Fasthosts, the UK's largest independent hosting provider, has launched eMerchant, a full merchant solution for businesses trading online. The new ecommerce service enables even the smallest customers to accept online and offline payments from all major credit cards, while giving them instant access to their funds.

Popular low cost merchant accounts such as PayPal allow businesses to accept payments online, where the money is paid into a holding account. However, it can take up to four days for the money to be retrieved and paid into a trader's bank account. In addition, to qualify for PayPal's Merchant account, traders must guarantee at least £1,500 worth of payments into their account every month.

"PayPal is a cheap and cheerful service for people occasionally trading on eBay. But even the smallest businesses in the online marketplace need to look at the bigger picture," said Andrew Michael, CEO, Fasthosts. "It is because of their size that they require more financial flexibility and instant access to their revenues – something that most merchant offerings lack."

Backed by the Bank of Ireland, Fasthosts' eMerchant is the first UK professional service to offer an online account signup, which traditionally would require a trip to a bank. The eMerchant account can be set up by businesses with minimal trading history and with no up front charges. eMerchant customers are not expected to pay for the service until their first sales come in. Following transactions, the money from purchases is paid directly into the trader's specified bank account.

As a result, businesses benefit not only from instant access to their revenues, but also gain complete control over their customers' purchase and payment processes, without redirecting them to a third party provider's website. Thus, thanks to eMerchant's effective payment gateway, small businesses can at last compete with large corporations in the online marketplace.

Fasthosts' eMerchant boasts a powerful Application Programming Interface (API) that enables a seamless integration of the online shop with back-office systems. The service also offers full protection from chargebacks and counterfeit purchases with active fraud monitoring.

eMerchant's features include:

  • Quick setup – branded payment pages up and running in 48 hours.
  • No charges up front – bills start only when the sales come in.
  • Instant gratification – money paid directly into trader's bank account.
  • Control over customers at all times – no third party supplier required.
  • Feature-rich control panel – 'Buy now' buttons can be created with no need to script.
  • Powerful API – traders can build own payment pages and integrate eMerchant within their website.
  • Trading with minimal trading history.
  • Accepts payments from all major credit cards – Visa, MasterCard and Switch/Maestro.
  • No risk of chargebacks and fraudulent orders with active fraud management.

This press release is featured on the following websites:
uk.webhostdir.com
www.sourcewire.com
www.thewhir.com
www.webhosting.info
uk.tophosts.com
www.itwales.com