Merchant Services and What is a Merchant Account?
“Merchant Services” is a generic name given to the service which allows a business to accept credit or debit cards. It is made up of two parts:
The first part is the physical card machine (also known as a card reader) for transactions which take place face to face. For transactions which are taken over the phone, the transactions can be entered into a “Virtual Terminal” which is basically on online version of a credit card machine. For transactions which are taken on a website, the physical card machine is replaced by service called a “Payment Gateway”.
The second part is an account with a bank called an Acquiring Bank. The Acquiring Bank processes the card transactions and deposits funds into your current account. UTP’s Acquiring Bank partner is Barclaycard Payment Acceptance, part of Barclays Bank.
A merchant services solution from UTP includes both of the above components enabling your business to accept the full range of domestic and international card types from Visa and Mastercard. The UTP product range is summarised below.