Forum Moderators: buckworks
After reading through many posts on WebmasterWorld I thought my presence may help other members deconstruct their payment acceptance methods.
Here are some insights when choosing a payment provider:
The decision to open a merchant processing account is mainly affected by credibility, application approval, and overall cost
Credibility
What is great about a service like PayPal is that anyone can use it to accept a payment. This is good for a start up or home-based operation but having an integrated virtual terminal on your web-site exudes a higher level of professionalism.
Application approval
Sometimes opening a Merchant Service account can prove to be difficult because you are just starting up a home based operation or you have no tangible goods (e-books etc.) It can be tricky to get approval for higher risk accounts so make sure you speak with a knowledgeable representative to avoid undue stress.
Overall cost
Once your sales pick up to a consistent volume greater than $2,500 /month you should want to begin thinking about opening a merchant services account. I've found that amount to be the approximate break-even point where your savings start to become significant.
Going to your bank to open a Merchant Service account
A lot of banks simply maintain relationships with "preferred vendors" that handle your account through revenue sharing incentives. If you can find a direct representative of a processor you can cut out an extra hand in your pocket and negotiate with a bigger cushion.
Hope this helps someone.
[edited by: tedster at 7:45 pm (utc) on Mar. 15, 2009]
A lot of banks simply maintain relationships with "preferred vendors" that handle your account through revenue sharing incentives. If you can find a direct representative of a processor you can cut out an extra hand in your pocket and negotiate with a bigger cushion.
I am presuming you mean by this not to have your bank set you up, to which I wholeheartedly agree. You ask your bank rep, they say yeah, sure, but we interface only with [insert gateway here] using [method here] and it will cost you [twice what it would cost doing it yourself using the same gateway and methods.]
Corollary, when you deal directly with your bank you wind up going through a ton of support hand-offs from one rep to the next, none of whom have any real idea of the entire picture. Most of the ones I've talked with are basically clueless, and clueless about the other rep's roles in the entire process, but that's really more of a corporate issue than a bank issue.
