If you’re running a business, then it pays to know what buyers prefer when it comes to various aspects of the shopping experience. For instance, when it comes to the tail end of the process, people in Puerto Rico prefer paying with a card. Now the question — do you have the facilities to process and accept credit and debit card payments?
For businesses that have yet to adapt to the change, maybe it’s time to open up a Puerto Rico merchant account. Offered specifically to businesses, this type of bank account is the very foundation of electronic payments.
If you’ve ever paid for an in-store purchase by sticking your card into a little terminal at the cash register, or if you’ve paid for an online purchase by typing in your card information, then you probably have some idea as to what a Puerto Rico merchant account is.
This specialized business bank account is issued solely for businesses for the purpose of accepting and processing credit and debit card payments. The bank account serves as the digital storage facility for any and all electronic payments issued towards your business.
Another thing about merchant accounts in Puerto Rico is that you can’t fund them by making a deposit over the counter. Instead, they’re funded only by making credit or debit card payments. So, you see why they’re different from other kinds of bank accounts.
How exactly does a merchant account in Puerto Rico allow you to take electronic payments? Well, it’s
a process that entails various steps, but it takes no more than a few seconds or minutes tops. And of course, it starts with data collection.
Your merchant account is established with what’s called a merchant acquiring bank. This banking partner functions to communicate between your business and the brand on the card. When your buyer enters their information either through a point-of-sales terminal or by typing in their information, your merchant acquiring bank takes the data plus the purchase information to a payment gateway.
This payment gateway protects the buyer’s account from fraudulent debits so to speak, so it will have to verify that all the information provided checks out. If there are any errors in the card information, or if the cardholder’s account is insufficiently funded, then the transaction won’t be approved.
If all the details are a-okay though, then the payment gateway opens and the card issuer gives the merchant acquiring bank the go signal to debit the account. The funds taken from the buyer’s account are stored temporarily in an escrow on the bank’s end.
Disbursement to your merchant account in Puerto Rico will depend on what you agree on with your bank under your contract. The most common arrangement is to have the funds funneled into your account by the end of the working day. But some can disburse instantly, or on a routine weekly schedule.
Any business can open up a merchant account in Puerto Rico — all you need are the right requirements. Some banks will call for a variety of documents to assess your business and your fitness for a partnership, while others will need nothing more than a business permit, an employer’s ID number, and contact information.
If you’ve dealt with your bank in the past, then they may not take too long to give you your Puerto Rico merchant account approval. In fact, some banks can take as little as 15 to 30 minutes to hand over the details of your newly opened merchant account in Puerto Rico.
But not everyone is so fortunate. Some businesses will be met with various roadblocks on the way to opening a merchant account in Puerto Rico. And while there are a variety of reasons why this might happen, the most common reason for disapproval is risk level.
During the know-your-client process, your bank will take a variety of factors into account to find out whether partnering up with your business would be both safe and beneficial to the financial institution.
One of the things they’re most careful about would be your risk rating. A high-risk merchant account in Puerto Rico is essentially an account that’s at a higher risk of incurring chargebacks and experiencing fraudulent transactions and suspicious activity.
What businesses are typically associated with this high-risk level? Here are some factors that could increase your venture’s perceived risk:
A business that meets most of the requirements listed above may be considered a moderate or high-risk venture. And because banks are naturally conservative, they try to avoid partnering up with businesses that might be a potential liability.
Needless to say, applying for a merchant account in Puerto Rico if you’re business falls within the high-risk category can be difficult. In fact, even moderate-risk businesses can get constantly rejected.
But all is not lost. It doesn’t really matter how many times your Puerto Rican merchant account has been turned down as long as you get the right help. And that’s precisely what Shark Processing is for.
Shark Processing offers assistance for moderate to high-risk merchant accounts in Puerto Rico. Our objective is to get you fast, reliable, and safe approval with a trusted merchant acquiring bank that can be your trusted banking partner for the years to come.
To do this, we’ve partnered with a number of international banking partners that are willing and open to establishing merchant accounts in Puerto Rico for moderate to high-risk clients. Our team takes every aspect of your venture into account to help you find the ideal bank to take on the financial partnership.
Shark Processing has been a merchant account specialist for years, and our time in the industry has helped us develop a streamlined, polished experience to keep you comfortable and carefree all throughout the process.
Still on the fence about setting up your merchant account in Puerto Rico? It can be a big step. But before you think twice about putting up your Puerto Rican merchant account, here are some of the advantages of being able to accept and process electronic payments:
On the buyer’s end, long waits can result in dissatisfaction. But electronic payments help to reduce those chances. Payments issued by card can be confirmed instantly, allowing business owners to ship out orders and even execute same-day shipping.
Customers and clients from other places around the globe can send their payments through card-not-present transactions. This doesn’t only let your brand go international, but also makes it possible to increase revenue by opening your gates to a bigger audience.
It’s important to iron out any kinks that could slow down the shopping process. And because 50% of Puerto Ricans prefer paying with a card, offering that as a payment option can help streamline the entire experience for the vast majority. In fact, studies have found that shoppers will even go as far as abandoning their purchases if they don’t see their preferred payment option.
Contact Shark Processing today to get started on your Puerto Rico merchant account. Or, go ahead and fill out our form to jump-start your application. Because here at Shark Processing, approval for your merchant account in Puerto Rico is just a day away.
