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offshore company formation with merchant account

drillbill

Offshore Agent
Jan 6, 2009
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There are many challenges to running your own business but the potential rewards are also considerable and this has helped make company formation a popular option for many people.


One of the first dec... There are many challenges to running your own business but the potential rewards are also considerable and this has helped make company formation a popular option for many people.


One of the first decisions you will need to make is the type of company designation that you register. The most common choices are those of a public limited company, limited liability partnership, or a company limited by shares; PLC, LLC, or Ltd. The public limited company is a company that offers shares to the general public.


There must be a minimum of ?50,000 share capital and a trading certificate must exist for the individual or group to establish a PLC. In terms of organisational setup, there must be two directors and two shareholders as well as a company secretary, who can also be one of the company directors.


A private company limited by shares is similar to a PLC except the shares are not offered to the general public. There must be a minimum of ?1 share capital and there are a number of account filing requirements that must also be met. Every Limited company must have a registered address.


The shareholders of the company have limited liability which can offer some protection against any financial losses made by the company itself. A limited liability partnership, or LLP, is another popular form of company formation. An LLP operates completely independently from its founder members financially and legally. As long as the business is run legally there should be no recourse for directors of that company in the event of it struggling financially or facing legal problems.


Every type of company formation has its own requirements, and these must be met before filing a formation with Companies House. A company formation agent can discuss the various options with you, look at your existing setup, and advise on the type of company designation that would be best for your business. Choosing the right type of company formation can help ensure that your business, and its members, has the greatest chance of success.


Once you figured out what offshore company you want incorporated in a certain tax haven / offshore jurisdiction you want to find a merchant account for accepting credit cards on the Internet for your business. There are hundred of opportunities here for you, one is to simply apply for a 2checkout.com account, they accept most offshore companies another is skrill.com (former moneybookers) who accept offshore companies as well. Then there are all the underground payment processors which you need to pay attention too and be carefull with, some may scam you and take your money and vanish. Others will take very high fees and you need to accept it, but hey you don't pay tax so it may be okay.


Then there are a few left who take some reasonable transaction fees and processing fees and which you can relay on for long term, depending on your business and your chargeback rate. I don't have any links here at the moment for such processors but will post one in a few days.


In the meantime feel free to post back here with comments and suggestions.
 
One of the first dec... There are many challenges to running your own business but the potential rewards are also considerable and this has helped make company formation a popular option for many people.
I agree totally on that point. What makes it much better to start your business in an offshore company so you never ever will be possible hold responsible for any mistakes or claims.
 
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Well, it depends totally of the nature of your business, for instant if you're running a regular e-com business i.e. selling t-shirts, internet marketing stuff, seo services or even hosting it isn't that complicated to find a reliable payment processor that provides offshore merchant accounts for your company!


The problems start when you are doing some of the more grey area business like Adult, Casino, Pharmacy, MLM and stuff like that, most payment processors will refuse to open an merchant account for this business, this almost also apply for offshore payment processors, they will either decline your application or they will charge very high processing and even monthly fees!


So, the best is to figure out what offshore merchant account providers are accepting your business and then incorporate your offshore company once you know that. It makes the entire setup much more agile and you can navigate your way through a long lasting setup for your business and don't have to worry about then it all shut down.
 
If you shouldn't know what a merchant account is compared to a bank account then below is something that explains it for you. I must admit, I wasn't aware of the differences and asked almost any agent for a offshore merchant account until I figured out that it was a simple bank account I wanted for my offshore company!

/IMG/offshore-merchant%20account.jpg​
 
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Both a BVI and Cyprus company is most often used to get a European merchant account setup! It's easy, fast and most high risk business is allowed as long as the CB ratio is below the 2%!
 
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Can someone explain what the difference is between a offshore Merchant account and a Merchant account ? I assume if a offshore Company apply for a Merchant account it Means it's an offshore Merchant account if it gets approved and if it is a onshore Company it's just a Merchant account am I right?
There is no difference. The problem is that most don't know what a merchant account is. When they ask for an offshore merchant account they want some credit card processing in an offshore jurisdiction. Most often that's a very risky decission to get started at this point. For startup businesses it may be better to establish their business offshore and get some local processing for it. That means lowest possible fees.
 
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Is it complicated to apply for a merchant account if you have a company registered offshore? why?
You need to apply to certain VISA / MC regulations in order to obtain a Merchant account for your business. Most will be fine using Skrill or 2co.com for the payment processing needs. This also don't limit you to any specific jurisdiction since 2co is able to provide processing for Companies all around the World.
 
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You need to apply to certain VISA / MC regulations in order to obtain a Merchant account for your business. Most will be fine using Skrill or 2co.com for the payment processing needs. This also don't limit you to any specific jurisdiction since 2co is able to provide processing for Companies all around the World.
Actually 2co. Skrill and PayPal are great alternatives to your own merchant account with any of the large acquiring banks such as Wire Card, RBS World Pay and similar..
 
They just don't work with high risk business. Most business that are incorporated offshore are high risk and not accepted by Skrill, PayPal or 2co.
 
Can we please get some suggestions for the following scenarious:


1) Seychelles company with offshore bank account


Where shall we open merchant account please?


2) Belize company with offshore bank account in Cyprus


Where to open merchant account?


3) Isle of Man offshore company with mauritius banking


where to get the merchant account?


If it is not possible to open / apply for a merchant account then please let me know what 3rd party payment processor may accept the 3 setups for credit card processing. Alternative Check processing and Bank Transfers or other e-currency.
 
Can we please get some suggestions for the following scenarious:
1) Seychelles company with offshore bank account


Where shall we open merchant account please?


2) Belize company with offshore bank account in Cyprus


Where to open merchant account?


3) Isle of Man offshore company with mauritius banking


where to get the merchant account?


If it is not possible to open / apply for a merchant account then please let me know what 3rd party payment processor may accept the 3 setups for credit card processing. Alternative Check processing and Bank Transfers or other e-currency.
1) 2co.com


2) 2co.com + skrill


3) 2co.com


I wouldl ook for a company in the BVI or Cyprus and apply for a real merchant account, once it is opned I would register a offshore company either Seychelles, Belize or so and transfer the shares from the merchant account holding company to this offshore corp. That's tax free business!
 
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At least we can say a European based company will be easier to find a merchant account for than a offshore company in the Seychelles or Belize. BVI is the closed that you can find to get a offshore entity but still have something that is accepted as European company by many payment processors in Europe.