This guide assumes you are starting from scratch and have never accepted credit cards. It will try to explain from the beginning without any assumption of prior knowledge.

 

You may have arrived here after downloading Swipe from the App Store, or maybe you are considering using Swipe. In either case, we will attempt to explain what is needed in order to start accepting credit cards. It's actually a very easy process and you can be up and running in 2-3 days.

 

1) You need a merchant account. To accept credit cards, you need a merchant account first (Visa/Mastercard rules). Merchant accounts vary in price, but it is not free to accept credit cards. Many companies offer them, including Wells Fargo, PayPal, Costco, and others. Merchant Focus is the one we most often recommend because of their great support and fair rates. You will need to fill out an online application, and the approval process may take a few days. 

 

Your merchant account provider MUST support one of our supported gateways (explained below). Merchant focus, for example, offers Authorize.Net, which is our recommended gateway option.

 

Note: You need one and only one merchant account. You have many good options to choose from, but once you choose an account that's the only merchant account you need. You don't need PayPal for example, if you already have a Merchant Focus account.

 

A note about fees: AppNinjas does not charge any monthly fee for using our app. However, without a merchant account, you won't be able to charge credit cards. Before purchasing, please understand that merchant accounts often come with monthly and per-transaction fees.

 

 

2) You need a supported payment gateway provider. We support several payment gateways with more support everyday. The latest list is available on the App Store description. We recommend Authorize.Net because they have the best support and widest array of features. If you already have a merchant account, you should contact your merchant account provider (ISO) about adding Authorize.Net to your account, or sign up here. Many merchant accounts, like Merchant Focus, offer a free Authorize.Net account included with your merchant account.

 

3) You need Swipe on your iPhone/iPod. Click here to download.

 

4) Once you have completed the above steps, all that's left is setting up Swipe to use your merchant account. Just follow the appropriate guide on our support site.