Merchant Account

A type of business bank account that allows a company to accept card payments, enabling funds from card transactions to be deposited into the business account.

Accepting card payments requires either a traditional merchant account (with a bank) or a payment facilitator like Stripe. Choosing the right solution affects fees, settlement speed, and chargeback handling.

A market trader applies for a merchant account to accept contactless payments at her stall. Alternatively, she uses Stripe with a card reader, faster setup but slightly higher fees.