does anyone know of a reputable online merchant account company to use on a webpage for business?

paypal definatly

There are many reputable merchant account providers out there. In order to select the right one for your particular needs, it is a good idea to learn how an eCommerce merchant account functions. A brief description of the process follows.

First of all, I should say that online credit card acceptance can be outsourced to third parties, such as PayPal, or it can be done directly on your website, using your own merchant account. Both solutions have their advantages, but a direct account is much cheaper. You can find PayPal’s rates here – and I have provided some information on direct merchant accounts’ rates below. At the same time, if you will only accept one or two credit card transactions per day, PayPal may be the better choice, as it does not have any fixed fees. The biggest advantage that a direct solution has, however, is that you are in control of your account. We all have heard of PayPal freezing accounts for various reasons. With your own processing service that is very unlikely to happen.

If you choose the direct merchant account option, you will need to find a processing company to work with. The merchant account company that you choose will provide a payment gateway which will incorporate with your shopping cart and will transmit the transaction information to the processing bank that they have a relationship with. The bank will then subtract its processing cost and will deposit the remaining balance into your checking account.

Also, when selecting a processor, make sure your rates are reasonable. For an eCommerce business the processing rate should not be higher than 2.19% + $0.25 per transaction, with no set up or application fees. You should not be paying any monthly minimums or annual fees. There will be a monthly account fee and a monthly gateway fee, but neither of them should be higher than $10. The gateway, too, should be free to set up.

The verification of the credit card accounts is done automatically by an AVS (Address Verification Service) service. You will need to make sure that your processor supports it but I am not aware of any that does not.

Simple Payment Systems, who I use, provides the most reliable e-commerce gateways, linking your business with vital on-line dollars in our ever-changing economy.
• Quick approvals on e-commerce business applications
• Competitive pricing
• Charge back reduction programs
• Years of e-commerce processing experience
• The latest in state-of-the-art equipment and software
• Real-time credit card and check authorizations
• The most reliable fraud filtration programs
• Unrivaled 24-hour technical support
You can choose which software you want and the software is free!Train you for free also. Make sure you shop around. I did and it definitely paid off. Take care of you and your business.
Paypal is awful!