If you're opened an online business, you know how important it is to be able to accept credit cards.
Online shoppers always expect to pay online because that's the total promise of convenience that e-shopping offers.
If you fail them on this, you'll probably get less sales than your full potential would allow.
However, not just because you are expected to accept credit cards doesn't mean you can take your merchant account lightly, especially if you're just beginning to familiarize yourself with the system.
A merchant account is an authorization granted to you by a merchant bank so you will have the legal means to accept credit card payments.
But one thing you may fail to realize is the fact that merchant accounts in general won't necessarily allow all merchants to accept as much credit as they want.
As a newbie merchant, you need to realize that banks do require a certain limit of payments that you can accept.
These days, even the most secure servers, including yours, can get hacked so the main thing that is being prevented here is credit card fraud.
Anything is possible with online payments and although online security has never been at its best until now, merchant banks are not taking any chances.
The limit is actually meant to provide a cushion the risks both for you and the bank.
Remember that in the case of credit card fraud, it's not only the bank that loses.
This scenario will most definitely taint your own credit record which is the last thing you want to happen when you're doing business, especially online.
Some merchants take merchant bank guidelines for granted, thinking that all they need is a means to accept online payments.
And when they have this merchant account, they believe they can use it without bounds.
It is not uncommon to hear about cases when the businessman is actually taken aback by a sudden stoppage in the flow of payments to his account.
Discounting other legal issues, this is usually due to the bank-set limit being reached.
However, though a ceiling may be set, it is not absolute.
This means if you're anticipating more activity than usual, you are allowed to ask for an extension but it is necessary to file the request at least two to three weeks before this time.
But on a regular basis, expect your merchant bank to put a cap on the amount of transactions you can process per day.
As you are able to prove your credibility and expand your business, this limit may be increased accordingly.