Welcome to BKW Servicing
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Welcome to BKW Servicing
The goal of any business is to make money; so when you’re opening a new gun shop, you want to be able to start earning as soon as possible. One thing that stands in your way is your merchant account setup. In order to process payments from customers, you need to have a way to process payments. But FFL merchant setup doesn’t have to be overly complicated. With this handy guide, you can launch your gun shop merchant account in as little as 48 hours.
A merchant account is a bank account separate from your primary business banking account that is open for the primary purpose of processing payments from customers. This bank account holds funds for a few days to ensure that they go through properly, before transferring the funds to your primary business account. Without a merchant account, you won’t be able to accept credit or debit card purchases from customers.
That might have been acceptable in the day and age of in-person purchases, where cash-only businesses were more common. Today, however, most purchases are made online; and even in-person purchases are often made with credit or debit card. If you want to make a profit, an in-person, cash-only business won’t cut it.
The problem for many FFL merchants is that their businesses are considered “high risk,” so not every bank will accept their application to open a merchant account. It’s important to find an FFL friendly merchant account service company, like BKW Servicing, who specializes in high-risk merchant accounts.
With the right merchant account services, your FFL merchant setup should be easy. Here’s the step-by-step process:
To avoid being denied by banks or being charged exorbitant processing fees, look for an FFL friendly merchant account service company, one that handles “high risk” merchants. You should always do a little research into their processing fees and compare them to the processing fees of other FFL merchant account service companies. After research, you can make your best decision. With BKW Servicing, you can apply for your account in just minutes.
Each company or bank may have a different process for merchant setup — and your merchant setup as a gun shop may look different from a merchant setup for other companies. Ask what their process involves. In some cases, they may also have setup consultation to walk you through the process.
Provide your merchant account services with all of the documentation they need in order to open your account, such as documentation about your business or other accounts that will be linked to this account.
This will largely depend on what your merchant account service company is capable of accepting, so make sure to work with a company that accepts most major debit and credit cards.
If your FFL merchant setup allows you to add things like inventory management or tokenization, these may help to
The good news is much of your FFL merchant setup can be done digitally today. You can even use the right software applications to streamline payment processing and keep your company compliant with all data privacy and firearm regulations, which are constantly in flux. For instance, many payment processing softwares today feature compliance tools which automatically update when regulations change. This ensures that your business remains compliant no matter what.
API integrations can help to reduce any issues with error, improving efficiency. Eligibility checks, permit applications, and customer identity confirmation can all be made faster and more accurate with the right API integrations. Conducting a background check on customers before selling a firearm is an essential part of gun dealership, and with these tools, you can do so quickly so that you can move onto the sale.
Other technological advancements include encrypted customer portals that protect sensitive information from hacking and inventory management that automatically ties in with what you have in stock so the information on your online store is always accurate.
In 2022, there were 136,563 active federal firearms licensees, including 43,494 whose licenses were only recently issued. This industry is one that is growing, which means that the sooner you can get a good FFL merchant setup, the better. With constantly tightening regulations on firearms and data privacy, it’s also essential to find a merchant account services solution that understands your industry and the compliance that you need to follow.
By leveraging technology and our relationships with over 20 banks and lenders, BKW Servicing helps to curate the perfect merchant account services solution for you. Contact us today to learn more or to get started.