In one line
The account that lets a business accept card payments and holds the money until it settles to your bank.
Also called a card processing account or an acquiring account.
What it means in practice
Modern processors bundle the merchant account into their own product, so most trades never open one separately. What matters is the fee, the settlement time and how disputes are handled.
Compare the total cost rather than the headline rate: the percentage, the fixed fee per transaction, and anything charged for a chargeback or a payout.
Covered in full in the guide to payment links and qr codes.
Example. A 2.9% plus 30 cent fee on a $500 payment costs $14.80.
Where it shows up on the paperwork
Nothing about it appears on your paperwork, other than the payment methods you list and the link or QR you put on the document.
What goes wrong
- Comparing processors on the headline percentage and ignoring the fixed fee, which dominates small payments.
- Not knowing your settlement time, then wondering why a payment taken on Friday is not in the bank on Monday.
- Passing the fee to the client as a surcharge without checking whether your state and card scheme allow it.
The tools for this
Related terms
- ChargebackA card payment reversed by the client's bank after it has already reached you.
- Payment processorThe company that moves a card or bank payment from your client's account to yours.
- Payment portalA hosted page where a client can pay an invoice by card or bank transfer.
Common questions
Do I need a merchant account to take cards?
Not separately any more. Modern processors bundle it into their own product, so what you are really choosing is fees, settlement time and how disputes are handled.
What do card payments cost?
A percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction, commonly around 2.9% plus 30 cents in the US. On a $50 payment the fixed fee dominates; on a $5,000 payment the percentage does.