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Infrastructure · Glossary

Merchant account

A merchant account is a bank account that allows a business to accept card payments. Issued by an acquiring bank (often through an ISO or payments aggregator), the merchant account is the legal counterparty for chargebacks, reserves, and settlements.

Why this matters to merchants

Merchant accountsits inside the broader system of U.S. payment processing economics that determine a merchant’s effective rate. Most operators encounter this term on their merchant statement without understanding what it controls, which is how the four hidden fees covered by our methodology slip past unnoticed.

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