What is the best merchant processing solution?

[msmiller36]

If you want to take credit card orders (or pre-orders), what is the best merchant processing solution?
I've heard the PayPal and Google Checkout will freeze your funds if even a single person complains about your service to them.

[donaldcarter55]

If you don't care about the customer leaving your site:
Amazon Payments (underrated in my opinion)
PayPal
Google Checkout
If you need to seamlessly integrate a payment form in your site:
-PayPal Payments Pro ($30/month for a virtual terminal and API integration, no contracts, 2.9% transaction, it's really hard to find a merchant company that can beat this unless you're talking in volumes).
-Authorize.net coupled with the merchant company of your choice.
When evaluating a merchant company, beware of contract stipulations, transaction fees, and monthly fees. My first provider was Cardservice International (one of the largest) and I used LinkPoint for the online gateway. I was paying $60-80/month just for the service! (transaction fees excluded) AND I was locked in a 2-year contract with an insanely high cancellation fee. One of their fees was a mandatory $20 "customer service fee" for access to their 24/7 customer service team. (WTF?)
Just be careful when evaluating merchant companies. Try starting at your bank (as long as it's not Chase, BoA, or Wells Fargo). Generally, local community banks or credit unions will have fair pricing and good customer service for merchants.

[roban]

Authorize.Net through eonlinedata is my processor of choice.

[nevaeh.aaric]

A serious merchant provider will not ask for a long-term commitment and should provide you with a clear cost-plus schedule A that lists all prices. The main advantage is that a good service provider will help you with the setup of the shopping cart and provide value support. Generally you'd look at around $25 a month for the service plus the processing in terms of costs.

[derhammer88]

I agree with Roban, Authorize.net and either www.eonlinedata.com or www.merchantfocus.com --both good solutions.

[Notorious1]

Always be weary of monthly fee and contractual stipulations.

[ramirezhenry55]

Try paypal since it is used by almost anybody in any parts of the world. This will give you a better chance of marketing your products anywhere.

[3oltan]

A business that offers its customers a multitude of payment methods will increase their customer satisfaction and stand out among competitors.

[zeeshan_2011]

payment method use better to work.

[envnet]

I personally use RBS worldpay which was actually very easy to apply for. In the UK this costs £15 per month for an account which includes a merchant account and online gateway. They also offer accounts in the USA and other countries all around the world.

RBS also makes it possible to accept payments through paypal which is currently free in the UK!

Whichever payment method you use I think that you will need to accept PayPal payments too.

[derhammer88]

Envnet is right, you will also want to offer paypal in conjunction with a merchant account. I may be getting forgetful in my old age, but wasn't RBS hacked last year by some Russian group?

[envnet]

Haha, yes I did hear something about paypal being hacked some time, I think it was the US servers. Still I guess it could happen to anyone!

I also heard that RBS are selling off Worldpay sometime this year.

Actually Paypal website payments pro sounds like a fantastic deal if you can put up with paypal. No set up fees! I personally do everything I can to avoid paypal although I still realise it's an essential payment option.

Plus I was turned down for a paypal payments pro account due to poor credit rating (never knew they checked this!). But WorldPay accepted me without a problem.

[goodscool]

You can use Wester union, Money Gram. T/T.

[Boat]

You can have a try with Paypal and Western Union. And I thought Western Union is much better, it quickly and safe.

[elenapascal]

my personal choise (fashion jewelery) is netpay international
nice rates/nice service