BluePay Blog

There are three essential components you need to bring together to accept credit cards:  A merchant account. This is essentially a bank account that allows you to accept incoming credit card payments.  A payment processor. This is the entity that authorizes credit card transactions by connecting your bank with the customer’s card-issuing bank.  A payment gateway. This is the tool that captures credit card data before sending it to your processor. Think of it as an “online” credit card terminal. 

Topics: E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology, Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips, Getting Started with Payments, Merchant Accounts

Roughly 80 percent of American shoppers cite plastic as their preferred payment method. The simple act of hanging credit card logos on your store window or embedding them on your website can help attract more traffic. It’s clear that accepting credit cards can be a great way to boost sales. However, credit card acceptance carries a number of merchant fees. Paid entirely by you (the retailer), these charges are designed to cover payment processing costs such as: 

Topics: Small Business Tips, Getting Started with Payments, Merchant Accounts

When you launch a new business, you can usually get away with accepting cash and checks. You might even consider accepting PayPal or Apple Pay if you sell products and services online. 

Topics: Getting Started with Payments, Merchant Accounts, Awareness

Choosing a merchant processor for your business isn't easy. There are so many providers out there that it’s sometimes hard to know exactly where to start.  Many businesses focus on fees, which makes sense. Since each transaction costs money, it's only natural that you’d try to reduce processing fees as much as possible. However, merchant fees don't simply vary across providers. They also change depending on the size and nature of your business. For example, larger companies often qualify for lower fees than do smaller ones.

Topics: Getting Started with Payments, Merchant Accounts, Awareness

Credit Card Interchange Fees Explained The interchange fee is what your Any merchant that begins accepting credit cards can expect to pay a range of processing-related charges. For most businesses, however, the wholesale or “interchange fee” represents the lion’s share of those expenses.

Topics: Merchant Accounts