Credit Card Processing Provider?

[Redneck]

We've been using propay.com as a credit card processor for 6 years. All of a sudden they're cancelling our account due to their new policy changes (no travel or lodging related businesses anymore).
Can anybody recommend a reliable and inexpensive credit card processor?

[studiocygnet]

I'm wondering how photography would be a "travel or lodging related business".
In any case, I've been using the service through Costco for a while now. Don't know how it compares in price these days, but when first got on it seemed good.

[Redneck]

Photography is my passion, not my profession.
What I need is the chance to process mail orders and face to face payments as well. Some kind of an internet payment gateway would fit my needs.

[hotshot38]

I used to use 2Checkout.com a few years back with no real problems...it integrated well into my wife's website. From what I remember they didn't like 'service' as much as 'hard product' type businesses, but it was still usable.

[allanc]

I too am looking for credit card processing. I need on-site sales in places where there is no internet so I need to be able to process at a later time. Any suggestions?

[Rcowan]

We use Authorize.net for doing art and craft shows. There are a couple of iPhone apps that are specifically geared to them also.

[ElanR]

Sam's Club is advertising a rate 'as low as' 1.88%. They also do checks and debit cards.

http://www.samsclubms.com/payment-solutions/index.php

[DJ.]

I can't say they are inexpensive but we have been using NPC for over 10 years. We use a Nurit 8000 for wireless transactions and we use Skipjack as the gateway for website sales.

Here is the information for another company that we have considered using for one of our other businesses but just have not pursued it yet. NATIONWIDE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS - www.electronictrans.com They seem reasonable. Just tell them you heard about it through this site and mention my wife Mindi as she has been handling the communications with them. We don't get anything for it but she will at least know we referred you.

I believe they are operating on a “cost plus” basis which passes through the exact fees.

I don't know the forum rules for posting more than that so PM me if you want the name and phone number of the rep we have been talking to.

[Truckman]

Your own bank should have a solution, most commercial banks offer CC processing...Ben

[HotHolly]

Sams Club and their 1.88 is only on a limited number of transactions. I have heard that the club warehouses have some of the best rates. Just watch all your other charges. If you dont do a whole lot you can avoid those other charges by using paypals virtual terminal. You can accept MC, Visa, Discover and AmEx through them and their Amex rate was really good.

[boxofrocks]

Capital One Bank's merchant services division has done great by me.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

It all depends on what you need.
If you need USD and CAD processing only there are some good ones out there.
RBS WorldPay is great world wide http://www.rbslynk.com/
CyberSource out of California (have been using them for 12yrs for various things) owns Authorize.net : http://www.cybersource.com/

At my slot car hobby shop I use RBS.
I considered a swap to Paymentech last year http://www.paymentech.com/ but missed my annual account maintenane rollover.

Yours is cancelling on you...
There is something you can do though... talk with them and change your MCC (merchant classification code) to reflect another line of business.

The one thing to watch out for in fees with new places is setup fees, etc. Especially in this credit crunch economy, you need to pay close attention. Most of them now renew annually and lock you in for at least 1yr if not 2yrs. You change before then and you pay a penalty.

Sams, etc are offering pretty good rates, but at the end of the day after fees, etc. the only real way you are going to get any form of savings is serious dollar volume. I speak that one from experience because of my day job.... and by volume, I am talking in excess of 2mil TX/mo and just short of 2bil/yr.

The best thing for small merchants (less than $500k/yr in CC volume) to do, is to watch your fees and qualification rates for your transactions on a MONTHLY basis. If you dont understand qualification rates, there are LOTS of factors that go into it, but by understanding it, you can do SMART business. Some of the factors... card types used by the customer, do the authorization and settlement amount match, did you batchout/close out your terminal at the end of EACH day, BEFORE your bank's specified cutoff time (9pm pacific in my case for RBS), time frame between and authorization and settlement, etc. Printed out, single spaced, there are 2 full pages of various qualification rates for Visa and another 2 full pages for MasterCard.
If I have you totally confused with the qualification rate stuff... just talk to whomever you decide to utilize for your credit card processing. They are supposed to be there to work for you and with you. They will explain it in as much or as little detail as you like.

Good luck with it.
Greg