A merchant account (merchant account), or trade account, is a special type of bank account opened for a business to carry out settlements on bank-card operations, including over the internet. It is needed by a business that wants to accept non-cash payments from buyers: it is to the merchant account that funds from card and online transactions arrive before being credited to the company's main current account.

How a trade account works

A merchant account is opened by an acquiring bank or a payment provider after vetting the business. Operations are processed through it: payment authorization, withholding of the service fee and the subsequent transfer of funds to the seller. Such an account links the merchant's payment page or terminal to the payment systems and the buyers' banks.

In the field of digital assets, crypto payment gateways and services perform a similar role: they accept cryptocurrency from the client, convert it if necessary and credit the funds to the business. The principle remains the same — the intermediary provides payment acceptance and settlements, freeing the seller from direct technical integration with each payment system.