Purchasing credit card machines and merchant accounts for small business - Part 2
Nov 11th, 2007 by CCM Direct
When purchasing credit card machines and merchant accounts for small business, there are several things you should consider.
Contracts…When establishing a merchant account every merchant must sign a contract specifying the responsibilities of both parties. You must agree to abide by Visa and MasterCard rules as well as those of the merchant account provider. However, this does not mean you have to be locked into a contract for any length of time (to learn more about contracts and term lengths see Understanding a Merchant Account Contract’s Length of Term).
Visa nor MasterCard require merchants to use their services for any length of time. Contracts that require a merchant to keep their merchant account for any length of time is solely at the discretion of the merchant account provider. The fee associated with terminating a contract early is also at the discretion of the merchant account provider and thus can vary. Contract lengths are not always disclosed up front so you must be sure to ask your provider what yours is. Make sure you don’t ask, “Is there a contract?” because the answer is always, “Yes”. You want to be sure to find out how long your contract is for.
