How you accept online payments will determine the scale of your online profits. So when selecting a merchant account provider, more than just a degree of circumspection is required. Information is critical - and too many e-businesses have paralyzed their potential for growth and profit with a hasty or careless business decision. Choosing the wrong merchant account provider is surely one of the quickest ways to derail your online business.
In a nutshell, a merchant account enables you to begin accepting credit card payments over the Internet. It's a 'liaison' account linking your customer's credit card account with your own business account. Sounds simple right? So what's the first critical error many online businesspeople make? They assume that all merchant accounts are alike.

Of course, this faulty assumption has lead to much e-commerce frustration - and more than one e-business crisis. Ask any merchant who's spent a day on hold trying to resolve a simple chargeback, been drained by vampiric fees, or attempted to reach an elusive customer service department about increasing a monthly limit (while business grinds to a standstill online).