How To Obtain A Merchant's Credit Card Account

It's a proven fact that mail order marketers can increase salessubstantially by offering their customers a credit card option.
Some marketers enjoy increases of 10% to 30% in sales when theyget up with a Visa/Mastercard merchants account. Others havereported increases up to a whopping 100%, or even more!
If all of your sales are made by mail, you can expect to up yourtotal sales by at least 10%, and more likely 15% to 30% simply byoffering the credit card option. If you plan to use the telephonea great deal as a marketing tool, offering a credit card buyingoption could double or triple your sales.
Credit card buying is seductive. Many people like the option ofbuying something today that they won't have to pay for untillater. Also, most consumers tend to spend more using theirplastic, than when they're writing a check, or paying cash.
REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME A CREDIT CARD MERCHANT
There are many good reasons why you can benefit from securingcredit card merchants status. Here are some of them...
* People with credit cards are more affluent than those withoutplastic. They can afford to spend more money.* They tend to be better "credit risks", if you want to sell"open account."
* Overall, they buy more by mail than those without cards.
* You cannot effectively sell from commercials on radio or TVwithout offering credit card purchasing. Visa and Mastercard areby far, the cards most consumers have.
* They often will make credit card purchases even when they areshort on cash, and/or when their checking account balance is low.
* You can sell on installments, obtaining permission to chargethe buyer's card on a monthly basis.
* You can ship goods with the secure knowledge that payment hasbeen secured before shipment is made.
THE PROBLEM
By now, you're probably convinced that accepting credit cardorders is a darn good idea. But how can you obtain credit cardmerchants status? Truth is, it's not always a piece of cake. Inrecent years banks have been playing hard-ball with many businesspeople, especially anyone doing business by mail. It's the sameold story, a handfull of mail order crooks have almost totallyscrewed-up a good thing for honest dealers. The major credit cardcompanies have told the banks to be very, very selective inissuing merchant accounts to mail order sellers and home businessoperators.
Because a few scum-bags have ripped off some banks, and run offwith the money, your local friendly banker may not be too"friendly" when you tell him you want a merchants account. It hasbecome increasingly more difficult for mail order sellers tosecure a merchants account, and if you only sell by mail, butalso do consider setting you up for Visa and Mastercardprocessing. That happens to be reality...but always rememberWHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE MUST BE A WAY! In this specialvaluable report I'm going to cover some of the best way to obtainyour merchant's status.
THE BEST WAY TO OBTAIN YOUR MERCHANT ACCOUNT
Although your banker may have already told you that they "cannot"accept you for a merchant account, the simple, unvarnished truthis that he/she can. Visa and Mastercard do set some rigidguidelines for their affiliated banks to follow, but ultimatelythe banks must approve or disapprove each application. Excusesconcerning "doing business by mail", "operating a home-basedbusiness", "not having a long business track record", are justthat-excuses! A somewhat polite way to tell you "no"!
Could a mail order businessman, (books, home-study courses, etc.) but how also conducts his business exclusively in his home get a Merchant Account? Fat chance of him getting a merchants account. Right? Wrong: He happily processes credit card orders for his customers will full knowledge and cooperation from his bank. How did he do it? He never stopped asking for what he wanted.
When his own bank refused to even consider him for a merchantaccount, due to the fact that he was in mail order, and alsodoing business from his home, he beat path to several otherbanks.
The first four banks he visited also said "no", (2 were largeinstitutions, 2 mid-size), so he decided to try some smallerbanks. Guess what? The very first bank he went to said "Maybe".
They asked him to transfer his account to their bank, so thatthey could "monitor" it for six months. He told the bankofficial that he would consider their proposal, and the proceededto another small bank one block up the street.
He liked what the second small bank said. They said "Yes!" All heneeded to do was establish a checking account with them andmaintain a modest $1,000, business checking account balance. Thishe quickly did!
He is not unique. But he was very persistent and kept askingfor what he wanted, and you must also. Probably th two best waysto get a merchant account are: (1) Keep pestering your own bank about granting you charge cardprivileges, until they agree to do so.
(2) If your bank outright refuses, make a list of all banks inyour immediate area, putting some special attention on smallbanks. Next, get out a pair of your most comfortable shoes andget to it! Ask...Ask...Ask..Ask.. Ask! You have nothing to lose,and much to gain by being persistent, and by constantly askingfor what you want (that's good advice in all areas-business andpersonal) of your life!
CREDIT CARD MERCHANT ALTERNATIVES
If you absolutely have no success in obtaining a merchantsaccount from a local bank, you should consider the alternatives.Here are some of them...
***Ted Nicholas, best known as the best-selling author of "How ToForm Your Own Corporation Without A Lawyer For Under $50.00", hasestablished a small business organization entitles "Entrepreneursof America." Membership is $50.00 per year. This organizationintends to offer reasonable rates on credit card processing totheir members. For more information write to: Entrepreneurs ofAmerica, 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 224, Washington, DC 20006.Phone: (800) 533-2665.
*** The Late Howard E. Welsh is the founder and director of the fastgrowing National Association of Publishers and Mail OrderDealers. His association has many exciting programs to help smallorder tabloid publishers and small mail order dealers succeed.Just prior to printing this report, For more information, write: NAPOD, 12 Westerville Square, #355 Westerville, Oh 43081.
***If you sell books, manuals, magazines, or forms of "paper andink" products, you may wish to join the American BooksellersAssociation (ABA). This is the No. 1 booksellers professionalassociation in the United States. In addition to many otherbenefits (National and regional conventions and trade shows,educational programs, etc.), members also can have their creditcard orders processed through the ABA's Merchant Service Discountprogram. Write to: American Booksellers Association, 122 E. 42ndSt., New York, NY 10168.
***Barry Reid, owner of the Eden Press, has advertised that hecan help mail order marketers obtain credit card processing.Write: Eden Press, Box 8410, Fountain Valley, CA 92728.
***Mountain West Communications of Colorado offers a businesstelephone answering service that handles inquires or orders. Whenyou subscribe to their service, they can also process your creditcard orders for you. Write: Mountain West Communications, P.O.Box 216, Hotchkiss, CO 81419. Phone: (800) 642-9378.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Although this special report gives you various sources that mightbe able to help you with your credit card processing, the mainmessage of this report is "NEVER GIVE UP" Never take "NO" for afinal answer. Keep asking for what you want! Those who keepasking and seeking, usually obtain what they want.