Credit Card transactions

[2007_my_year]

Hi,
I am thinking about opening a car hire company and i would require the ability to do credit card transactions.
How would i go about doing getting what? what are the charges? etc etc?
i Know nothing about this aspect of the buisness and would appreciate any light you can give.

[Brian Turner]

For credit card transactions for offline sales you're almost certainly looking at something like a terminal attached to something like a merchant account - something you'll really want to contact your bank about, I think. High street banks can be really iffy about setting up a terminal/merchant account without a prior credit score, but if you're going for car hire I presume you're already arranging some kind of finance? This may certainly be a help.

[magicnet]

You'll also need a trading license, speak to your bank, you might be able to setup a small business account, with this you just need to sortout a terminal attached to your account.

[nangel78]

I would definitely talk to you financial institution. They are very helpful with these kinds of questions.

[SeeMe]

You can also go to the major credit card companies directly - American Express, Visa/Mastercard, etc. They usually have programs where you can sign up directly for a merchant account with them. Usually the first company you go through will provide a terminal, which can then be used for any other cards you choose to accept. Of course, the terminal won't work with a card you don't accept (which means you need a merchant account). There are also vendors you can go through where you pay them directly, and they actually have the merchant account. Your account is with them. This is more useful for an online business though, because it's usually part of an integrated shopping cart.

[JamesSmith]

If you're taking the card details online, take a look at WorldPay and ProtX. We use ProtX along with a merchant account from HSBC for the vast majority of our transactions being made by credit / debit card.