Merchant accounts allow you to accept credit cards directly on your website.  It is proven that by accepting credit cards you greatly increase your chances of making the sale.  Below are the merchant account providers we work with and feel are the best in the business. 

Merchant account processing services are provided by a bank or a third party processor (on behalf of the bank) to the merchant. These services include authorization of credit cards, settlement of funds through the bankcard associations (MasterCard and Visa), depositing of funds to checking accounts, merchant billing, and account activity reporting.

There are basically two types of providers, the standard bank based merchant account and the 3rd party processors.  A full description of each is provided.

The standard merchant account is an account a merchant, like yourself, has with a bank in order to accept credit card orders from customers. Funds are collected by a bank from credit card purchasers and disbursed to the merchant. Once the merchant has a merchant account set up, the merchant can accept credit card information from customers.

After reviewing many different credit card processing companies we have formed and exclusive partnership with Electronic Clearing House, Inc.  We have used ECHO personally for several years.  Their customer service and support team is unparalleled in the industry.  They offer the most competitive rates.  They also charge a flat monthly fee to process and are the only company we know of that doesn't charge a fee if you don't process any transactions.  We know your goal is to process a lot of transactions but when your first getting set up it's nice to know you are not paying until you need too.  The other benefit is that they are the both the processor and the gateway so you only have one application to complete and lower monthly fees.

Some of the many features they offer are outlined below:

• Low startup costs - Just $99.00. (free if transferring)
• Free secure payment gateway.
• Easy approval - 98% of merchant applications are accepted
• No charge if you have no activity in that month.
• Secure transactions - Cardholder data is protected with state-of-the-art Secure Socket Layer Technology.
• On-line reports let you review your sites transactions over the internet 24 hours a day.
• Includes Virtual Terminal; manually enter both credit cards and check transactions.
• Development can be handled by your own ISP or Web developer or one of ours.
• Professional customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Turnkey ecommerce solution with MerchantAmerica.com and our affiliates.
• Processing scripts provided in many popular hosting languages.
• Accept VISA/MC/Amex
• Compatible with Verified by Visa and Mastercard on-lin authentication programs, giving you greater fraud protection.

If you have another merchant account provider you would like us to integrate into your website we would be happy to assist you.  Just let us know.

...comparison chart coming soon!

Third party processors, like Paypal, are payment-processing systems that allows you to send and receive credit card payments online. Perfect for service businesses, eBay auctioneers, and our international members.  They offer a fast, secure, easy way to accept payments of any size — without a merchant account.  Customers and clients will appreciate this flexible way to pay for your services. And with no contract and very low, percentage-based transaction fees, there's almost no risk to you. They offer:

• No Monthly Fees
• No/low Set-up Fees
• No Lengthy Applications
• No Long-term Commitments

...our recommendations coming soon!