If you want to accept credit card payments for your business, Stripe is the best option. It’s fast and easy to set up and has low rates. But there are other reasons why you might not want a merchant account: maybe it would be too expensive or take too long, or perhaps it just doesn’t make sense for your business needs. Whatever the case may be, Stripe is still a great way to accept payments without a merchant account because they don’t charge extra fees beyond those charged by banks and payment processors like Visa or MasterCard (the fees associated with accepting credit cards). In this article, we’ll cover some basic information about how Stripe works and then give specific steps on how to set up an account with them without needing a merchant account first
What is a merchant account?
A merchant account is a financial relationship between a business and a bank or other financial institution. It allows you to accept credit card payments online, which can be done via an ecommerce platform like Shopify or BigCommerce.
A merchant account is a gateway to accepting credit cards online, so if you want to avoid paying hefty fees for each transaction and having your website shut down by your provider because of too many chargebacks (when customers dispute their purchases), then you must have one in place before taking orders on the internet.
What are the fees of a merchant account?
The fees associated with a merchant account are typically a percentage of the sale. The percentage varies depending on the type of merchant account you get and can range from 1% to 5%. Some fees are fixed, while others vary based on volume or other factors. For example, if you have an annual fee for your processing service and $1 million in sales per year, then it would cost you $10k/year in fees ($1m x 0.5%).
If you’re interested in learning more about how credit card processing works and what kind of rates and fees are typical when setting up a new business credit card reader system or accepting payments online without having an official merchant account set up yet–check out this article!
Does Stripe charge extra fees?
Stripe charges a transaction fee of 2.9% + $0.30 for every payment you receive through your account. This means that if you charge $100, Stripe will collect $2.90 and provide your customer with a receipt showing the remaining balance ($98).
The monthly fee Stripe charges depends on your average monthly revenue: if it’s less than $1M, there’s no charge; if it’s between $1M and $5M, the fee is 1%; if it’s over $5M but less than 10M, it’s 0.25%; above 10M but below 50M — 0%.
How exactly does Stripe work?
Stripe is a payment processor, which means it accepts credit card payments online. It’s also a middleman between you and your customers. Here’s how it works:
- You sign up for Stripe and provide them with information about your business, including banking information (if necessary) and tax IDs.
- Customers go to a checkout page on your website where they enter their billing information, including the number of items being purchased, their name, and email address if applicable–and then submit their orders through Stripe by hitting “Submit Order.”
- The next step involves sending those orders over to Stripe so that they can process them through one of their many payment methods before sending funds back into your account as soon as possible–usually within 24 hours but sometimes longer depending on which country you are located in!
How to set up Stripe without your merchant account
To get started, you’ll need to sign up for Stripe here. Once you’ve done so, it’s time to provide your business details. You can then move on to providing your bank account information and payment method (credit card).
Once those steps are complete, you’re ready to start accepting payments immediately!
With no setup fees and low rates, accepting credit card payments with Stripe is a great way to get started without an expensive merchant account.
Stripe is a great way to get started accepting credit card payments without having to sign up for an expensive merchant account. It’s free to set up, there are no monthly fees and you can accept payments online, in person, or over the phone.
Stripe has been around since 2010 and has built a solid reputation as being one of the most reliable ways for small businesses and entrepreneurs alike to accept payments from customers around the world.
Conclusion
We hope this article has given you a better idea of how to accept credit card payments without a merchant account. If you want to get started today, just sign up for Stripe and start accepting payments! Contact us at 5 Star Processing to know more.
