Retail Merchant Accounts

Accept Credit Cards with A Retail Card Swipe Or POS Terminal

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What Is A Retail Merchant Account?

A retail merchant account is a low risk merchant account that enables retail stores and shops to accept credit card payments using a retail card swipe terminal or Point of Sale (POS) system.

Retail merchant accounts are used exclusively for "card-present" transactions since a "swipe" or, less common today, an imprint of the customer's credit card is required.

To accept credit card payments by phone, mail, Internet, fax, or any method where there is no physical credit card swiped at the time of sale, a business will require an Internet merchant account and use a payment gateway in place of the retail card swipe terminal. You cannot process card-not-present transactions using a retail merchant account and attempts to do so may result in termination of your retail merchant account.

Regardless of whether you're an established retailer looking to add a retail merchant account or a new business looking for your first merchant account, you should work with an experienced merchant services provider like CyoGate that has expertise in effectively securing and handling retail merchant accounts.

EMV, Contactless, and Payment Terminal Options

Modern retail merchant accounts support three primary card acceptance methods:

• EMV chip — the standard for card-present transactions since the 2015 US EMV liability shift. When a chip card is dipped rather than swiped, fraud liability shifts to the card issuer. Merchants still accepting swipe-only for chip cards bear liability for counterfeit fraud on those transactions.
• Contactless / NFC — tap-to-pay via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and contactless chip cards. NFC acceptance is now standard on most new terminals and increasingly preferred by customers for speed.
• Magnetic stripe swipe — still supported for legacy and non-chip cards, but carries higher fraud liability since the EMV liability shift. CyoGate recommends all merchants use EMV-capable terminals.

Retail vs. Internet Merchant Accounts

A retail merchant account is approved for card-present transactions only. Attempting to process card-not-present transactions (phone orders, online orders) through a retail account violates your merchant agreement and can result in termination. If your business takes any orders by phone, mail, or online, you'll need an Internet/MOTO merchant account alongside your retail account. Many businesses operate both.

Free Savings Analysis

Retail credit card processing rates are highly negotiable, and most businesses significantly overpay relative to their volume and card mix. CyoGate's free merchant account audit analyzes your current processing statement line by line and shows you the exact dollar savings from switching — before you commit to anything.

Apply for a Retail Merchant Account

Retail & Internet Merchant Accounts

An Internet Merchant Account is sometimes referred to as a "MOTO" (Mail Order & Telephone Order) Account because they all require the ability to process a credit card payment when there is no physical credit card present to be swiped. A standard retail "swipe" merchant account does not allow processing of these "card-not-present" transactions.

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High Risk Merchant Accounts

If the domestic banks are denying your merchant application because they believe your industry is considered high risk, CyoGate can help! We have an offshore network of merchant processing partners that enable us to provide low cost, high risk merchant solutions to a much wider range of businesses and industries.

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Internet Payment Gateway

The CyoGate Internet Payment Gateway offers one of the quickest and most cost effective ways to accept and process credit card and electronic check payments online. Our payment gateway works with most existing merchant accounts and supports hundreds of popular web shopping carts and eCommerce platforms.

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