Why Anyone Can Accept Credit Cards

• Low cost. In the US, the cost of accepting credit cards is around $10-$20/month in flat fees, plus a small percentage of your sales, called a discount rate. For an offline business, the discount rate is as low as 1.69% (lower for debit cards). For an online business, discount rates are as low as 2.19%. Yes, online businesses are considered riskier and therefore are charged more. Still, 2.19% is much less than even many offline businesses were paying just five years ago. Non-US business will likely pay significantly more, but likely not more than a few hundred dollars a month and maybe a 6% discount rate. That's still a small price to pay to build a thriving online business.

• No upfront fees. There are now merchant account providers that charge nothing upfront–no application fee, no deposit. (For US businesses only.)

• No minimum number of sales. If you sell nothing in a given month, that's fine. Your account won't be cancelled so long as you pay a small minimum fee in lieu of transactions (usually around $10-$20/month).

• Low credit threshold. Believe it or not, qualifying for a merchant account to accept credit card payments is much easier than qualifying for a credit card account. Even people who have a bankruptcy on their credit report can get a merchant account (though they'll be in a more expensive higher-risk category). The credit check only takes a few minutes. Just give the representative your Social Security number or EIN and you're done. For non-US businesses, the credit check might be a little more in-depth, but not impossibly so.

Why You Need to Accept Credit Cards

• Prestige. Admit it: you can't be a real business if you don't take credit cards. At least, that's how the average consumer or entrepreneur sees it.

• Trust. Accepting credit cards means your name, address, and social security numbers are on file somewhere with a bank, so you're a lot less likely to be a crook. It also means that your customers can dispute the transaction if you don't put out the goods.

• Sales. Online customers make the vast majority of their purchases with a credit card. They are not going to change their ways for you.

• Western Union isn't enough. Bank wires offer very little consumer protection, so no one trusts them for paying online. Besides, most people have never used it before, and again, they're not going to change their ways for you.

• PayPal isn't enough. Some people simply don't trust it. There are entire websites devoted to horror stories with PayPal. Other prospective customers worry about having to set up a PayPal account to make payment. Even a slight doubt is enough to send many visitors to the "back" button. Don't leave room for doubt.

Why Accepting Payments Online Is Easy

• Easy-to-use gateway websites. With most merchant accounts, you get a login on a website of a "gateway" which lets you manage your entire account with up-to-the-minute information. It's very similar to online banking.

• Technical support. Most merchant account providers offer telephone and email technical support to help you figure out how to use your account, including how to integrate it with your website. Tip: choose a provider with 24/7/365 technical support over the phone–and that doesn't charge an additional fee.

• Preconfigured shopping carts and web payment forms. You won't have to do anything to your website if you opt to use a shopping cart of payment form that's already been set up by your payment processor. Just link to it from your website and you're done.

Why Applying to Accept Credit Cards Is Easy

• Online and telephone applications. You don't have to mail anything.

• Fast. You can apply for a merchant account to accept credit cards in the morning and be taking payments in the afternoon.

• No contract. Some credit card merchant account providers do not require an annual contract (for US businesses). The arrangement is strictly month-to-month. Of course, there are still companies that will try to lock you into a year-long contract, so be careful.