With our Solution 1 Account payment is issued weekly, 5 days in arrears - more info
With our Solution 2 Account payment is issued weekly, 28 days in arrears
With our High-Risk and Adult Account payment is issued weekly, 7 days in arrears - more info

No. The Merchant Account + Gateways are an integrated merchant account service. In addition to the processing of transactions, the credit card processing tracks information to automatically record credit card payments and credit card expenses. This means it is designed to connect exclusively to merchant accounts issued by ourselves

Yes. If you don't have a web site we can activate your Merchant Account for your 'traditional' business, so you can start taking credit card payments directly from customers or by phone, fax, mail-order etc. - more info

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. Once you have applied and are successful in getting an account, you will then have the associated costs to pay such as the set-up fee and monthly fee.

A number of businesses try to apply using false details and/or business descriptions e.g selling DVD's but in fact selling medication. As you can imagine this wastes alot of time for all parties involved, most importantly us. This practice is illegal and is classed under UK law as 'trying to acquire products or services under false pretenses'.

For this reason, anyone caught doing so will not only have their business details past over to the appropriate authorities, but will also be charged a £150 + VAT Fee

Any company who changes their business model must inform us as soon as possible, otherwise their account could be closed with immediate effect and no refund given

When filling in the application please make sure that you are as precise as possible with your product descriptions. Some customers have unfortunately been refused an account because they have failed to give an accurate description. For example - someone who is selling herbal products, may simply put 'Health care supplements'. However this can easily be misconstrued to mean pharmaceutical tablets, pills etc. However, if a description of '100% herbal products such as vitamins and protein supplements' had been entered then it would have passed the initial stage.

This also works in reverse. For example if you are renting out accommodation that you own and have control of (no third party). However you fail to mention that you will also be supplying flights etc. and do not have the necessary bonding, then your application will be rejected.

On the application you will be asked to give an estimated monthly online turnover. These will most likely be guesstimates as 90% of applicants have not yet started to trade online. Because of this please do not over exaggerate these estimates as they can hinder you application and final merchant account (if offered). Certain applicants think by exaggerating the amounts we will be more keen to help them. However this is not the case whatsoever. Not only will we help any company big or small, the fact that you have put very large monthly turnovers may mean you are actually deemed a higher risk. Therefore receiving different terms to those advertised (see disclaimer below) or not receiving an account at all.

Bank card issuing associations charge a percentage of the sale for the use of their cards and this amount is referred to as a transaction fee. The percentage paid by the merchant may vary depending on the monthly sales volume, the average sale size and whether a transaction is processed with or without the card being physically present.

Our merchant accoounts start at competitive transaction fee of only 1.89%. This is one of the lowest rates available for card-not-present transaction processing (no swipe machine). In addition, there are no upfront deposits and no minimum monthly volume requirement.

A gateway fee is applied by the transaction processor to cover the costs of receiving and processing the transaction. While a transaction fee is a contribution for the convenience of accepting credit card payments, a gateway fee pays for the use of the infrastructure to receive payment information, request authorisation from the customers bank, transmit the authorisation information to the merchant and to facilitate payment of the merchant.

Many banks require a non-interest-bearing deposit equal to 1 or 2 times the average estimated monthly credit card sales by a merchant. This can pose a substantial barrier to accepting credit cards for some merchants. The purpose of this deposit is to cover any purchase refused by a customer and for which the customer's credit card issuer refuses to pay (a chargeback).

To overcome the barrier of a large cash deposit, the Solution 1 account and High-Risk account includes a rolling reserve. This reserve, equal to either 5% or 10% of each purchase, is held for 6 months after the sale. If a purchase is charged back by the customer's credit card issuer, the amount of the chargeback and any chargeback fees will be deducted from the rolling reserve. After 6 months have passed, any amount remaining in the reserve from the purchase will be paid to the merchant.

A chargeback is a reversal of a sales transaction by the customer's credit card issuer. Chargebacks most often occur when a cardholder disputes a transaction and you, the merchant, cannot provide adequate proof that the transaction made to a cardholder's account is valid. A chargeback can also result from processing errors, authorisation issues, and/or any other transaction irregularities.

When a purchase is charged back to the merchant, a £15.00 fee and any fees charged by the customer's credit card issuer will be deducted from your account in addition to the value of the sale.

Please click here to learn more about chargebacks and how to help prevent them.

Web Merchant’s success is built on core values of creativity, development and commitment. By keeping our customers’ desires at the heart of everything we do, we strive to deliver value for money, flexible solutions and excellent customer service.

When people come to us for their eBusiness needs we treat them, not as a number, but as an individual. We appreciate that each customer has their own level of understanding when it comes to what they are wishing to achieve, and what everything means. As one customer recently put it...

