The acquiring banks have a strict set of requirements that you must meet before they will allow you to accept online payments. The reason for these strict requirements is to help reduce their exposure to the risk of fraud as online payments are accepted in a Customer Not Present (CNP) environment. The following is a set of guidelines that we recommend you follow before applying for your Internet Merchant Account. If you have all of these in place and the information available it will make the application process go much smoother.

Have your website available for viewing and ensure that it contains the following:

• Refund Policy explaining how you handle refunds and cancellations.
• Terms and Conditions giving information about your website content and how your visitors are and are not permitted to use it.
• Privacy Policy outlining how you will respect the privacy of your website users and customers.

Outline of your business by providing a detailed explanation of the following:

• The products you sell or the services your provide.
• The method by which your products or services are delivered.
• The number of projected transactions per month.
• The value of the projected transactions per month.

Provide details of your choosen Payment Service Provider (PSP) including:

• Details of how you will integrate to PSP. Example - hosted payments page or XML API integration.
• Clearly indicate if cardholder information will be accepted on your server or that of your PSP.
• Indicate if you be using Card Verification Code (CVC) and/or 3D Secure.

Finally if your business already exists and has been trading then you should provide two years of audited accounts. If this is not possible then provide a detailed business plan that includes the source of your investment and your projected turnover for the next 3 to 5 years.

Where do I get an Internet Merchant Account? << Index