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Our Online Payment Solutions allow you to start take payments on your website in as little as 10 working days. As part of our growing commitment we now provide three types of merchant account

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Online Payments Frequently Asked Questions

Depending on which account you choose, depends on which FAQ's you should read. The reason for this is that each account has it's own way of doing things.

However...

Even though the three accounts have their own FAQ's, the three accounts do share many common aspects. Such as what you need to set-up an account, what sort of bank account you need etc. For this reason we have grouped the most common questions below.

Please note that these questions relate to ALL THREE accounts

What type of businesses can you help?

Do I need to have an account with a specific bank?

Does my bank account have to be in the same country as my business?

What sort of bank account do I need?

Which banks do we use for each account?

Do I need to set-up a merchant account with a bank?

What business entities do you support?

My credit rating isn't the best. Can you still help?

I have a PO Box address, is this a problem?

On the application you ask for guesstimates. shall I exaggerate?

I need help understanding the application documents

What are the pricing and costs for each account?

Do you provide a virtual terminal (VT) for 'over the phone' payments?

What is the application process?

What are the timescales for setting up an account?

What debit and credit cards can I accept?

Do you provide secure logos for me to use?

What conversion fees are levied on me if I get paid in a foreign currency?

Which countries can I sell to?

Which countries can I be in business in (incorporated)?

When will I get paid my money after someone buys from me?

How do I check my account to see who has bought from me etc?

 

What type of businesses can you help?

We can help a whole variety of businesses. We can even help new businesses. However, due to either reputational, legal or moral reasons, there are certain companies that we cannot provide payment facilities to. Please click on the relevant merchant account for a list of businesses that specific account can not help

Travel Companies: We can help travel companies, however you must be bonded with either ATOL or ITAA

Gaming and competition merchants: For more information on gaming and the types of merchant we can help. Please click here

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Do I need to have an account with a specific bank?

No, you can have your account with any bank you wish. You must however, have your bank account in the same country as your company is incorporated. This is due to strict money laundering rules which have recently been issued [top]

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Does my bank account have to be in the same country as my business?

Yes! - please see above [top]

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What sort of bank account do I need?

We favor business bank accounts. That said, if you are a sole trader than a personal bank account can be used [top]

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Which banks do we use for each account?

For the Optimal Account we use the Bank of Ireland and for the World Account we use the Royal Bank of Scotland

Could I go straight to that bank and get the same deal that you offer?

No, we have negotiated with these banks to get you the best possible deal. Due to specific terms and conditions they cannot offer the same prices etc. [top]

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Do I need to set-up a merchant account with a bank?

No! We provide the merchant account as part of the online payment solution

Unlike many other providers Web-Merchant has brought together the elements needed to obtain merchant status allowing your business to accept credit card orders from your customers.

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What business entities do you support?

We support the following entities:

  • Individual
  • Sole Proprietorship
  • Partnership
  • Limited Company (Ltd)
  • Public Limited Company (Plc)
  • Corporation (for profit)
  • Corporation (non-profit)

Please note that if you change entity then you become a new legal entity and then therefore will have to put in a new application. For this reason if you are thinking about changing then it may be worth waiting to put in an application until you have arranged it [top]

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My credit rating isn't the best. Can you still help?

In most cases, YES! If you have certain on-going credit issues or have even come out of bankruptcy, we can often still help. It all depends on how many defaults you have, how old they are, how far apart they are, how much you owe and if they have been settled.

Unfortunately we often come across cases where a director of a company, who has bad credit, will start a new company without settling old debts in the hope of acquiring merchant status. For this reason the above doesn't just apply to sole traders, but also applies to limited companies. Even though limited companies have limited liability, we will still need to check the credit history of the business and also each partner.

Even if we can't help with one account, and depending on credit history (and business type), following a full risk assessment of an application, we may sometimes increase two specific elements: the settlement period and the rolling reserve, in order to increase the merchant's chance of obtaining a merchant facility with one of our sponsor banks

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 settlement period and rolling reserve 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 [top]

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I have a PO Box address, is this a problem?

PO Boxes can be used on websites but cannot be used for the application. For the application you must supply your actual home address and trading address [top]

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On the application you ask for guesstimates. shall I exaggerate?

No. In fact this can be disastrous for your application

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 exaggerate these estimates as they can hinder your 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 or not receiving an account at all

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I need help understanding the application documents

For help with understanding any of the application documents please click here

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What are the pricing and costs for each account?

The pricing and costs for each account can be found here

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Do you provide a virtual terminal (VT) for 'over the phone' payments?

Both our online merchant accounts have a VT for over the phone transactions etc. For more information please click here

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What is the application process?

When you apply online you will receive an email normally within 1 - 2 business days informing you if you have passed the initial stage or not. If so, you will receive an email with a list of supporting documents to return. Once all forms and supporting documents have been received, your application will be assessed, then you will be contacted with a decision. You will also be contacted if any questions regarding your application arise [top]

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What are the timescales for setting up an account?

During busy periods the application process may take 14 - 28 days (from the time of receiving your documents) due to the amount of applications we receive [top]

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What debit and credit cards can I accept?

With our merchant facilities we give you the ability to accept the following credit and debit cards [top]

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Do you provide secure logos for me to use?

The banks that we use for the merchant facilities are fully PCI-compliant, including all payment pages. It is not our policy to display security logos, and these are not required for PCI compliance.

Many companies provide self proclaiming logos, however this does not automatically make them trustworthy (just ask any merchant who has used PayPal for a long time). As long as a payment page, application form, order form etc. has a padlock on the bottom right hand corner of the screen (near the clock) then it is secure!

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What conversion fees are levied on me if I get paid in a foreign currency?

No currency conversion fees are levied on the merchant when the card is charged. Any necessary currency conversion is handled by the cardholder’s bank, and the conversion fees are paid by the consumer.

If the merchant does not maintain a bank account in the currency of the merchant account, e.g. Euros, then their own bank will convert the wire transfer to Sterling upon receipt of each remittance from us. Any conversion fees will be paid by the merchant to their own bank.

As you see, we do not get involved in currency conversions. Conversions are the responsibility of the respective banks serving the cardholder and the merchant. [top]

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Which countries can I sell to?

You can sell to ANY country you wish. This is up to you and is your own business decision [top]

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Which countries can my business be incorporated in?

Depending in which country you are incorporated in depends on which account you can apply for. As you will see, some countries appear in all three lists which means you have a choice of all three accounts. Please remember that due to money laundering regulations your business bank account must be in the same country

Optimal Account:

Premier Account:

World Account:

N.B. These are not lists of countries you can sell to. You can sell to ANY country you wish. This is up to you and is your own business decision

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When will I get paid my money after someone buys from me?

Depending which account you choose depends on when you get your money. With the Optimal and Premier Account you are paid weekly, 5 days in arrears with a rolling reserve of 5%*. With the World Account you are paid weekly, 28 days in arrears with no rolling reserve [top]

* 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

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How do I check my account to see who has bought from me etc?

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.

Some of the tasks you can do with the back office include:

  • Processing transactions manually with the Virtual Terminal
  • Generating reports or searching for information by account number, card number, etc. with the Activity Report
  • Downloading reports in CSV format
  • Viewing your account balance and details with the Account Statement tool
  • View information on all transactions processed
  • Process your own refunds
  • Change the configuration options for an account

    For more information on the Optimal CMS please click here
    For more information on the Premier CMS please click here
    For more information on the World CMS please click here

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We can help you accept the following cards - VISA - VISA Delta - MasterCard - Switch - Maestro - Solo - JCB - Visa Electron