Are merchant accounts transferable?
 

If I want to buy a paysite that has its own merchant account, will the seller be able to transfer the merchant account to me?

Anyone know for sure?

no. merchant accounts are underwritten for specific corporations and/or individuals.

we tried that with 2checkout -> netbilling....and it was a no go...you have to sign up for a new one with the new company

That is what I thought, but if the account was underwritten for a specific website (even if not incorporated) wouldn't it go with the new owner?

Or am I going to have to apply on my own?

Example: If I have a merchant account and sell the site to you, you can apply for your own merchant (even with the same processor I use) and use the data I would give you to process the rebills yourself.

Accounts are underwritten with both in mind. The corporation and/or individual applying, and the products or services they are selling. If you try and process under the original merchant account for the website you purchased that is called factoring. Not something you want to be involved with.

Bottom line is you need to apply on your own.

As long as the same processor qualified me for the merchant account?

Why not ask the merchant solution company you rep? :Graucho

negative, ghost rider. You'll have to get your own.

Even if you applied to a different one and got approved. The problem could reside in the fact that the descriptor would change but that can be resolved with an e-mail to each member letting them know about the change.

Where the heck is Mitch Farber when you need him? :winkwink:

I think that if you buy the corperation you should be able to keep it under that name but otherwise you should sign up with the current company and work with them to transfer all the info over to a new account for you...

This is N O T possible

They do third party processing, not merchant accounts

So if Google buys Amazon.com, it wouldn't be able to transfer the current Amazon.com merchant account?

but you're quick to spam threads concerning merchant accounts

If that was the case is would be IMPOSSIBLE to sell a paysite. Every paysite is then worth the domain name value and that's it.

Baddog is ghostrider!

oh? care to point one out?

http://www.frayedlogic.com/gallery/i...ghostrider.jpg

slight resemblance on a good night

Generally the merchant account is just like a bank account and can be transferred as part of the sale of a business. This presumes that the website is indeed a full fledged business and not just a website.

It will usually require complete re-documentation and appliction as it is a change of guarantors of said merchant account.

You need a lawyer to draw up the appropriate agreement for the transfer.