Credit Card Processing

I am in the process of developing my website. The website will require credit card payments.

For those that have CC processing for your website, is there a company that you work with and would recomend. Can you also specify what pecentage the company takes from sales and any other information that might be usefull in making the decision.

Thanks

I've used linkpoint (Cardservice Intl) for about 5 years now and have been happy with them. The discount rate and fees will vary depending on your business and risk analysis, but I believe it's somwhere between 2-6% of sales. There's also about a $30/monthly fee.

I use linkpoint central (www.linkpointcentral.com). They are VERY reasonable (flat fee of $28/month plus a .30 per transaction fee.

I've never had any actual product of my own, so I've never actually used any CC processing; but I believe that you can use PayPal to do this, and since it's a very well known name thanks to Ebay, I imagine it would be a good choice. Or, at least something to look into.

I have had bad experiences with paypal. I dont like the way they handle things. Thanks for all the replys. Keep them coming

I would not want to rely on paypal alone. Could you imagine missing out on a 10,000 order because you do not accept credit card's? Listen, this is America. People live and die by using credit cards. If you are on the web...you MUST accept credit card payments. I work in the credit card collections business and I see accounts every day that have online merchants all over the monthly statements. MJ said a big turning point in his business back a few years ago was accepting credit card payments. As far as who to use....I can't tell you that. Just don't rely on PayPal alone. Accept all major creditors and you will reap the benefits in the long run!

We offer both paypal and linkpoint. I have never had anything but good experiences from paypal. I prefer to use linkpoint because it is cheaper for me. The paypal fees are really high and add up if you are taking in $1000's a month!

I wouldn't recommend a 3rd party provider unless you're just getting started. With a 3rd party provider (PayPal) you are not at the top of the chain. You know me, I like to be at the top of the chain and avoid middlemen. Also, Paypal IS NOT RECOMMENDED as it screams "Amateur Company!" - it stinks of someone working out of their basement (which is nothing wrong with that, you just don't want to appear that way). I would NEVER use Paypal as an option on any website, even if I offered standard credit cards options.

Z5Films has a bountiful collection of PayPal horror stories.

Go direct to the bank and get a merchant account -- this way you avoid 3rd party providers (who are middlemen that increase your cost).

A few months ago I switched my merchant account to the Costco plan -- the discount rate on internet transactions was only 1.9% with minimal key charges.

www.CostCo.com
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11105019&whse=BC&Ne=40000 00&eCat=BC|55291|55491&N=4018338&Mo=11&pos=4&No=2& Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=55491&Ns=P_Price|1||P_Sign Desc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC9186-Cat55291&topnav=


While 3rd party providers work for those getting started or small volumes, when you start dealing with millions of dollars, the difference between 4% per transaction and 1.9% is in the thousands. Those savings could be used for more employees or advertising.

Good point about Paypal. It is amateur, like I said, we no longer offer it up- only is someone specifically asks to we use them. ...MJ, why would you prefer 1.9% per transaction to .30 with a flat fee of $28/month? What am I missing?

We have a merchant account with our bank and then use Authorize.net on the website. Our cost on the merchant account ranges from 1.9% to 3.5%, depending on the company and the type of card. Best rate we get is for Tax Loopholes because of the long history and smaller charges. Worst rate is for a seminar company because it's new and the prices are all the same (no $5.97 charges like we get at Tax Loopholes) I keep threatening to stop taking AMEX because it is by the far the most expensive.

Interesting points.

All of our transactions are "card not present" (same as internet based orders) since we have a full prepayment in advance, and do not charge the card when the guest arrives.

This means we pay a higher percentage per transaction, but we get to use the money months earlier. Put in an interest bearing account, this works extremely well for us.

We stopped taking Amex completely when we took over the Inn. When someone asks us why we don't, we tell them the merchant service charges were literally *double* that of VISA and MC.

We don't take Discover either-- just VISA and MC.

