Seeking Merchant Account

Hi there,

I'm seeking a new merchant account & am looking for a reputible company.

Also, does anyone know of any message boards that deal with merchant accounts?

Thanks


Michelle

 

The few boards that I have found that 'try' to deal with only merchant accounts are either mainly pushing their company or have so much spam and other useless information on there that I would not even bother

 

Michelle, here is the quickest way to get a merchant account.

1. Incorporate - merchant account providers are very reluctant to offer merchant accounts to individuals. However, they are eager to offer merchant accounts to corporations.

2. After the corporation has been formed, and after you receive the corporate papers, open a business bank account with a nationally established online bank which offers merchant accounts.

 

You can contact CardService International directly to inquire about openning up an account. You can also speak with your bank to setup you up an account as they normally have deals. Alternatively, I have seen some merchant account offers through costco that is meant to have good deals.

;-) good luck

 

Just wanted to add that a sole proprietorship registered with your local county clerk will work just as well. Incorparating has its benefits but I personally don't like the tax situation with incorporating.

When I first applied (and got rejected!) for a merchant account 5 years ago the big national banks offered some of the best rates around. Nowadays, there's lots of high quality competition. Problem is how to sift through all the crappy deals out there to find the gems. I have an excellent deal now and I am very happy. PM me if you want details.

AmCy

 

My bank actually referred me to Card Services, but their rates weren't even as competitive as the rates Card Services direct mailed me themselves.. When I formed my LLC, I was FLOODED with merchant account info within a month.

That said, be careful and read the documents carefully.. I've gotten hit with all kinds of hidden charges and stuff, the whole merchant services arena is pretty ugly, worse than used car salesmen.

I'm trying to find a web-based merchant service I can use. Since I process all my orders by hand, I'd much rather key in the CC info into a website and save the $$ I curently spend on the credit card machine lease and insurance. (And hopefully get better rates and lower monthly minimums to boot).

If anyone knows such a company, hit me up with a PM.

 

Yeah a lot of resellers were just selling merchant accounts to people at what they thought they could get away with. CSI seems to have finally cut that down a lot. No more are people spending $1,200 or so for a United States merchant account

With a virtual merchant account, you might be looking at a discount rate of about 2.39-2.47% and transaction fees in the range of $.25-$.40. Plus if you get a gateway (which you will need) some of them charge for transactions as well.

 

Yup, it's bad news.

You better be careful b/c you aren't supposed to key in the transactions by hand.

In fact I think it's against the law & if a merchant account finds out you are doing that, they will shut you down.

The bank that closed my merchant acct. (not for that reason) stated on their statement that you must only know the last digits of the card.

Good luck


Michelle

 

Everyone pray for me LOL I think the people who originally got me the merchant account can get me another one & I just found out they had told them I was Canadian so that's all good


Michelle

 

Actually you can key in transactions by hand if you have an internet merchant account. You are given a virtual terminal actually for this specific purpose. it is for third party processors that you cannot do this.

 

I highly recomend the good people over at Advanced Credit Systems. Their rates are very competitive and you see everything up front.

Check them out at:
http://www.acs-cvp.com

They've been very reliable and helpful with any questions. Customer Service has just been fantastic.

 

Do you know who the acquiring bank is? For any MAP selling US merchant accounts, Visa requires that the website display this on the website but it does not seem to be on their website

 

Advanced Credit Systems has too many fees.

I've been through the them all and I can tell you that PayQuake is the best if you need a low volume Internet Merchant Account:

• NO Set-up and Application Fees
• NO Statement Fee
• NO Gateway Fee
• NO Monthly Service Charge
• $49.00 Annual Fee
• Manually type in transactions anywhere in the world using Authorize.net (free!)
• Acquiring Bank is HSBC Bank USA.

I've been so pleased with PayQuake that I've partnered with them and have become quite the evangelist!

Check out this Internet Merchant Account comparison chart for more research:

http://www.merchantaccountusa.us/

PM me if you have any questions.

AmCy

 

That would be good for some as well. As far as the comarison site though - there really is no comparison that truly offers an unbiased opinion on merchant accounts. They all have underlying objectives

 

Thats the problem..Threads everywhere get everyone saying so and so is the best and you never know what to believe. Thanks for the links Amy by when you have you're affiliate link in there it makes it look like you are being a salesperson rather than a happy customer.

You would do better to at least state that you are getting paid to refer people rather than just say "I like them so much Im their evangalist".

In the end people need to make sure to do their own research

 

Not sure what you mean.

Are you looking for a not-for-profit provider?

All merchant account provides are looking to make a profit. Very few offer truly fair deals. If you compare most plans out there, you'll see that many providers have exorbitant fees.

AmCy

 

I am in no way trying to hide the fact that I am affiliated with PayQuake. That's why I wrote "I am partnered with them" in my post. Was that not clear enough?


AmCy

 

Well for example - you chave CSI & charge.com. CSI actually pushes all of its merchants thru to resellers (like charge.com). And those resellers can give different rates actually - maybe up the discount rate & lower the transaction fee.

And then you have Verisign which is not a MAP, but an electronic payment gateway. You still need a MAP (like CSI) to actually have a merchant account.

Your research is good but there is still a lot of information that needs to still be there. Like customer service fees, gateway fees, gateway transaction costs, length of contracts etc. And those will always vary per agent / per MAP

 

True, I don't provide all the details of the competitors' offers. FYI : many of them have hidden costs and fees that aren't available to everyone. I'm just doing my best so that those interested in what I am offering can make an informed decision.

AmCy

 

Oddly enough they don't. I actually went to the site you recomended and used their plan calculator found here: Plan Calculator

According to their calculator I definitely made the right choice.

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Corey - I don't know who the aquiring bank is. I'll check and let you know.