HOW DO YOU ACCEPT CHECK WITH YOUR MERCHANT ACCOUNT

When we speak of merchant accounts, we most often think only about processing credit card transactions. However, there are many savvy business people out there who do not use their merchant accounts to process only credit card transactions but also to accept check payments. Yes, you can begin right now to offer more flexible payment options to your clientele by accepting checks in addition to credit cards with your merchant accounts.

Check-Present Merchant Accounts
Check-present merchant accounts are suitable for retail businesses or anyone who is willing to invest in a Point-Of-Sale (POS) or check processing hardware. Most often you do not need different equipment to process check and credit card. Usually, the same terminal is capable of processing both.

Customer will first have to write a check for the payment. The check will then scanned through a check reader and the sales amount will be keyed into it. If the transaction is approved, a receipt will be printed. Customer will then have to sign it for recording purposes. The check and a copy of the receipt will be returned to the customer for the transaction to be complete. The payment will be deposited into the merchant’s account within a day or two.

Using this method, merchants save time and trouble of banking in the checks and waiting three days for the funds to be transferred. As the transaction can be checked 24/7 online and detailed reports will be available to the merchants, managing the transactions and bookkeeping will be a lot easier.

And the best part is that your customers have an additional option of payment. There are many people out there who shun credit cards and those who do not qualify for credit cards. Accepting checks from them could provide you and your customers a perfect win-win situation.

Check-Not-Present Merchant Accounts

You also have the option to accept checks over the phone, fax or online (referred to as e-checks or i-checks) if it suits the needs of your business better. Not everyone is willing to provide their credit card information over the Internet and you can provide them with an alternative mode of payment.

There are two pieces of good news regarding this type of check acceptance. Firstly, it costs less to process check payments than to process credit card transactions. Secondly, it is very simple to do.
Firstly, information and authorization must be obtained from the customer over the fax, phone or email.

The transaction is then processed by your selected gateway company. Once the information has been verified and the transaction processed, the merchant will be notified of the response within seconds. The payment should be deposited into the merchant’s account within 2 to 3 days. Merchants are also provided 24/7 online viewing of transactions and detailed reporting, making booking a breeze.

There are variations of check-not-present transactions. For additional information on them, please visit the following websites:
http://www.paynetsystems.com/html/web_mail_checks.html
http://www.ezmerchantapp.com/solutionpopups/checks.cfm
http://www.cardstreet.com/checkguarantee.html
http://www.merchantseek.com/checksbyemail.htm
http://www.2checkout.com/community/blog/getting-started/tools-and-options/how-does-check-acceptance-work/

Now that you know the basics of accepting checks with your merchant account, you will have to do the research on the costs and terms that the plans come with before you settle on a specific merchant account provider or method. It may just be the extra lift your business needed.