Choose a merchant account service based on your business needs and qualifications. New businesses or businesses with modest card sales volume, or even e-commerce businesses (which are higher risk than retail businesses where purchases are made in-person), may want to start with a payment solutions provider like Square, Shopify, Stripe or PayPal. Those accounts are easy to qualify for and don’t require long-term contracts.  Other merchant accounts may require the business to apply, not unlike the way you’ll apply for a small business loan. The merchant account provider may check personal and/or business credit.