Setting up an offshore merchant account not only involves paperwork but also certain fees as well. It would be ideal if there is such a set up that is virtually free, which some merchant account providers do offer. But for offshore merchant accounts, there will always be fees involved. There are a great deal of hesitation on merchants’ minds to set up offshore, one of the reasons behind the doubts is the notion that there are ”hidden” fees in the contracts for offshore merchant accounts. What happens in this scenario is that you’ll be introduced to a list of rates that you’ll sign up for because you have found them to be reasonable. But once the bill comes in, you’ll see a number of additional fees in small amounts but when added all together have actually eaten a considerable percentage of the amount you need to pay for the month. This can be really frustrating, isn’t it? So, to assist you in this setback, provided are standard fees that merchant account providers standardly offer in setting up an offshore merchant account: • Application Fee • Setup Fee • Programming Fee • Annual Fee • Monthly Maintenance Fee • Overlimit Fee • Gateway Setup • Transaction Fee • Retail Swipe Software fees • Check-by-phone/fax PC software fee • Web Shopping Cart fee • Discount Rate fee • Address Verification (AVS) Fee • Statement Fee How you are charged Application fees are rarely charged nowadays. This is so because of the growing competition among merchant account providers. Zero application fees are the one of the marketing strategies to attract clients. But, just to give you a head start, industry rate for application fees ranges from – 5. Setup fees are also a thing of the past. Most providers don’t charge this anymore also as a part of the package to keep clients coming in. Industry rate is from – 0. A business defintely needs a Retail Merchant Account for it to become competitive enough. Having a Retail Merchant Account not only is convenient but it is also economical. Your Retail Merchant Account will give you edge over your competitors.