ok, i've developed my website, i'm going to get an SSL cert, i have an electronic payment merchant account (merchant e-solutions), and now i've got to actually set up the payment system. (standard charges on the website will be around $20)

i assume that i've got to get a payment processor, but:
- which one?
- what questions should i be asking them / what are the things i should be concerned about?
- do they generally give you a library of code to contact their servers, or is it just straight sockets?

i naively contacted verisign when i first started the project, and it sounded like they had a complete solution - a custom code library to plug into my servlet, partners, etc. but now that i realize how expensive they are compared to other CAs, i'd like to find out what my options are.

daniel

Hi Daniel,

Are you looking for a Canadian or US merchant account (or somewhere else entirely?)

i actually already have a merchant account (merchant e-solutions), which i believe is u.s. (but to be honest, it never occurred to me that it wouldn't be). i got this back in the heady days when i thought my site would be up in a month or two :D. that was about a year ago...

i'm looking more for information on credit card processing, but any pointers would be helpful.

daniel

Hi Daniel,

Looks like youre after a payment gateway - since you already have a merchant account (sorry, I shouldve read your post more throughly), may I recomend you contact your merchant provider and find out which gateways they support (or if they have their own - sorry, Im not too familiar with merchant e-solutions) - they will more then likely be compatable with authorize.net..

You can use this payment gateway to "connect" your site with your merchant account..

Hope this helps...

Andrew

andrew,

thanks for the advice - i'm at the point where i'm even just trying to figure out what i need, and this is helpful. a question - does it really matter who you have for a merchant account? (assuming they support your gateway) or are they all pretty much the same?

daniel

It looks like they are compatible with Authorizenet.com & Verisign: http://www.merchante-solutions.com/products/prodserv_epay.html as well as having their own gateway. You might already have that?

oops! perhaps i should check with the people *i'm already using*. :) good point. now the question is how to do recurring billing without having to store credit card numbers. i saw this thread http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=291284, but i didn't see much of a resolution. think i'll go over and see what's up.

thanks for all the advice!

daniel

Hi Daniel,

Your merchant provider will more then likely be able to help you with that as well - It may be inherently available or only available as an optional upgrade..