How do I set up a merchant account for a business?

Speak to your local banks and see what they can offer. Once you obtain a competitive rate (lot better than Paypal for example) with all required inclusions you can then hook it into a credit card gateway provider which in turn can connect to your website or shopping cart.

Hi Aspire,

I am assuming you are looking to accept debit payments on your own website using a self-hosted application without a third party gateway - right?

If that's the case, then you will need to have a secure server. Check with your hosting company first. You may also need to purchase (web hosting company should be able to provide this) encryption software to integrate into an e-commerce application.

And depending on which e-commerce application or platform you choose, there are a number of flexible CMS applications that allows for custom payment gateway integration including WordPress, Joomla, and Shopify. The list goes on...

Here's what I'll recommend. Best to speak to or contact your hosting company and inquire about any encryption software available with your package or purchasing one - the stronger the better.

You will also need to check with your bank about setting up a custom payment interface on your website. Usually, they can provide an API that will allow you to sync payments directly into your account, although this will have to be set up through whatever application you choose.

Unless you're doing it yourself, find a good e-commerce developer who should be able to set it up for you and you'll be on your way.

Hope this helps and feel free to get in touch if I can be of further help.

Best as always.

Have you ever looked at these options:

https://stripe.com/
https://squareup.com/

They do a lot of the legwork so you can focus on your core, your business