Before you sign a processing contract with an acquirer, consider the following:
Basic business information: Name, type of business, address, phone number and establishment date.
Processing information: Estimate how much you expect to process, and how you’ll be processing (face-to-face, online, etc.).
Identification numbers: Federal Tax ID (if you have one) and your social security number.
Bank information: Business bank account and routing number.
Merchants typically pay a "merchant discount" to their acquirer, which is negotiated between the two parties. The cost of processing services provided by the merchant’s acquirer may be included in the merchant discount rate, which is typically a percentage rate per transaction.
Visa provides multiple layers of protection against fraud, identity theft and liability for fraudulent transactions.
Online transactions are protected by high-level encryption (SSL) technology, the Verified by Visa programme, and issuers’, merchants’ and service providers’ compliance with Visa’s industry-leading Cardholder Information Security Programme (CISP).
Visa also offers a Zero Liability policy that means cardholders won’t be held liable for fraudulent charges.
Visa's Zero Liability policy covers U.S.-issued cards only and does not apply to ATM transactions, PIN or other transactions not processed by Visa, or certain commercial card transactions. The Cardholder must notify card issuer promptly of any unauthorised use.
Accepting Visa for bill payment can potentially lower outstanding receivables, improve cash flow, and reduce collection costs and bad debt. You collect the full amount for the transaction, often sooner than with a mailed payment with no risk of bad cheques or delays.
Visa has developed turnkey creative assets to help communicate the benefits of mobile point-of-sale, including video endorsements, web pages, how to guides and more.
Merchants can take advantage of the Visa payment products created specifically for business owners, including credit and debit cards.
You may also apply for an unsecured line of credit with a financial institution to be able to use Visa branded products. With the Visa Business line of credit-considered a revolving, or ’evergreen’ line-you don’t need to re-apply every year as you would with a traditional bank line of credit.