Merchant Accounts: This article explains the basic information needed to understand what are merchant accounts and why you need a merchant account run an online storefront.

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FREE Ecommerce Solution Merchant Account Information and Tips

What is a merchant account?

A merchant account allows you to accept online payments. Merchant account providers are third party companies that have an agreement with financial institution that allows them to accept credit cards and other payment methods on your behalf. With a merchant account, the merchant account provider provides the tools and infrastructure that allow you to accept online payments from your customer without you having to buy the expensive equipment and software necessary to accept online payments.

How do I use a merchant account?

The first step in using a merchant account is to sign up with a merchant account provider. In general they will require that you have a credit card and a decent credit rating. The registration process may also involve you faxing them copies of various documents and financial statements. Once they approve you for an account you can then login to their merchant account management tool and perform various functions. These function differ between merchant account providers but they generally include the ability to check the balance of your account, transfer funds in and out of your account, view a list of transactions and their status and other related function.

To accept online payments using your merchant account you will need to find an ecommerce website design tool that supports your specific merchant account provider. VSTORE's ecommerce solution supports many different merchant account providers. If you plan to use VSTORE's free website builder then you will need to make sure that you sign up with a merchant account provider that is supported by VSTORE's free ecommerce website design tool. To view a list of supported merchant account providers simply login to the admin tool and select payment under the modules menu. You will then see a list of supported merchant account providers. Make sure to sign up with on of the merchant account providers on this list if you intend to use VSTORE's free website builder.

VSTORE recommends that you use PayPal as your merchant account provider for the following reasons:

1. PayPal registration is FREE.
2. PayPal providers an easy to use online interface from which to manager your account.
3. PayPal allows you to quickly and easily transfer funds in and out of your merchant account. In addition to funding your account through a credit card you can also transfer funds from your bank account to your PayPal account and back.
4. PayPal is already used and trusted by millions of Internet users. Accepting online payments through PayPal should help instill trust in your customers.

What if the merchant account provider I want to use is not supported by your service?

Please open a support request and our staff will try to see if it is feasible to add support for that merchant account provider.

Where can I get a FREE ecommerce solution that supports many different merchant accounts?

VSTORE.ca is please to offer a 100% free ecommerce website design tool that has quick and easy merchant account integration.

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