Comments on: Which merchant account is best? http://findyourmerchantaccount.com/566 The Best Merchant Account Reviewed Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:11:38 +0000 hourly 1 By: mss http://findyourmerchantaccount.com/566#comment-589 mss Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:19:31 +0000 http://findyourmerchantaccount.com/566#comment-589 The better option is a merchant account. It will save you a lot of money. Although chargebacks are an issue, if you follow certain best practices and use common sense, you will be alright. Let me give you a breakdown of the fees and charges that are associated with a direct merchant account. 1. Discount rate - the amount a merchant is charged by his acquirer for processing the merchant’s transactions. It consists of a percentage fee (e.g. 2.19%) and a fixed, per transaction, fee (e.g. $0.25). You should not agree to anything higher than 2.19% + $0.25. 2. Authorization fee - another "per-transaction" fee. You should not pay more than $0.12. 3. Application and set up fee - one-time fees to apply for and set up your account. You should NOT pay ANY set up or application fees! 4. Monthly maintenance fee - as the name suggests, it is charged monthly to keep your account on file. You should not be paying more than $10. 5. Support fee - another monthly charged for customer service. You should NOT pay ANY such fees. 6. Virtual terminal fee - a virtual terminal is the application that you will open in your browser and enter the payment information as you are taking it over the phone or getting it from a form you got in the mail. It should be provided for free. 7. Gateway fee - it should not cost you more than $15 per month. Once your selection is made and all required paperwork is submitted, the set up of your merchant account should take no longer than two business days. The better option is a merchant account. It will save you a lot of money. Although chargebacks are an issue, if you follow certain best practices and use common sense, you will be alright. Let me give you a breakdown of the fees and charges that are associated with a direct merchant account.

1. Discount rate – the amount a merchant is charged by his acquirer for processing the merchant’s transactions. It consists of a percentage fee (e.g. 2.19%) and a fixed, per transaction, fee (e.g. $0.25). You should not agree to anything higher than 2.19% + $0.25.

2. Authorization fee – another “per-transaction” fee. You should not pay more than $0.12.

3. Application and set up fee – one-time fees to apply for and set up your account. You should NOT pay ANY set up or application fees!

4. Monthly maintenance fee – as the name suggests, it is charged monthly to keep your account on file. You should not be paying more than $10.

5. Support fee – another monthly charged for customer service. You should NOT pay ANY such fees.

6. Virtual terminal fee – a virtual terminal is the application that you will open in your browser and enter the payment information as you are taking it over the phone or getting it from a form you got in the mail. It should be provided for free.

7. Gateway fee – it should not cost you more than $15 per month.

Once your selection is made and all required paperwork is submitted, the set up of your merchant account should take no longer than two business days.

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