July 22, 2009
What are some good companies to open up a Merchant Account for my business?
Small Business Man asked:
I am in the process of opening my companies website to the public but I need a Merchant Account in order to charge customers for there orders during check out. I am sure there are numerous Merchant Companies out there to choose from but I want to be sure I pick the right one for my company. I am not sure how many transactions I will have per month because the business if very new but over time the amount of transactions will increase over time. I know that some Merchant services charge you on an estimated amount of transactions per month, and if you do not reach that level you will be charge additional fees.
I am in the process of opening my companies website to the public but I need a Merchant Account in order to charge customers for there orders during check out. I am sure there are numerous Merchant Companies out there to choose from but I want to be sure I pick the right one for my company. I am not sure how many transactions I will have per month because the business if very new but over time the amount of transactions will increase over time. I know that some Merchant services charge you on an estimated amount of transactions per month, and if you do not reach that level you will be charge additional fees.
If someone could give me some helpful information on what Merchant Companies are better than others, who has good rates? no monthly fees? cheaper monthly fees? etc…
As much information on this topic would be appreciate, even if you can point me in the right direction I would be appreciated.
Thank you for your time
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Comments on What are some good companies to open up a Merchant Account for my business?
I personally feel it is between Google Checkout and Paypal. I chose Google in a past business experience and had no trouble with them. I believe their transaction fee was just a bit less then Paypal’s.
They also have very easy transaction tracking reports as well as email alerts when a transaction has been processed.
Just type in Google Checkout in search bar for more details.
Hope that helps!
I would suggest pay pal. They have all kinds of options available for you.
Check with your bank. Most banks offer Merchant Account services, and if you have an account, you may get a discounted rate.
Other than that, Paypal does offer a pretty good Merchant Account, and it’s bundled with a payment gateway (which is something else you’ll need if you want to accept credit cards online, along with an SSL certificate).
Probably the largest & safest provider is Authorize.net. Most of the decent Merchant Service providers are just resellers for them, so it might pay to check with them directly, first.
Look for companies that do not charge monthly minimums, annual fees, batch fees or want you to sign a contract for more than month to month service. Banks are not necessarily the best place to go for merchant services, their reps typically have a quota of so many new account per month and you are left dealing with an 800# for help. A fair question to ask is how does the rep get paid. Do they get their commissions all upfront, or do they get paid for a certain time frame or do they get paid on each transaction for the life of your account. The last way you will likely get better customer service than the first two ways a rep is paid.
I have made comparison of credit card merchant account provider. You can read it at