Merchant Bank / Gateway Recommendation

[briank]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a Merchant Bank and Gateway in the US? I started looking into TrustCommerce.com but I'm not sure if I really like their prices. Did anyone ever do business with them?

Thanks,

Brian

[Islands]

briank,
Take a look at ECHO. No gateway fees.
http://echo-inc.com

Mel

[christoefar]

I heard that http://www.protx.com/ is good as you pay £20 a month, but it might only be for the UK,

I just use http://www.payal.com and http://www.nochex.com.

Good Look,

[Corey Bryant]

I went to their site to see what they charge but could not locate anything. It states that it varies. That is true but for the most part - they could give a ball park figure.

If you use a third party processor, especially paypal - consider opening a bank for paypal only. Because if someone happens, they can freeze that bank account. I had one client who insisted on using Paypal as well as a merchant account & they froze her account for six months. Luckily I knew the president of the bank she used & we got her a new account opened almost immediately.

[Shift4SMS]

For merchant account rates, shop around and get several quotes. Rates for real merchant accounts are based on several factors so if you come across a merchant service provider (MSP) site that quote rates without knowing your specifics, chance are that the rates quoted are not the best you'll find or the "fine print" will ding ya.

If you have an established business, try going to the banks directly -- working directly with a bank generally can get you the best rates BUT banks have higher acceptance qualifications and tend to turn away business that does not have a track record. Your next option is ISO's (TrustCommerce.com is an ISO). ISO's have a bank or multiple banks backing them and they act as a merchant account middle man. Obviously, these ISO's need to make a profit so their rates tend to be a little higher than a direct relationship BUT there are literaly 1000's of ISO's out there so competition is steap -- shop around!

After you get your MSP relationship, then worry about the gateway...

[Corey Bryant]

Also - depending on what you are selling could affect your rates. A lot of places consider furniture high risk & some do not. Without knowing your product, it is difficult to guess.

If one company tells you they need a 25% reserve rate for 6 months, this could well eat into your profits. Check with other processors also. And think of extras - do you need a virtual terminal? Do you want to download your transactions in a CSV format? Find out what their customer service hours are. That could be a deal breaker for you if you play catch up during the weekends & you need answers then.

If you do not think you are going to be processing more than $1,000 a month - you might consider a third party processor (like Paysystems, 2Checkout, etc). Some of the bigger differences with these, their names appear on the CC statement, not yours. With a merchant account, your name appears. And usually with third party processors, they pay out on a weekly, bi weekly basis. Some maybe just once a month. And their discount rate is usually higher than a merchant account.

[brandblast]

I strongly recommend http://e-onlinedata.com for your merchant account provider and authorize.net for your gateway, it's a solid combo with great rates.

[OutsourcingDoug]

I use

http://www.itransact.com

and Authorize.net. No complaints.

Happy New Year!

[carlyrenic]

For credit card processing and merchant accounts I recommend Card Service Sales (http://www.cardservicesales.com) to my clients. Other options of course include Paypal (http://www.paypal.com), and 2Checkout (http://www.2checkout.com). Both are wiidley used, and both have many mixed reviews. I suggest reading some of the information on each of these sites to get a better understanding of the services they offer.

If you are interested I have read and recommend reading the Forbes Articles (http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2007/02/20/visa-americanexpress-globalpayment-ent-fin-cx_mf_0220creditcard.html) on saving money with credit card processing.

Cheers, and best of luck~:)

[MichelH]

Guys, hold your horses, the original thread was opened on 11-05-2003, 05:56 PM.
Let's just hope he has found a decent payment provider by now. :)