The Business Buzz

Are merchant accounts the same as merchant services? Merchant accounts are holding accounts for consumer card payments prior to the business’s payment processor transferring the funds to the business bank account. 

Merchant services is the suite of services that a payment processor can provide. These services include a lot more than collecting debit and credit card payments. A merchant services provider may also provide merchant accounts (e.g., banking), lease the hardware businesses use to collect payments, like a POS system, or provide secure online payment gateways for eCommerce stores. 

In the following blog posts, we’ll explore merchant accounts and merchant services. Can any small business get a merchant account? Or do you need to be approved? Are certain types of merchant services more important than others? Are all types of businesses charged the same fees for processing payments?

In addition to a general overview of merchant accounts and merchant services, we’ll look at specific industries: insurance, food, non-profit, franchises, and seasonal businesses, to name a  few. Different solutions are needed for the various requirements posed by these industries. Table for one? We’ll look at merchant services for freelancers and contract workers as well.

Sometimes, it can be hard for certain businesses to get approved for merchant services. This might be due to their history (or lack thereof) or even just the nature of the business. We’ll also explore how to have an easier time getting approved for a merchant account.