Can someone help me help some friends RE: Payment Processor?

[mlevenhagen]

I know someone that has a pretty decent size membership site.

The just had some serious problems with iBill.

Here's whats already been considered:

1) ClickBank - but they don't process reoccuring for membership sites.
2) PayPal
3) 2CheckOut
4) Payaah.com (a bit new...)
5) ccBill (not comfortable with it)

Does anyone have any comments on the above or know of any others that would work for a membership site.

Quote from merchant:

"Ibill has everything in one package but their customer service has made them practically worthless."

They need an all in one membership solution that will take care of:

1) Membership system
2) A payment processor
3) And affiliate management software.

Any suggestions?

[Corey Bryant]

iBill & CCbill cater to the high risk industry (namely adult).

It needs to first be asked - is this what the membership site is?

But since you mention 2CO & Paypal which do not support adult websites, one has to think it is not adult related.

Consider your monthly volume. If it is going to be over $1,000 & since it does seem you are in the United States, a merchant account is usually a good choice. Consider Paypal in conjunction with a merchant account (or 2CO).

If you do consider a merchant account, you also need to look into electronic payment gateways.

The LinkPoint payment gateway is probably one of the strongest out there. It is owned by the First Data Corporation. First Data has been doing electronic money transfers since 1871 and they were the first processor of both VISA® and MasterCard® bank-issued credit cards in 1976. First Data processed 12.2 billion transactions in North America alone in 2003.

Authorize.net is probably the most advertised electronic gateway. A lot of people think they can sign up with them and immediately start to accept credit cards. They do not release you need a merchant account as well. Authorize.net even uses the First Data platform to help facilitate transaction processing.

Verisign also has a payment gateway. Verisign is probably the most recognized name because they also offer other services and products for the internet (i.e. SSL certificates, domain registration, hosting, etc). You do not need to purchase everything from Verisign to have a successful e-commerce business.

Surepay is another one - but I would stay away from that one until the migration is completed with LinkPoint. They had some serious issues a few weeks ago.

Since you state that is is a pretty decent size - it seems a merchant account would be your best choice. With a merchant account, you could have a pretty decent discount rate (compared to iBill) as well.

[mlevenhagen]

Corey,

No it's not high risk. It's an internet marketing site.

Thanks for the info. I'll pass it along!

I really appreciate it!!

P.S. Did they have electricity in 1871?

...

[StevenAllen]

Matt,

Authorizenet is amongst the most popular for gateway access as Corey noted and the program we offer for merchant accounts (shameless plug) may be a good fit.
When identifying costs it is important to realize that merchant processors play a revenue game of hide the ball. Sometimes the revenue for them is hidden in chargebacks, statement fees, monthly fees, float time (delay of funding), per transaction fee, batch fees, AVS fees etc. The key is to provide the volume required to affect the result desired by all.

Make sure to compare:

1) AVS Fees
2) Batch fees
3) Non - qualified AKA up charges - ZERO.(this can comprise 30% of a merchants monthly costs). Please be advised that mid-qualified (corporate and government cards) are NOT non-qualfied.
4) Initiation fee
5) Term of contract fee
6) Chargeback fees
7) ACH funding delays.
8) Annual fee.
9) Per transaction convenience fee for Amex or Discover.
10) Set up fee.
11) Application fee.

If you need more assistance, please feel free to contact me.

[Corey Bryant]

One more thing to keep in mind - make sure to see what is the retrieval request fee. If they are charging you $15 or so everytime, this could really add up, especially if they charge you a retrievalm request fee & then a chargeback fee. Most companies now provide an online reporting tool to help reduce chargebacks in its entirety.

[StevenAllen]

Taking a proactive approach you will can help reduce needless fees. We call it a chargeback defense system see below:

The Chargeback Defense System is utilized for all chargebacks received. Chargebacks are received electronically from the interchange and passed to the Chargeback Image Processing System from the Automated Chargeback System. CDS compares each chargeback against the full range of Visa and MasterCard association rules and regulations. The item is also checked automatically against the files maintained for:

* Authorizations
* Chargeback within timeframes
* Reason code valid for Merchant Category Code (MCC)
* Reason code valid from card acceptance mode
* Preceding retrieval, if required
* Authorization search if required by reason code
* Automatic check to see if credit has been issued