Whether your business is virtual or actual, if you sell goods or services, a merchant account is essential to your bottom line.

If you are selling goods or services online and you don't accept credit cards, you may as well just close up shop. The vast majority of online shoppers pay for their purchases with credit cards.

Consumers prefer to use their credit cards for online purchases for a variety of reasons. These include fraud protection, which is a large concern of many people who shop on the Internet (be sure to buy only from secure websites which have the little gold lock on the bottom right corner of the page), and the ability to pay later for items that would prefer to have now – which is simply the American way.

It's getting easier and easier to accept payments online. PayPal boasts more than 50 million members, and companies are frantically developing new ways for merchants to process online payments. Companies such as PayQuake offer programs that allow you to move up as you grow. These programs allow you to start with processing through similar means as PayPal, but then when your sales volume warrants it, moves you into a full merchant account set up.

Traditional merchant processors charge less per transaction then those of PayPal and other similar services, and they often offer complementary services, such as check-guarantee services. Many merchant account providers will even let you accept checks online and use reoccurring processing.

Now, instead of wondering if the checks you are receiving are going to bounce, your merchant account will deposit the funds immediately into your bank account after the transaction has cleared. If you have been faced with numerous bad checks from customers, this is a great alternative.

There are many different ways of processing credit card payments online, with more options coming to market all the time. With the variety of solutions available, you should be able to find one that appeals to you and integrates well with your Web site. To succeed in e-business, you simply need to accept credit cards to stay on top and to remain competitive.

If you already have a banking institution, then it is likely that they offer merchant account services. I would also recommend looking into the following merchant services:

PayQuake - http://www.payquake.com/

PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/

Miva Merchant - http://smallbusiness.miva.com/