Hello, I am about to start reselling webspace for OLM. But before I can I must find a way to bill clients.

So far I have been looking at http://www.internet-merchant-account.com/ Any experiences? Good or bad?

But I have been reading topics here and have become quite nervous about using a service like that, because of chargebacks etc.

So my question is, how can I process credit card payments at minimal risk and cost to me?

I would prefer that the clients not have to use a signup form at the actual billing service's website, as my current signup form collects information that the billing service may not request on their form. Some of the information is beyond what OLM needs (information for access to "members only" areas for example, not using their OLM password).

And feel free to recommend anything, but please give reasons. I'd like to get this thing running soon! :) And I will got with the "real" merchant account thing if needed!!!!! "I am not afraid"

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BTW, I would prefer that I NOT have to wait for a period of time after billing to actually receive the money. It is best if I can have payments immediately (well, pretty quickly) dumped to a bank account. So then I do not have to wait for a check.

Thank you for your help!

I have also been looking at http://www.electronictransfer.com/ Do they provide most/all of what I want? Any experiences, good or bad?

Merchant account from your local bank. You should go talk to them.

Originally posted by Synergy
Merchant account from your local bank. You should go talk to them.
That's only if you like getting reamed by your bank and want some more...

Take a peek at www.sfcommerce.com

Or, just search here or google for "merchant accounts"

Thanks, slade! SFCommerce.com looks to be able to provide just what I need.

Too bad the apply form isn't on a secure server, though. With all those "big clients" and "secure processing terminals", you'd think they could afford a secure order form :rolleyes:

Okay, I've got a Big Problem. I've found four places, but so far every single one has a problem.

http://www.internet-merchant-account.com/ just seems suspicious. And they have continually failed to give me consistant, clear answers to what I would call simple questions ("what's the monthly minimum", for example) :eek:

http://www.electronictransfer.com/ has basically no information about their services, but they sure do have a lot of stuff on how to give them money. :rolleyes:

http://www.sfcommerce.com/ has basically no fee/rate information on their website, and they still haven't responded to my quote request.

And http://www.merchant-accounts.com/ looks good, but for some reason the order page they gave me was at "http://www.wahju.com/", which has quite the strange homepage. And a lookup on the site shows emails at http://www.jovita.com/, which also has a quite strange homepage. Plus, their homepage has a link to http://www.merchantworkz.com/ behind this text: "....". And a link to Yahoo search "banks" through the text ".". :confused:

Right now I would choose between merchant-accounts.com and internet-merchant-account.com. I prefer merchant-accounts.com, but I'll go with IMA if you don't like to looks of MA. Or, suggest another company which you have done business with. Thanks for all your help!

You may also want to take a look at www.echo-inc.com

Hey, I'm going with ECHO now. :D :cool: :) happy happy

... or not! They keep talking about making ASP/CGI links to their service. But that's not what I want. I want to collect card numbers on my own, and then enter them on my own. I don't want to use a storefront, or shopping cart, or ANYTHING! I just want to be able to go to the site, enter a card number and necessary info, and then bill the card! Can't I do that?! :bawling: :angry:

Originally posted by appletreats
... or not! They keep talking about making ASP/CGI links to their service. But that's not what I want. I want to collect card numbers on my own, and then enter them on my own. I don't want to use a storefront, or shopping cart, or ANYTHING! I just want to be able to go to the site, enter a card number and necessary info, and then bill the card! Can't I do that?! :bawling: :angry:

Check worldpay.com ;)

I suppose what I want is a merchant account and a virtual terminal, i believe? Worldpay does this?

check out www.ezmerchantaccounts.com

I have my account through them and they use AuthorizeNet for the gateway. You get the ability to create your own payment pages and a virtual terminal too.

Originally posted by Marty
check out www.ezmerchantaccounts.com

I have my account through them and they use AuthorizeNet for the gateway. You get the ability to create your own payment pages and a virtual terminal too.

I'm between tham and http://www.charge.com seems almost identical, but...

Originally posted by Chicken
I'm between tham and http://www.charge.com seems almost identical, but...

Well they should be. Both are authorize.net resellers :D

http://www.authorizenet.com/reseller/directory.php

If you take a look through this list you *should* feel pretty well assured you'll be dealing with a quality product - at least from a Gateway point of view as all use authorize.net. They may offer different fees and charges to sign up, depending on the company themselves, but at the end of the day they'll all point to the same place.

I didn't see Planet Payment on that list but they're much the same, only an international version of the same essential product (foreign currency etc)

Greg Moore

I'm still leaning towards charge.com - checks too, I dunno... I'm not rushing into it as I don't want to make a mistake and end up spending money on something I don't like. Haven't ruled out 2checkout either. Revecom, well... I don't know, so instabillish that I think I want something different.

Sorry to bump this back up, but...
Once again I have decided on a new service :rolleyes: It is at http://www.merchantexpress.com/. They are a member of the BBB, and a Google Groups search turned up nothing bad. Unless you can give me horror stories to stop me, I'll apply with these guys tonight. So, any horror stories? Or other opinions? Thanks.