Chris Motola

Here are the best international merchant services that provide international payment processing, international payment gateways, and international merchant accounts.

You’ve probably heard the old cliche: You’ve got to spend money to make money. Businesses are investments, and investments imply an allocation of money. Or do they? We talked to business owners who say they started their companies without any substantial outlay of money to find out how they did it.

An interactive webseries sponsored partially by OpenHub, the Pivoteers and Pioneers project focuses on how small businesses in NY’s Hudson Valley are using tech to adapt to the changing landscape of Covid-19.

Computers, IT equipment, and related items pose unique issues for businesses trying to decide whether to lease or buy. Tech equipment becomes obsolete more quickly than almost any other type of equipment, making it a poor long-term investment. At the same time, many businesses need to keep their tech hardware up-to-date in order to remain competitive. Should you buy or lease your tech equipment? Read on.

Starting any business can be challenging, but the quick growth and turnaround times commonly associated with entrepreneurial ventures come with their own particular set of challenges. You’re entering a fast-paced and cutthroat segment of the economy with both high risks and high rewards. To start your journey as an up and coming entrepreneur, you’ll need to take stock of your financing options.

Financing allows those who are wavering on a purchase because of the price to buy from you right away and then pay for the goods/services in installments in the future. This way, you don’t lose a sale to sticker shock. This is called customer financing or, sometimes, consumer financing. Broadly speaking, you can provide customer financing yourself, or you can use a third-party financing specialist. As to how to do either, along with their pluses and minuses, read on to find out.

The SBA’s COVID-19 EIDL portal closed on May 16, 2022, and is no longer accepting applications, requests for increases, reconsideration, and appeals due to a lack of any more available funding.

When you’re ready to dive into the world of credit card APIs, you’ll want to compare and contrast the developer tools provided by payment services providers. It’s important to evaluate them not only by the strength of their API, but also consider more mundane factors, such as how much they cost, the types of transactions they support, and how secure they are.

Both Stripe and Authorize.Net offer a powerful suite of payment services along with robust support for developers who want to integrate their services into their websites. Both also provide excellent support for foreign eCommerce transactions. Evaluating Stripe vs. Authorize.Net comes down to the sheer volume of features vs. flexibility.

Stripe is a powerful online payment processor, but it can be a bit daunting if you’re new to the platform. Learn how Stripe works and how it can make running your online business easier.