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Home::ECommerce
Choosing a Merchant Account Provider
Author : Eric Friese
Everyone that runs an online business has to answer the
question: which merchant account provider should I choose? There
are literally thousands of providers out there that offer
similar services. The purpose of this article is to clue you in
on what you should be looking for in a merchant account provider.
Price When it comes down to it, money is the most important
consideration. Providers have a wide array of fees that they
access. Most providers require a setup fee for the service and
then a monthly fee. It amazes me how much some people are paying
for these services! Try to look for a company that doesn't
require a setup fee and has a low monthly payment.
Another fee that is added is a percentage of each transaction.
These interest rates are calculated by how much you process in a
month. The more money you process a month, the lower your
interest rate will be. Part of the interest rate is accessed by
the credit card company (Visa, Mastercard, etc), so there is a
limit for how low you can get your rate. The key here is to
compare rates between providers to get the lowest rate.
Features For e-commerce, the provider should have a good
interface for your web site. If you're using a e-commerce
software such as osCommerce, make sure your provider is
supported. If you, or your developer, is designing the system,
make sure the company has good support for interfacing with
their payment system. Some providers will offer an API
(Application Program Interface) so that you have sample code to
connect to the payment system. This is VERY helpful is you are
designing your own system.
Recommendations I try to remain unbiased in all of my articles,
but I think I've found the perfect merchant account provider. Paypal
, owned by Ebay, has recently got into the merchant account
business. They have a very low monthly rate, good interest
rates, and a great API! For more information about merchant
accounts, visit our web site at .
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