Are there any *different* card processors?

[Tonearm]

I'm with a card processor I don't like. I'm about to sign up with a new one, but I just read over their 10-page contract and it's downright abusive. I get the feeling they're all the same and whether or not you're with a "bad one" is just a matter of how many mistakes you've made which have caused them to show their true colors.

Are there any truly different processors out there? The PayPal merchant account seems like it might be one, but I don't want "PAYPAL" to show up on my customers' statement, plus I don't collect CVV2 data and the last time I checked PayPal required it.

[ergophobe]

I've been looking for options that would make PCI compliance simpler and cheaper.

So far, the one that stands - which I have not used, only read about, mostly their own marketing flap - is Braintree.

They claim a much simpler fee structure and it seems to be true - roughly the same as Paypal in terms of fees - but mostly I've been evaluating things with an eye towards simple PCI compliance for small merchants who don't want to be bothered with such things and don't want to hire someone.

[Propools]

You might look into:
[qutoe]
Card Services International [cardserviceinternational.com]
or
Authorize.net [authorize.net]

[Tonearm]

ergophobe, Braintree looks very interesting. They might fit the "different" bill nicely. It looks like you have to use their payment gateway and I'm looking into that.

Any other choices?

[rocknbil]

Just a note, CSI is either owned by or a reseller for (forget which) FirstData, note the link in the lower left of the page. Which, is a way to cut out the middle man, I guess.

Yeah they are all expensive. I've worked with clients using many different ones, overall, FirstData and it's Linkpoint interface works out well in the long run. It's a merchant account *and* gateway in one. Another like that is NetBilling, though their merchant interface is not as "slick". Either of those seem to be "okay" rates and spare you the costs of maintaining both a gateway and a merchant account.

I've been evaluating things with an eye towards simple PCI compliance

Your site still needs to be PCI compliant, this is a directive of the merchant account provider . . . be PCI compliant or we'll shake you down for another $20/month or so. The M.A.P. foots the bill on the compliance scans though, and it tightens up your server so it's all good IMO.

[ergophobe]

Your site still needs to be PCI compliant

I was thinking of things like Authorize.net CIM and Braintree's Vault that let you do recurring transactions and follow-up billing without having to store the CC on your server, which offloads a lot of the PCI requirements.