What is a merchant ID?
The process of processing a transaction seems very simple and fast to buyers. From their perspective, it is enough to press a few buttons, and the goods will be paid for. All they have to do is pick them up after delivery. However, processing payments is a whole art, a mechanism consisting of many elements. Naturally, customers don’t need to know about every one of them, but companies that plan to offer their goods do.
The process of processing payments from customers implies a huge number of parties involved in it. And very often, there is a need to make chargebacks or to credit the company’s account. How to do this and make sure that the money will be credited to the proper recipient?
There is a seller’s identifier for this purpose.
When the payment system knows the exact seller’s identifier, the possibility of making a mistake is reduced to zero. The money is credited to the exact company to which it was originally intended.
This identifier is essentially a number that refers to a specific company. Knowing this number, all the companies involved in processing payments will be able to send it money. If you do not know anything about the ID or do not have it, you will not receive any money.
It is essential to understand that you do not have to give your merchant ID number to absolutely everyone. Only do this if you need to get money. Treat it as a bank account.
Where do I get my merchant id?
A company receives this ID when it begins a partnership with a merchant service provider or acquiring bank. First of all, the company will have to provide information about its owners, tax number, and other required documents as part of the business verification.
It is important to understand that despite some complexity in obtaining an identifier, in fact, in the future, you will not have to go through this procedure. The identifier obtained will remain with you as long as you cooperate with the credit card processor.
An important point is the company’s control of its chargebacks. No company has ever had this problem, but it is vital to understand that an excessive number of chargebacks can cast doubt on the firm’s integrity, and it may lose the right to accept payments in the future.
The acquiring bank also has the right to block the account in case of a bad transaction history. Thus, chargebacks can rightfully be considered a significant business problem, which can lead to very unpleasant consequences, particularly the inability to accept payments and thus blocking the company’s only essential source of income.
If the merchant id is revoked, the company will obtain a new merchant ID from the payment processor. So it’s best to do everything possible in advance to avoid chargebacks by keeping in mind tools like CVV verification, address verification, and geolocation.
It’s important to understand that the company issues the merchant ID and that ID is not publicly available. That is, the company cannot simply search for an identifier and choose the one it needs.
This identifier consists of 15 digits. It can often be found on the terminal, specifically on the right front side or under the bottom, as well as on the merchant’s statement. When looking at the statement, pay attention to the upper right corner and see if the 15-digit number is there.
In addition, you can always contact your merchant services company conveniently and ask them for information regarding the ID. If you are connected to PayPal, the identifier search is easy. Just go to your profile to the section where the business information is contained and find the 15-digit number.
Wrapping up
Having a merchant id is a must for any company that successfully runs its business and interacts with customers. The nice thing is that although you do need to have some information about getting an ID, you will not have to think about it all the time after you get it.
By partnering with PayDo, you will not only obtain personal bank details but be able to send and accept money worldwide with our advanced e-wallet.