A Gateway fee is applied by the transaction processor to cover the costs of receiving and processing the transaction. [Close]
Credit cards charge a percentage of the sale for use and this amount is referred to as a transaction charge. [Close]
Instead of a percentage rate, a Debit card transaction is charged at a flat rate fee. [Close]
A chargeback is a reversal of a sales transaction by the customer's credit card issuer. Learn more [Close]
The rolling reserve holds five percent (5%) of total approved gross transactions, over the previous six month period. Following the seventh month of operation (and every month thereafter) the reserves generated from the first month of operation (and every month thereafter) will be forwarded to the merchant of each sale for a specified period, after which time it is paid to you. The purpose of the reserve is to pay for any chargebacks which may occur against your account [Close]
A percentage of each sale is payable as a transaction fee [Close]
This is the country that the merchant has to be incorporated in, NOT the country they can sell too. The merchant can sell to any country they wish! [Close]
Instead of charging a fixed transaction fee of say 50p for debit card transactions, we charge 2.99%. This means all cards are charged identically [Close]
Three base currencies (UK Pound, Euro, and US Dollar) are available for FREE. Up to 12 additional currencies are available at a charge of £20 per currency per month. [Close]
This list does not constitute any recommendation by Web Merchant Services, nor is this list definitive. If you are uncertain whether or not your cart supports our merchant facility please contact us making sure to let us know which cart you plan to use. more information.
[Close]
Unfortunately we are no longer able to provide accounts for merchants wishing to accept payments of £1.00 or less (micro payments). In fact, the banks are starting to only allow payments of £5.00 or more. This is one reason why companies such as the National Lottery will now only allow you to add £5.00 or more to your account or force you to set-up a monthly direct debit. [Close]
There is no maximum transaction amount. However please note that items and services with a very high order value can be deemed high-risk and therefore may be given different terms to advertised. For this reason, when asked on the application what monthly turnover you expect, please do not exaggerate as this can hinder the application, if not reject it. [Close]
A £15 remittance (money paid to you) transfer fee will apply for any currency remitting outside the UK. Within the UK, Sterling remittances are FREE (all others will incur a charge. For example the fee for Euros will be €25 and $30 for USD) To soften the blow, we can extend the interval between payments if you would like to reduce costs, for instance, we could remit every 2 weeks, so that would mean £30 rather than £60 or even once a month which would reduce the cost to £15 [Close]
Minimum Remittance Amount is the minimum limit before a Wire transfer is made. [Close]
Merchant takes payment details over website or telephone. Completes authorisation request. Receives authorisation code. This authorises card & reserves funds but doesn't take them The merchant then checks eligibility of the customer or order. If OK, settles the transaction. Authorisation code from before is then used to take money or abandon order. This can be done manually through the CMS, via an API or as a combination of API/manual [Close]
To accept Amex payments with our merchant accounts you must apply to American Express direct for the ability to do so - more information - [Close]
The Account set-up fee is the amount payable once your site goes live! If, for whatever reason, you are not offered an account you will not have anything to pay [Close]
Unlike many companies, we do not charge an application fee. This means it costs nothing, apart from a little of your time, to apply for one of our merchant accounts [Close]
We never convert currencies. i.e. if we collect USD from the cardholder and pay USD to you. If you don’t bank in USD, then your bank will convert the funds to GBP upon receipt at their own conversion rate [Close]
Once each week, all sales that are at least 7 days old are paid. The cutoff point is 4:00am British Time. Sales posted before this time will be paid the following week i.e. 7 days later. more information - [Close]
Sophisticated risk management and Bulletproof data security - more information - [Close]
PCI Compliance is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard mandated by the card schemes for the protection of cardholders and transaction details - more information - [Close]
All the integration guides and manuals are available to download - more information - [Close]
Web Merchant Services provide a FREE payment terminal that is a secure interface that will enable your business to process credit card transactions - more information - [Close]
The repeat billing facility is an internet-based equivalent of standing order and direct debit facilities - more information - [Close]
The CMS is a central resource that provides information, support and facilities to help you manage your accounts - more information - [Close]
Each merchant account we provide has it's own list of businesses that we unfortunately can not help. Some of these businesses appear on both lists i.e short term loans, debt refinancing, legal highs, SKY warrenties - which means we can't help at all. However some only appear on one list i.e. escort agencies, mobile phone sales etc. which means we can help with at least one of our accounts. - more information - [Close]
The 3-D Secure™ protocol was developed by Visa to improve the security of Internet payments. The protocol is offered with the service name Verified by Visa. MasterCard has also adapted a similar protocol called MasterCard SecureCode - more information - [Close]
With the Merchant Account + Gateway (previously branded The Optimal Account) we provide merchant facilities to most Pan European businesses. This means that if your business is incorporated in Europe and is not on the prohibited business list, then this is the account for you. Please note that your business bank account & company of incorporation can be in different countries. All we ask is that they are in the same name. The rates below are the rates you pay. None of that 'Transaction Rates From' shenanigans you get with other companies.
For further details please click the relevant headings below.
Credit Card Transaction Fee
Contract Period
NB: In order to increase a merchant's chance of obtaining a merchant facility with one of our sponsor banks due to an applicants status and/or business model and following a full risk assessment of an application, we may need to increase certain elements: mainly the settlement period and the rolling reserve (other terms may be effected depending on the risk sector you operate in and your company’s credit rating). Indeed a longer settlement period and a larger rolling reserve are more likely to reassure our processing bank that we have taken sufficient steps to mitigate the risk exposure on an account.
As you can imagine we are unable to tell who will have their terms increased until an application has been put in and is being processed. Please be reassured that you are under no obligation to continue with the application if the new terms offered no longer meet your requirements. If this is the case than simply reply to the relevant email and your application will be terminated.
More information Minimum requirements | Monthly online transactions of over £100k?
Basic Information
FREE As Standard
Security & Fraud
Integration Methods
Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Legal Information | Terms & Conditions