Getting a Merchant Account in San Francsico
Almost 20 million people come to San Francisco each year to gaze at the vast expanse of fog rolling under the Golden Gate Bridge, ride the cable cars, tour Alcatraz Island, and shop on Fisherman’s Wharf. They eat dim sum in Chinatown, catch a game at AT&T Park, and take pictures at the impressive Palace of Fine Arts. They view the wonders of the world’s oceans at the Aquarium of the Bay, and walk in awe through the majestic Muir Woods. Some of them wind up staying, and join 865,000 other residents in The City That Knows How. Many of these folks decide to open their own businesses or start-ups – and why not? San Francisco is not only the cultural hub of North California, it is the commercial powerhouse, too. New business ventures appear daily, and compete with thousands of others for success. A key advantage for one in this town is having the ability to accept credit card payments, and it can be tricky to obtain.
In order for a business to accept either online or in-store credit card payments, it needs to have an operating merchant account that it can process payments through. A merchant account can be hard to get, however – especially for brand new ventures, and ones that are small and independent. Since they are new to the market, (or do not make that much of a splash), credit card processing companies often label small businesses as being “high risk” and deny them the online merchant accounts they need for accepting credit cards. If a processor does open a merchant account for a new/small business, it probably has some heavy restrictions on it. It may not be a completely private account, for example, with the processor remaining on as a third party that can place holds on the funds collected for any reason. Many processors also charge their clients excessive fees for transactions, so most of the money collected in the accounts they manage will wind up in their pocketbooks. These are harsh conditions that could ruin any start-ups chance of making it big in The City.
Fortunately for new and small business owners, Charge.com is here to help. They are a credit card processing company that specializes in helping ventures gain access to the latest in payment gateway services. The application process for one of their high risk (or even low risk!) merchant accounts is completely free, with some receiving approval in only 24 hours. Shortly after gaining approval for an account, a business can begin processing its payments in real-time with no threat of interminable third-party holds. Charge.com also offers their clients some of the lowest rates around for credit card processing, (as low as 0.25%), and transaction fees can be as little as $0.15. Other great benefits to using Charge.com include:
- FDIC Insured accounts
- Better security
- Instant transaction and check approval
- Bigger market exposure for new, small, and independent businesses
San Francisco is one of the major technology and commercial centers of the West Coast. If start-up ventures can make it here, they can make it anywhere. With help from Charge.com, they can still build their businesses on solid ground in Shaky Town.