I need a merchant account.

[joeaki1983]

hi,i want to make a site, so i need a replica merchant account,i have a company base on us,but i am not us citizen,do you know how to apply a merchant account ? thanks

[edited by: lorax at 3:55 pm (utc) on April 4, 2009]
[edit reason] no urls or specifics please [/edit]

[joeaki1983]

up ,who can help me

[MrHard]

Hello, You have a company based in the US.

Who's name is on your business license? They must have a SS number or it's equivalent to get the permits.

They can use this information to open a US bank account.
Then they can can apply for a US merchant account.

[tangor]

Obtain a tax id if you desire to make sales as a US business. If you are NOT in the US ... or you are not a US citizen (which gives you a tax id as a perk of being a citizen)...

[joeaki1983]

i don't have ssn number,i am not a us citizen, i only have a company base on us. how to do it?

[rocknbil]

i only have a company base on us.

If you have a U.S. based company, you will have to have a EIN (employer identification number) but I think you may not . . . what you probably mean is your target market is U.S. based, correct? You really can't do any business right in the U.S. without paying a chunk to our Uncle Sam. :-)

There are many payment processors that manage international payments, in fact, we are in the U.S., and the one that we use is actually a Canadian-based bank, a combination of a payment gateway and merchant account, in one. Whatever processor you choose, you will still have to register with them from your country of origin. Basically it's similar to opening a bank account or opening a credit card account, with the same requirements to verify identity, etc.

Find a payment processor that appears to have an appealing package, look for the links to sign up, fill out the applications.

[powerstar]

Why can't you get a merchant account in the country you live?

[MrHard]

Someone must be working in the US based business on US soil, right? or, is it just a website selling to US customers?

Who is working at the US based business? If they are not a citizen but have immigrated to the US they should have a permanent resident card and number, try using this in place of the SS# to apply for a tax id. Use the tax id to open the bank account and merchant account.

If they immigrated to the US with no documentation at all, we have other problems we need to address first.

[piatkow]

Why can't you get a merchant account in the country you live?

Just a guess but lets say that the OP is in Ireland but he wants to quote and bill customers in USD. An Irish based merchant account would probably insist on billing the customers in EUR rather than USD.

[joeaki1983]

ok, i come back, thanks your reply.
i come from china
I am looking for a local intermediary to help me set the company base in us, I have a Bank of America account, but they can not help me to apply for merchant account.

ps: i sell replica product online

[edited by: lorax at 12:13 pm (utc) on April 9, 2009]

[tangor]

You will need to open an office in the US, obtain a US EIN (employer identification number), and pay US business income taxes (and possibly state sales taxes as well). Once you have these in place you'll likely find a payment processor willing to do business.

[dentalfloss]

You can contact a corporate resident agent company in the U.S. and they can set up a corporation for you. Nevada is a good choice for 1-man nonresident corporations.

Having a corporation means you will have certain paperwork and documentation burdens, and you'll have to file an IRS 1120 corporate tax return every year.

You need to get a bank account and perhaps the corporate resident agent can help with that.

Once you have all that you can ask your bank about a merchant account, or apply to some place like Authorize.net to try to get one for you. You will probably be asked to personally guarantee the account, even though you have a corporation. Being a non-U.S. citizen will probably make things a little harder.