Merchant accounts are a must for any business owner. If you have an online store where you offer goods or services you surely need a way for your customers to pay for their items online. There are many ways to do this.
You can get a regular credit card merchant account. If you go with right company this can give you capability to use this merchant account in a traditional store front or to process payments online at the time of the sale.
If you have no need for a traditional store front or the merchant account to go with it you may need an Internet merchant account. PayPal is an excellent example of an Internet merchant account. They offer many different ways to do things. You have the ability to process the payments right on your site so that your customer never leaves your website or you can have them re-directed to the PayPal site. Depends on which program you sign up with and what capabilities you want to have.
Keep in mind that along with your merchant account you still need a shopping cart program and a payment gateway. Here are a few companies that we recommend going through for each service:
