What Is a Credit Card Merchant?
A credit card merchant is a business that accepts major credit cards (typically Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express) as payment. The payments are processed through a merchant services account established by a merchant services account provider.
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Cards Accepted
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Merchants may accept some, but not all major credit cards. Visa and MasterCard are the two most typical networks accepted by merchants. Higher fees for accepting Discover and American Express cause some merchants to not accept these cards.
Transaction Fees
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Credit card merchants pay transaction fees, typically a nominal amount, around 30 cents for each credit card sale made.
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Discount Rates
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Credit card merchants also pay a discount rate that is calculated based on a percentage of the transaction amount.
Rules
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Credit card merchants are obligated to follow rules defined by their merchant service agreement. To learn more about the typical rules applied to credit card merchants, go to creditcards.com.
Payments to Merchants
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Credit card merchants typically are provided their payment as a direct deposit to their bank account in one to three business days after processing a credit card transaction.
Fees Paid
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Fees including the transaction fee, discount rate and any applicable monthly fees are typically debited from the same bank account that the credit card merchant receives their payments in.
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Andres Rueda