We shopped around ALOT, and wound up w/a special deal offered by Wells Fargo to CABBI members (CABBI had a rather special connection w/ Wells Fargo-- our old exec director's husband was Chairman of the Board at Wells for a while).

When a Wells Fargo rep called us to sell us on their services, we told them we already were using them. He persisted, saying he could get us better rates. When we told him what we were getting, he very nicely told us that was impossible, and that he would check and call us back with the *real* rates we were getting.

He called back a few days later, and sheepishly admitted that there was no way he could even come close to the deal we'd gotten.

Gotta love hearing that.

RE: Costco (and any other processors): We started out great with them (very low charges), and found that after a few months, they started increasing their percentage of "non-standard" transactions. This increased their percentage charges from 2.9 to more than double in some cases. They just kept adding on exceptions:

-Use of corporate cards = higher percentage
-Use of ATM VISAs = higher percentage
-Use of awards cards = higher percentage

You get the idea.

Our average was about 4% or more some months- -all because the Costco card folks kept adding more and more exceptions.

We review our processing charges every 3 months-- and shop around if we need to.

We were able to gain a *substantial* regular lower rate by including the amount of sales tax charged as part of our input for each transaction (for some reason, VISA and MC require this, and charge higher rates if you don't include this w/each transaction).

So watch for changing charges/increasing percentages no matter who you work with. As MJ said, it amounts to thousands of dollars per year.

For one of our businesses, a 2% difference for us (what we got when we changed from Costco to the special Wells program) amounts to $15,000 per year.

-Russ H.

we use www.lynksystems.com/
they have cc process and checks on line.
we pay an average less than 2%(1-7/8%) on everything except american express which we do not take unless there is no other option available and service has already been rendered. They also have a $15 monthly fee if you don't meet minimum transaction process of 30k.
They are pretty easy to deal with and keep a transaction log on line which is helpful with your book keeping.

Janet-

I'm assuming your rates are based on having the card present and checking the ID?

This results in substantially lower rates than an internet based business (or ours, since we do prepays in advance and don't have the card present).

-Russ H.

I'm new to cc processing. I assume the payments go directly to the bank and the bank issues you a check minus the transaction fees?! if thats the case, how long does it take to get your money.

Or does it get deposited directly in your bank account minus transaction fees?

We don't swipe the cards because we do not carry terminals into the field the tech calls into the office & gives the girls all the info and they key it into the terminal. Most of our cards are considered card present even though they are not swiped unless it is a property manager that calls in service over the phone. Since we are rendering service at the mailing address of the card in most residential cases, I assume this gives us a favorable rate. I have looked at the wireless terminals for our guys but the expense has not been equal to the revenue increase at this point.
Janet

For those with the internet type business and use linkpoint (or any of the card services):
Can customers make their payments right on line? If so, how did you set that up?

I can only figure out how to accept "via telephone payments". (Yes, I am really a novice when it comes to this website stuff) Ideally, I'd like to set it up for the customer to be able to make their own payments right on line which would then generate an e-mail to the business owner that let them know that a payment (and for what) was made. From what I have read thus far, I believe that I need to create an HTML form that takes them to the "check out/payment" page of link point. Am I on track? I really don't understand how to do this.

Some shopping carts have the ability to run linkpoint, if you don't have one, the best bet would be to hire a web firm to install an ssl cert and create your payment gateway for you.

I was taking suggestions from this thread and checked into link point as a new gateway. It seems you have to have LP API or LP gateway to run on the web, you might have LP MO/PO (mailorder/phone order) Gateway does a Paypal type transaction and API you set up with a SSL on your own site which is what i need now.

I ended up going with Linkpoint. 2.19% + .25$ per transaction plus 28$ per month. Initially i was going to use Paymentech from Chase bank, but they have the worst customer support.

I use Chase Paymenttech, who uses Authorize.net. So far my experience has been pretty good. I have a good account manager who calls back right away and takes care of things. Plus I have about 10 checking accounts with Chase so maybe that helps.