• If a thief uses a credit card, the merchant can lose income.credit card image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
  
  Many merchants accept credit card payments. Customers can easily make large purchases with credit cards since a large stack of currency is bulky and may not fit in a wallet. Credit cards also allow a customer to borrow money temporarily, which allows the merchant to make a sale even if the customer temporarily has no cash. Credit card acceptance does involve risks to the merchant and most of these risks relate to fraud.
  
  

Chargeback

• A customer can cancel a purchase by notifying the credit card company and authorizing a chargeback. The U.S. Small Business Administration states that a customer may have as long as six months to decide to make a chargeback request. A chargeback request involves a dispute between the customer and the merchant. For instance, the customer may refuse to pay for the product or service because of a defect such as a quality problem.
  
  

Association Rules

• When a merchant decides to authorize credit card payment, many organizations participate in the transaction process. The credit card association is often different from the bank of the customer or merchant and the association has its own rules. The merchant must pay additional fees when accepting credit card payment. A credit card association can also prohibit a merchant from adding an additional transaction fee to a bill when a customer makes a credit card purchase.
  
  

Theft

• Credit card holders receive protection against credit card theft. If the credit card holder quickly reports a theft, the credit card holder is only liable for $50 of the thief's purchases. The credit card holder will authorize a chargeback and the merchant must pay any additional costs such as the cost of goods sold and credit card transaction fees. If the thief purchases expensive products such as designer clothing or household electronics, the merchant loses a lot of money.
  
  

International Sales

• Many credit card associations serve a network of banks and merchants around the world. International transactions pose a much greater risk than domestic transactions because other countries have different laws that regulate credit card purchase agreements. A merchant can decide to not accept international payments, prohibit payments from countries where fraud is very common, or perform additional checks when making an international sale. According to the Department of Commerce Buy USA website, a merchant can use software tools to confirm the location of a buyer who is attempting to make an online purchase, which provides additional proof of the buyer's identity.