Merchant services provides arrangement with a commercial bank or card issuer

A merchant account is not a business checking account. It is a special facility that is arranged with a credit card clearing bank that allows to process card transactions through their facilities. In general, as internet merchants you are required to declare to the acquiring bank who gives you this facility that that is how you trade. The mechanism for obtaining a merchant account varies from country to country. In the US merchant accounts are sold by third party vendors, in the same way as many other financial services. In the UK and many other parts of Europe a merchant account is provided by a high street clearing bank. Merchant services allow accepting online payments through Visa, along with other major credit card companies such as MasterCard and the lesser known.