Switching merchant account/gateway

[keros]

I'm getting ready to change to a new merchant account and gateway to get a better deal.

I was wondering how people normally deal with issuing refunds for transactions done on the old account after I switch to the new account. Do I need to keep the old merchant account and gateway running on an overlapping basis (maybe for an extra month) just in case I need to issue any refunds? Thank you for any input.

[percentages]

>I'm getting ready to change to a new merchant account and gateway to get a better deal.

I would keep the old merchant account open for at least one month, probably at least 3 months.

"The other mans grass is always greener", don't jump ship too quickly, make sure your new offering is really better before you burn the bridge you have already built.

I've tried switching merchant services several times because of "better deals", never closed the original though, just tested the waters! After 6 years of looking for better deals I still use the company I started out with!

They are not the cheapest, but they are the best at customer service and relability, which I'm happy to pay an extra $20 bucks a month for :)

[Corey Bryant]

You do not need to keep the old merchant account actually. Most MAPs and electronic payment gateways support an option in which - as long as you know the credit card number of the consumer, you can actually transfer money from your merchant account to the credit card

-Corey

[nipear]

I switched last august and it took about 4 months until I closed the first one. I'd be careful as we switched to a new merchant gateway and authorize.net and we couldn't issue refunds through them. We had to use the old system. Authorize net just would accept them without a transaction id.

[lgn1]

Contact the sales Rep from your current Merchant Provider. Quite often they will match the competitions price, rather than lose a customer.

This will save you the hassle of switching.

[topguy29]

LinkPoint Gateway and Cardservice actually suport this. You have to call them to activate it since it is pretty powerful. I was amazed that I could actually credit any credit card with their basically their number and a few other details.