Founded in 1999, Innovative Merchant Solutions (IMS), is a provider of credit card and debit card processing services for small businesses. In 2003, IMS joined forces with Intuit Inc., the industry leader in helping small businesses better manage their finances.

Just click here and fill out the one page application. The process takes about 5 minutes. If you'd like to apply via phone, call (866) 697-9200 Monday through Friday 7am-5pm Pacific Time.

We will contact you within 24 hours (not including weekends and holidays) to let you know which program you have qualified for, answer any questions you have, and complete your application.

We accept retail, professionals, trade shows, mail order, telephone order, Internet-based, and home-based businesses.

Very few applications are denied. In fact, we approve 98% of all applicants who apply for merchant accounts. 3 In addition, there is no application fee. If your application were declined, it would be at no expense to you.

Credit is not always the determining factor in our approval process. If your credit is questionable, we have some options available to you so your account can be approved.

Unfortunately, no. Only US-based companies with a U.S. bank account can use Innovative Merchant Solutions.

For pricing comparisons, click here .

You will need the following information about your business:

If you've already applied and have questions about the status of your application, please call (866) 697-9200.

No. The funds you collect from credit card transactions are deposited directly into the bank account of your choice. Funds are usually available within 2 business days.

cards. You can apply for American Express and Discover at the same time. If you would like to accept Discover Card and American Express there is $50 set up charge.

In order to assure uninterrupted processing, DO NOT cancel your existing merchant service until you've been approved and ready to process with Innovative Merchant Solutions. At that point, you can choose to cancel your existing service.

Terminal Service : It depends. You can use your existing terminal–and reprogramming is FREE. 1 Just call (866) 697-9200 for assistance. Don't have a terminal, get one for a great price. Learn more about our terminals .

PC Service : No — we provide you with FREE virtual terminal software, which lets you use your PC to manually key-enter card information, plus also lets you process sales anywhere there's an internet connection. You can also select the QuickBooks Merchant Service, which lets you manually key-enter card information right in your QuickBooks software.

Internet Service : No — we provide you with FREE gateway software, which lets you take sales over the Internet plus lets you manually key-enter card sales anywhere there's an internet connection.

We provide full technical support and our experienced customer service representatives and tech support are available 24/7/365. Just call toll free (800) 397-0707.

Yes. A statement is mailed out monthly. It contains information on all deposits into your account, your total sales volume, and the charges for the month. There is a $9.95 monthly statement/customer service fee.

Every bank charges a discount rate. The discount rate is the percentage of each transaction that the processing company charges to handle the transaction for you. Our discount rates are exceptionally low for retail (swiped), mail/telephone order, and Internet merchants.

No. Credit card transactions that are keyed-in are considered higher risk since the card is not present at the time of the sale. Merchants who do a lot of keyed-in sales (for example, mail/telephone order and Internet-based businesses) experience a higher discount rate than retailers where cards are physically presented and swiped.

Yes. Credit card processing includes both a discount rate and a transaction fee.