Open a Merchant Account in Spain

Updated on Thursday 22nd February 2018

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Online businesses in Spain require to establish a merchant account, through which the companies will be able to accept transactions using numerous types of credit and debit cards. At the same time, the merchant account can also be set up by traditional companies, which can increase their transactions through credit card payments. Spain allows the registration of various types of merchant accounts, depending on the business activities of the company and our team of Spanish lawyers can offer more details on this subject.

Documents for setting up a Spanish merchant account

In order to open a merchant account, the legal entity operating in Spain will need to provide a set of documents. As a general rule, the merchant account will be established between the following entities:

• the company requesting the merchant account;

• the service provider;

• a local bank in Spain.

The following video offers a short presentation on the Spanish merchant accounts:

Businessmen must know that the company’s statutory documents are to be translated into Spanish. When registering a merchant account, the investors should provide the following:

• certified copies of the company’s statutory documents;

• power of attorney (if the investors will appoint a nominee);

• certified copies of the passports of the company’s directors.

When opening a merchant account with a local service provider, the investors will also need to provide a contract signed between the company and the local bank in Spain. Our team of lawyers in Spain can offer legal assistance on the above mentioned documents or can represent the company in this procedure.

Types of merchant accounts in Spain

When opening a company in Spain, investors can choose from multiple types of merchant accounts, designed to address the needs of a specific type of business activity. Businessmen may set up one of the following:

• pharmacy merchant account;

• adult merchant account;

• MOTO merchant account;

• offshore merchant account;

• high risk merchant account;

• low risk merchant account;

• e-commerce merchant account.

It is also important to know that the service provider will impose different fees for the transactions, depending on the type of merchant account.

For example, the high-risk merchant account will apply higher fees than in the case of a low risk merchant account or an e-commerce account.

Businessmen interested in setting up a merchant account are invited to contact our law firm in Spain for more details on legal requirements applicable for this procedure.