I am getting ready to sign up for my first merchant account but I have a couple of privacy concerns. According to the merchant account application only real physical addresses should be used versus PO boxes however I work from home.
Will the customers credit card statement include my business name and home address? I don’t want a disgruntled customer knocking on my front door.
as far as i know usually only name is included and not address
Your descriptor, what gets printed on someone’s credit card statement, is just a short name and a phone number. That’s all. If someone is disgruntled over a charge, they initiate a chargeback, which results in the cardholder’s bank sending notice to your MA’s underwriting bank, which passes it on to you. Your address isn’t given to the customer, but your phone number which is passed along with every charge, can be.
Customer will get more information than
you want them to get so it’s better to
provide the information you wan them
to see …have you incorporated? You can
always use a registered agent and their
office address.
The physical address question is new and part of ‘homeland securty’ legislation I think.
It’s part of the US Patriot Act of 2001 (not quite new anymore) –