How to start accepting credit cards, step by step

To start accepting credit cards you need three things: a merchant account to hold and settle the money, a way to take the card (a terminal, a card reader, or an online gateway), and an approval called underwriting. That is the whole list. Most owners think it is more complicated than it is, usually because the people selling it want it to sound hard.

What do you need to start accepting credit cards?

You need a merchant account, hardware or a gateway, and underwriting approval. A merchant account is the account that receives card money and passes it to your bank. Hardware is the physical piece at the counter, or a reader that pairs with a phone or tablet. A gateway is the software version of the same job for online and keyed sales. Underwriting is the processor confirming that your business is real and can take cards responsibly.

• A merchant account, which is where card funds land before they reach your bank.
• A terminal or card reader for in-person sales, or a gateway for online and phone sales. Some businesses need both.
• Underwriting approval, which is a background check on the business, not a personal credit gate for most low-risk shops.
• A business bank account for the money to settle into, plus a few documents: your EIN or Social Security number, a voided check, and a government ID.

What are the steps to accept credit cards?

The steps are: apply, get underwritten, receive your hardware or gateway login, run a test sale, and go live. Here is the order most small businesses move through, with realistic timing on each part.

1. 01Apply. You give the processor your business details, ownership, and expected monthly card volume. This takes about fifteen minutes if your paperwork is handy.
2. 02Underwriting. The processor verifies the business. For a normal retail or service business this is often same day to two business days. Higher-risk categories take longer.
3. 03Get your tools. A terminal ships to you, or you download an app and pair a reader, or you receive a gateway login for online and keyed sales.
4. 04Run a test. You process a small live sale and refund it, so you can watch the money settle and confirm your bank details are right.
5. 05Go live. You start taking cards. On eligible accounts, funds can reach your bank as soon as the next day.

Interchange is the same wherever you go. The only thing a processor actually competes on is the markup it adds on top. So that is the number to ask about first, before hardware, before anything.

How long does it take to start accepting credit cards?

For a standard low-risk business, you can often be approved and taking cards within one to three business days. The application itself is minutes. Underwriting is the variable part. If you sell something the networks treat as higher risk, or your numbers do not match your paperwork, it can stretch to a week or more while an underwriter asks follow-up questions. Answering fast is the single biggest thing you control.

What does it cost to accept credit cards?

The cost breaks into three parts, and it is worth seeing them separately. First, interchange: the network fee on every card, set by Visa and Mastercard, roughly 1.7 to 2.0 percent of volume for a normal retail mix. No processor sets it and none can waive it. Second, the markup: what the processor adds on top of interchange for doing the work. Third, a yearly PCI compliance fee, billed once a year, with the exact amount shown to you in writing before you sign.

The markup is the only one of the three that changes between companies. We publish ours: interchange passed through at cost, plus a flat ten-cent markup per transaction, zero percent on top. The dime never goes up, and it can fall as your volume grows. There are no monthly fees, no statement fees, no batch fees, no monthly minimums, and no long-term contract with an early termination penalty. The yearly PCI fee is the one other charge, and you see it before you sign.

Here is the part worth being blunt about. A flat dime is not automatically cheapest for everyone. If you already run a high average ticket at a genuinely low percentage markup, your current deal might beat a dime, and if it does, the analyzer will tell you to stay. A tool that always recommends itself is not worth trusting. Run your real statement through it and see which way the math points before you switch anything.

One more thing worth knowing before you start. You do not have to accept credit cards on their own. Most businesses take debit, contactless taps, online payments, and phone payments through the same account, and each one carries a different cost. Setting up the account is the door. What you choose to accept, and how you nudge customers toward the cheaper methods, is where the ongoing cost actually gets decided.