How to Choose the Right Merchant of Record for Your Business

How to Choose the Right Merchant of Record for Your Business

Merchant of record is a great solution for businesses and freelancers to maintain stability and operate their business specifically from financial aspects without a hassle.

This is a perfect solution for freelancers that work with international clients and need to handle multiple currencies and of course, need to manage international invoices with their own tax regulations.

What is a Merchant of Record (MoR)?

A Merchant of Record (MoR) is a third-party service provider that handles various financial responsibilities for your business, including payment processing, invoicing, tax collection, and customer disputes. 

MoR takes over the legal responsibility for all financial transactions made on your behalf. This can be particularly beneficial for freelancers, small businesses, and startups looking to streamline financial operations and stay compliant with tax laws.

Why Do You Need an MoR?

Managing payments across multiple channels, invoicing clients, and staying compliant with local and international tax laws can quickly become overwhelming. Here are some key reasons why you need an MoR:

1. Easy Payment Collection: With MoR, you don't need to worry about payment collection’s struggles. A MoR like Ruul offers payment collection service, allowing businesses to accept payments in multiple ways including  credit cards and bank transfers and cryptocurrency payouts.
2. Tax Compliance: Since tax is changeable according to the country, tax compliance is making things extremely easy for freelancers. A MoR takes the stress out of tax management by automatically collecting and remitting sales tax, VAT, or other tax obligations according to the law of each region you operate in. This ensures you stay compliant without the need to dive into the complexities of international tax regulations.
3. Secure Transactions: Security is always a concern when handling financial transactions. An MoR ensures that all payments are processed through secure channels, protecting both you and your customers from fraud or chargebacks.
4. Time Savings: By delegating financial tasks to an MoR, you free up valuable time to focus on other areas of your business, such as growth, marketing, or delivering quality products and services to your clients.

Factors to Consider When Choosing MoR

1. Payment Flexibility 

The first factor to consider when choosing an MoR is how flexible the platform is with payment methods. You need an MoR that supports the payment options your clients prefer, whether they are paying with credit cards or bank transfers. Flexibility is essential because different clients will want to pay through different channels.

If you are a freelancer or small business owner, you might work with clients across various regions and industries. For example, if you're working in the tech industry or the freelance creative space, offering freelance payment terms that accommodate both traditional payment methods and newer forms like online credit card payment can make a big difference.

Ruul’s payment collection service offers multiple payment methods, making it easy for clients to pay you in their preferred method. This eliminates the confusion that can show up from working with multiple payment systems.

2. Easy & Beneficial Currency Conversion

If your business has a global customer base, you need the MoR that supports international payments and can handle multiple currencies. When clients are located in different parts of the world, currency conversion and cross-border payments can quickly become a hassle.

A good MoR should automatically convert payments into your preferred currency, saving you from dealing with unstable exchange rates and high conversion fees. Ruul simplifies this process by offering automatic currency conversion, so you don’t have to worry about managing different currencies manually. 

3. Tax Compliance and Reporting 

Managing taxes for a global business can be complicated, with different regions having different tax rates. A MoR helps by automating tax collection and reporting. Platforms like Ruul calculate and collect sales tax or VAT based on the transaction's location, keeping you compliant with tax laws. Ruul also provides clear reports to help you track your tax obligations and avoid penalties.

For freelancers working with high paying freelance jobs that need to be registered with the Tax department.  Also those who are concerned about freelance payment terms and tax obligations, MoRs like Ruul make the entire process much easier and more transparent.

4. Speed of Payments

Any kind of delayed payments affects freelancers negatively. So when choosing a MoR, it is important to consider the payment process timing and the speed. With Ruul, you don't need to worry about the speed of payments. Ruul provides fast payments mostly completed in one business day once the payment has been done.

5. Security Related Reasons

Your business and your customers need to feel safe when making financial transactions. MoR must offer secure payment processing solutions that protect sensitive customer data and prevent fraud.

Ruul provides high security features to ensure that all transactions are secure. The platform is equipped with advanced fraud prevention tools that help protect both you and your customers from potential chargebacks and unauthorized transactions. ‍

6. Customer Support 

Look for a MoR that provides excellent customer support. If you run into issues with payments, taxes, or any other part of the process, you need a responsive support team that can quickly resolve your problems. 

Ruul has the perfect customer support, not AI but real people, helping you solve issues on time and easily. So you can operate your business while not wasting time on struggles.

Ruul is a perfect solution for freelancers and business owners who work with international clients and need a MoR solution. It has an extremely easy to use platform that can be adapted in a short time, human based customer service for your instant needs and perfectly designed solutions for your financial management needs. 

While Ruul is handling onboarding your clients, global invoicing, payment collection and more for you, you can simply focus on growing your business.