"Thank you very much for all your support and help over the years. In view of our ineptitude with all things web-related, you've really smoothed the way for us and we've been very pleased with the results!"

By providing your bank account number and bank routing number, you permit funds owing from your merchant account to be automatically deposited, by electronic funds transfer, into the bank account that you specify

Due to security, money laundering and privacy issues you must supply a land address and phone number when completing the documents. You may however, use a PO Box and a free phone or local charge number such 0845, 0800 and 0870 number etc. on your website

Your web address (domain name) must be registered in your company name. The reason for this is that if a shopper searches your domain name, they can see who exactly owns the website they have spent money with. Basically everything needs to tally up for shopper confidence. This also helps stop fraudsters opening and closing businesses every couple of days.

For all our merchant accounts you need to have a business bank account set-up. Sole traders that use their personal / current accounts must provide a business account.

Yes. However due to the money laundering act, remitting funds across international borders can sometimes be a bit tricky i.e. they sometimes will only remit funds to accounts in the same country as the business is based. However if the account is in exactly the same name as the company’s this will be ok.

You may use your merchant account with other websites as long as they are selling similar products or services. Please note though that due to the potential risk of chargebacks, your business name must match on each website. For example if you have set-up an account using the business name 'DVD's R US' but also want to sell picture frames on another website using the same account, this would cause problems as the name would not match what appears on a customers credit card or bank statement. Thus causing a chargeback. For this reason you would need to set-up a second account.

If you wish to have monies paid into seperate accounts, depending on which website someone has paid you, you will need to have different merchant accounts. We are unable to split monies from one merchant account into different banks accounts

No, a minimum remittence amount for the Merchant Account + Gateway does not apply

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.

With our merchant account Solution 1 and 2 Merchant Account your trading name appears on the card statement. Please be advised that if you are a sole trader it will be your personal name trading as i.e. W Merchant t/a ABC Industries.

With our High-Risk and Adult Merchant Account the message that appears on the cardholder's credit card statement is always the descriptor which the merchant mentions in the application. It doesn't have to be the trading name and can be something different. If you (the merchant) would like to have discreteness then you could for example also use a support website as the descriptor. On the support website managed by the you, cardholders for example are able to ask questions by emailing or calling the merchant using the details on the support website.

As long as the descriptor has some sort of connection with your business then it should be fine. Also some issuing banks show the second line of the descriptor on the cardholder's statement. On the second line the merchant's city of where they're based will be mentioned.

If you are selling online you must comply with certain website requirements. Once the website is compliant along with all the remaining documents the application will be passed to the bank for approval. For more information on what requirements are needed please click here.

The above requirements do not apply to MOTO (virtual terminal) only merchants (unless a website is used in conjunction).

You can accept the following cards automatically: Visa, Mastercard, Electron, Visa Debit, Delta, JCB, Laser (Eire only), JB (Pre Paid). You can also accept the following cards, however you must apply direct to the Card Scheme: American Express, Diners Club.

Please note that to be able to accept Visa, MasterCard and Amex you can be incorporated anywhere (within reason). However to accept debit cards you must be incorporated in the country the debit card originates, normally the UK and Europe.

Credit/Debit card logos need to be as prominant as possible throughout the website. For the rules regarding this and for the logos available, please click here

Due to money laundering regulations 1993 we are required to see different Proof of Identity and address in order to process your application. Once you apply you will receive an email with a list of supporting documents to return. These are stated below:

Identification Documents

• A photocopy of your passport or photocard driving licence, to confirm your identity.
• An original utility bill or bank statement, (Photocopies will not be accepted) to confirm your current home address. This must be recent, i.e. dated from within the last three months, and for a service provided directly to your home. Acceptable examples are bank statements, gas, water, electricity, or landline telephone bills.
• An original voided cheque, to confirm the bank account details of the business. The cheque must show the name of the business to which the merchant account will be issued. A used cheque is not acceptable or original letter from bank to confirm business bank account details.
  
  Application Documents
  
  
• A Completed and signed Direct Debit Form
• Signed Schedule of fees agreement
• If the business currently accepts or recently accepted card payments, you must supply photocopies of the last 3 months card processing statements, . The statements must clearly show sales, refunds, and chargeback’s
  
  For help in completing the documents please click here
  
  

Each account is provided with a customer mangement system (CMS). The CMS is a central resource that provides information, support and facilities to help you manage your accounts. From here you can make full or partial refunds, change login and passwords, primary e-mail addresses and other account information, view statements, and a whole lot more. Please click here for more information

A variety of methods could be used, each of which is described in our integration guides and depends on the shopping cart you wish to use. See shopping cart integration's

FREE Integration documentation and technical support are both provided by telephone and E-mail

Yes we can provide merchant accounts for sole traders or individuals. However you must have a business bank account set-up