payment service providers, provide an area on a secure server to host payment forms and forward transaction payment to the merchant bank for authorisation.