Establishing a Merchant Account

You opened your business and registered the name of the company with the government and perhaps even got a license. Once the name was officially yours, you opened up a bank account to process sales and bills. You also need to open up a merchant account separately from your bank account. This account does the work of  processing all of the credit and debit card purchases that your customers bring to your company.

Officially, the merchant account is established between an acceptor and a merchant acquiring bank. Your own bank may be able to provide these services to you, but keep in  mind that rates differ from bank to bank, so you might want to shop around, just like  you hopefully did before you chose your bank.