Why the World Account?
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For the costs involved with this account, including transaction charge, monthly fee etc. please click here. Please note: Our terms, prices and rates are non negotiable so please do not ask us to make an exception as we cannot do so. For a list of our most frequently asked questions please click here

Process and documents

When you apply online you will receive an automated email with the relevant documentation and supporting documents to return. Once all forms and supporting documents have been printed off, signed and returned back to us, 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.

For help on understanding the documents and for information on how to complete them, please click here

Application timescales

During busy periods the application process may take 14 - 21 working days (from the time of receiving your documents) due to the amount of applications we receive. However we try and get the whole process done in as little as 10 - 14 working days

Money-back Guarantee *

There is nothing to lose by applying for the World Merchant Account as we provide a no risk Money-back Guarantee. We only take payment once we receive the relevant documentation from you, thus making a complete application. If you complete the application form correctly, but subsequently get rejected, for whatever reason, then you will receive a full refund of your payment.

 PC Payment Terminal

For many businesses, this is the most exciting feature of the Web-Merchant service.

The PC Payment Terminal is now FREE

If you don't yet have a web site we can still 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.

You don't even have to rent a terminal, or 'PDQ' machine to process card transactions - you will be able to input information on a simple screen on your computer. By simply going online to a secure page, which we give you, you can verify each transaction instantly. If you have a number of transactions to check, just stay on-line and submit them one after the other.

Just complete the standard application form and choose 'Yes' when asked whether you want to apply for the PC Terminal.

Multi-Currency

When you apply for Web-Merchant your account is set-up to accept a base currency as standard and for FREE. This enables your customer to pay in the currency of their choice at the prevailing exchange rate.

Over 120 additional currencies are available at a charge of £50 (+VAT) per currency. If you require additional currencies, these can be arranged when your Web-Merchant account is set-up on our systems.

Fraud Prevention

As a standard feature, your Web-Merchant account will be equipped with an 'online detective' facility helping you to avoid fraudsters and tipping you off when a transaction looks suspicious or too good to be true.

The cost of the online detective is 6p per transaction and represents a very small price to pay compared to the potential revenue loss from a single fraudulent attack.. more >>>

Deferred Payments (pre-Authorisation)

In addition to the normal online credit/debit card checks, you may want to make offline checks against your shopper's credit/debit card. Deferred payment (or pre-authorisation) gives you the time to make such checks.

The shopper enters their card details as normal, the online checks are made, and funds are reserved for payment against the shopper's card. However, the payment is not completed at the time, but deferred, allowing you to make additional offline checks against the card. If you are satisfied with the results of those additional checks, you complete (or post-authorise) the transaction. The shopper is now debited, and remittance (the funds that are made over to you) is made to your account.

If you want to support both standard authorisation and pre-authorisation on your web site, we will need to set you up with two remittance accounts. You can manage pre-auth transactions through to post-authorisation on the Customer Management System (CMS) - see below or click here

Note: Pre-authorised transactions are effective only for five working days and, if not post-authorised, will lapse after this period. This means that the shopper's card will not be debited and you will not receive remittance of funds.

Merchant Administration Interface (MAI)

The Merchant Administration Interface (MAI) is an online, menu-driven management and reporting tool you can use to administer your account(s) and payments and to customise your installation options and payment pages. It is one of a number of tools we provide to help you carry out a range of tasks.

A comprehensive user guide is available after you apply

To learn more about the MAI please click here

FuturePay - Subscription / repeat billing

In traditional business it is often an advantage if you are able to let your customers make payments on a regular basis - such as in the case of membership fees, or subscriptions. Web-Merchant can provides you with the facility to set up the equivalent of Standing Orders or Direct debits with your customers. This service is called 'FuturePay' and is available as an add-on to your Web-Merchant Account for an additional once only fee of £100 (+VAT). If you wish to use FuturePay, simply select the appropriate service when you apply.

Please click here for more information regarding FuturePay

Disclaimer

Please note that due to an applicants status and/or business model and following a full risk assessment of an application, we are unfortunately sometimes required to 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

Integrating your web site with the World Account

There are several different ways to integrate your site/shopping cart to the World Account. The way in which information about purchases is passed between your shop and the World Account payment service is called the Integration method.

You can set-up the Redirect Model integration to suit your own requirements by configuring various options. For instance, you can upload your own versions of the payment pages that are displayed to your shoppers, and you can specify that you want to use the Payment Notifications (Callbacks) feature.

When a shopper makes an order at your website and starts to pay, our 'callback' feature enables you to automatically return information from us to your webserver. Many shopping carts make extensive use of this feature, to manage your shopper's orders more effectively.

For much more information on integration issues please click here

Shopping Cart and/or Bespoke Integration

We have a comprehensive range of technical guides and application 'plug-ins' that are made available to you on application. including a FREE integration manual and 24/7 tech support. When you apply for Web-Merchant, you will be asked about your proposed web site so you can be sure to receive the correct integration information.

Web-Merchant integrates with all the major shopping cart software applications currently available in the marketplace. Also any shopping cart scripting such PHP, ASP, JSP, CFM can be used, plus other technologies such as Microsoft ASP.NET

Using eCommerce Builder

If you require a simple to use shopping cart Web site, allowing your customers to add items to a basket and then buy from you using Web-Merchant's secure checkout process, why not take a look at our eCommerce Builder solution ... it's everything you need to trade online ... and more!

For more information on the World Merchant Account please click here