Hi,

We are trying to narrow down our merchant account provider to monstercommerce and Bank of America. If anyone knows anyone better then both of these please post all information in this post. I am trying to have a application in by Friday. We finally got off contract with Innovative, and it is time to find a new merchant.

Post away.....I need all informaton and good and bad experiences. I also need a easy to use virtual terminal if possible for phone orders and mail orders.

Thanks

My only experiences are with Paymentech (When I was Yahoo!) and Authorize.net thru Well's Fargo. We did have long deposit delays with Paymentech but haven't had any complaints about Authorize.net or Well's Fargo. I'd love to promote here but I could only do so with no experience relating to that specific service they provide.

Kickz, the Merchant Account is competitive, but that 32 cents a transaction is a real killer - especially if you sell low-margin items.

We use First Data on Yahoo! right now but probably will go with Verisign or Auth.net for our planned store. Get some quotes and do the math on how much it'll cost you to do 1000 transactions a month at $25 per ticket (include gateway, transaction, AVS, statement, access fees, etc.). By doing this you'll be able calculate the effective discount rate - which is usually a lot different from the quoted discount rate.

DJ

Thanks DJ,

Nice advice...

We use BofA and have, for the most part, been pleased. they, like any BANK will add fees where they can, depending upon the volume of business that you run. They did require that we open a BofA business account with $500 minimum deposit/running balance. Our discount fee is about 3.5%, but when all is said and done, with monthly service, miscellaneous fees, and per transaction fees for the more exotic Visa/MC originators, it nets out to close to double that percentage. If your volume or average transaction is high, your net % will be somewhat lower. Hope this helps.

I am currently giving Quickbooks Merchant Account & Wells Fargo a swing.

I like it because there is not contracts to sign, just $ 17.95 a month with no minimums. And the rates are competitive. No cancel fees if you decide to leave and no down payments.

The only draw back it you have to process the cards through Quickbooks Program and by hand. Of course you need to own one of the newer versions of Quickbooks as well.

I am so far pleased with the software and service, I usually get my deposits within 24 hours because my business account it at Wells Fargo.

It makes a great alternative to the higher fee Merchant Accounts when you are starting up or have lower margins to work with.

Anybody on ,

After having a long convo with Julie, we did not get anywhere...lol.. I was on the phone with her, asking her to break down he fees..lol

I seem to have this problem with all merchants I speak with.

What is the minimum charge?

I would highly recommend getting a written version of all the fee's and charges (even if just via email). This is the best way to compare charges and fees. Then if you have a issue down the road you can refer to the email or letter instead of calling up and saying "Hey, Ralph didn't mention this charge or fee!"

Not that I've had this problem, but better safe than sorry.

I agree... to this day the merchant account system boggles me.

There are weird fees and add-ons and fine print. I think MA accounts are the biggest pain of the several components needed to build an online business.

Krazy, you can contact Julie at julie@monstercommerce.com. Not sure if you had her email contact info.