What is the risk classification of a wireless merchant account?

Wireless merchant accounts have proliferated with the coming of age of the cellular phone technology. They come in two main offerings - short range and long range. The short range wireless credit card processing terminals can be used within several hundred feet of the base unit. The long range service is available anywhere network coverage is present.

There are several factors that determine the risk level of a credit card payment processing business and a wireless solution can certainly help reduce it. If a merchant accepts credit and debit cards away from his or her office by collecting the customer payment information in a form and later keys it into a terminal or enters it into a phone, this payment mode will be immediately qualified as high risk, without even looking at the other factors. In the case of a wireless merchant account processing solution, the customer would swipe his or her card through a card reader and the transaction will fall into the "card present" category which is the first factor that is looked at when determining the risk level. As an added benefit, the merchant saves time as there is no need for additional manual data entering.

All major small business merchant accounts providers offer a wireless service and there is also a variety of terminals to choose from as well. Although their price tags are still pretty high, they have been falling steadily. There are additional creditcardprocessing fees that are applied to wireless solutions as well. You will be paying an additional monthly fee for every terminal that you have and an additional per transaction fee. There might be an activation fee as well.

The biggest issue, when it comes to wireless card processing, however, is the availability of the wireless signal. You need to make sure that your provider's network coverage is strong in your service area, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.