We have assembled some of the most commonly asked questions about:

·         Opening an online regular merchant account or high risk merchant account

·         Where we offer credit card processing

·         Who we accept for credit card processing

·          and many more…

We haven’t covered all conceivable questions; therefore if you didn’t find the answers you are looking for, please feel free to contact us anytime.

1) Do we need our own bank merchant account status to use your system?
No. National Financial Company offers you the ability to accept all major credit card without needing a traditional bank merchant account.

2) Do you accept merchants outside of Canada and United States?
Yes, we accept merchants from around the world.

3) Will International merchants need to incorporate and set up bank accounts in Canada or the United States?
We will wire your monies to any bank account in whichever country you wish.

4) Are there some types of merchants that you don't accept? (see our high risk plan)
Yes. We are not allowed to provide merchant services for the following*:

Sending of Money/Cash Advances
E-cash (Online merchant account used for miscellaneous purchase of goods and services)
Stock purchasing (Stock advising services are permissible)
Multi-Level-Marketing selling financial services/investment
Pyramid Sales
Debt consolidation
Discount phone cards
Coupons
Alcohol, Firearms & Drugs
Illegal narcotics
*Goods/Services prohibited by law or card associations

5) Is there a minimum dollar amount I need to transact?
None.

6) Do you restrict the dollar amount processed per month?
You are allowed to process as much volume as you wish on a monthly basis.

7) How many currencies do you offer?
We currently offer US$, CDN$, GBP and Euro.

8) What are your merchants' experiences with credit card chargebacks?
After more than 6 years of processing credit cards the chargeback rate is less than 0.6%

9) Why are NFCWEB's chargebacks so low compared with industry statistics?
Our merchant account system and business practices were designed based on the advice by various bank security experts, Internet technologists and other credit card industry experts.

This industry expertise and the key features of our merchant account system such as real-time processing to consumer's bank, our 'RTB' Risk Management/ Fraud detection software (based on our own experiences with the Internet) have contributed to the low chargeback rate. We are very proud of our reputation in this area and continue to refine our system with the goal of getting even lower.

10) Which credit cards can you support?
Currently we can process Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and Diners Club.

11) What are online checks?
NFCWEB's online check system allows businesses to accept and process, in real-time, online check orders. The payment system works just like the credit card system, using the bank account number, routing number and check ID.

12) How do I link my site to NFCWEB?
Our short 2 page online form sets the variables required for generating the simple html code you'll need to connect.

13) What is a Visa/Mastercard merchant discount rate?
In simple terms a merchant "Discount rate" is the amount of money (ie. 4.5% percent) that National Financial Company will deduct on each approved credit card transaction. This discount fee is on the gross sale amount, including taxes and shipping if applicable. Besides that you are charged a preset per transaction fee.

National Financial Company's pricing process ensures that you are charged the same discount rate regardless of the credit card type being used by the cardholder such as mid-qualified, non-qualified, International (issued outside the US) or specialty credit cards such as Travel and Entertainment or Affinity related.

14) What is a Chargeback?
A payment dispute initiated by the cardholder with their credit card issuing bank. The amount of the disputed transaction is immediately withdrawn from the merchant's bank account, and the merchant can dispute the chargeback with proof of purchase, signature, proof of delivery, etc.

A chargeback fee is usually assessed to the merchant on top of the actual transaction generated when a cardholder disputes a transaction because of one of the following criteria:

- Non-fulfillment of product or service
- Unauthorized purchase
- Product/service expectations not met

When a chargeback is generated, the issuing and acquiring banks must research the facts to determine which party is responsible for the transaction.

15) How do you handle "Credits and Refunds to Customers"?
The merchant handles the product and service related credits and refunds.

16) When does the merchant get paid?
Merchants are paid once a week, as opposed to monthly with most processors.

Settlement periods are closed on the following Thursday of every week for all transactions from Monday to and including Sunday evening. Settlements are sent out on that following Thursday for those periods. Once a period is closed, you will see all your orders that were being saved in the "settled orders" section on the main page of your control panel disappear. They are then archived in your account statements for your perusal. Merchants can view your account statements at any time, select "statistics & reporting" from the main menu of your control panel, and then click on "account statements". Settlement time periods and methods are subject to change.

17) How can we check that National Financial Company is paying us for all orders?
NFCWEB's Merchant Control Center, featuring the most advanced reporting tools in the industry, contains all sales and statistical information including Electronic Reconciliation Reports which are also e-mailed to merchants on a weekly basis.

18) Do we need to have a website before we can apply for National Financial Company facilities?
Yes

19) I've been in business for less than a year and/or my company is not incorporated or limited. Can I still get a National Financial Company merchant account?
Yes. National Financial Company accepts 100% of all merchants applying subject to our guidelines.

20) How long does a National Financial Company transaction take to clear?
Once the transaction reaches our servers, clearance takes a matter of seconds.

21) How long will it take for my National Financial Company merchant account application to be processed?
Your application will be processed immediately and usually you can be processing in as little as 24 hours.

22) How secure is the National Financial Company transactional process?
NFCWEB offers the most advanced bank-level security and encryption systems available in the industry.

23) Will I need to arrange for secure server facilities for my web site?
No. National Financial Company provides all the facilities you need to process transactions securely over the Internet.

24) What level of encryption do you have on the processing server?
We utilize Thawte 2048 bit encryption systems. At the browser level we use 128 Bit SSL is used.

25) Can I use any ISP to connect to NFCWEB?
Yes. Connection to National Financial Company uses standard http through your browser.

26) Can NFCWEB handle multiple simultaneous transactions?
Yes, we have banks of computers dedicated solely to transaction processing, each with redundant failsafe infrastructures and their own secure connections to our processing banks.

27) Does NFCWEB offer a Recurring Billing service?
Yes.

Other resources for Credit Card Merchant Accounts