Australian Merchant Review
Tips and Tricks
Please use the following as a guide only
Here we provide some handy tips when applying for an merchant account for CNP which could save you money:
- Bargain, bargain, bargain - don't accept the first MSF and be optimistic on your trading volumes.
- Say you have a shop front - banks love bricks and mortar and will naturally discount.
- Explain that many transactions will come from known accounts in which you have a relationship with them - thus mitigating fraud chances.
- Minimise your exposure to high risk industries such as computing, gambling and pornography.
- Setup a Refunds and Returns policy on your web site (examples can be easily found on the net).
- Setup a Terms and Conditions policy (also many examples on the net).
If you are applying for an Internet Merchant Account or MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order Account) you will be asked some questions about your site before you can be processed - be prepared. Most banks are similar in the question and below are some examples
Q:Does your site support SSL above 128 bits?
A: This is really related to the payment gateway you are using (or your own site if you are hosting the payments). All SSL sites within the last couple of years support 128 bits or greater depending on your browser.
Q: Do you keep card details on your server?
A: Almost all reputable shopping carts will not keep details but maybe truncate them.
Q: Do you truncate credit card details for storage?
A: Shopping carts like osCommerce and Zen Cart do this. Most others should.
Q: Do you operate a firewall and antivirus software?
A: All Payment Gateways will do this and if you are hosting your own solution you would be taking a huge risk not to.
Q: Do you have intrusion software detection and policies to deal with a breach.
A: A PCI compliant gateway will have such software.
A good example payment gateway that fits all the criteria is here.
Banks
The following banks support 3rd party providers.
