Hi, how do large sites accept credit cards without having to redirect the visitor to an unprofessional third party payment gateway screen? How big does a site have to get before it can afford the seamless accepting of credit cards like the way amazon can? I understand a custom header and footer can be specified to keep the visitor thinking he's still on your site, however the url always kinda gives it away.
Thanks!

Welcome to the forum, djmc.

Hi, how do large sites accept credit cards without having to redirect the visitor to an unprofessional third party payment gateway screen?

These websites are using their own Merchant Account, so the consumer never has to leave the main website.

How big does a site have to get before it can afford the seamless accepting of credit cards like the way amazon can?

If your sales volume is $1K or more per month, you're eligible to open a merchant account, and begin accepting credit cards without a third party involved. (But where are you located?)

I understand a custom header and footer can be specified to keep the visitor thinking he's still on your site, however the url always kinda gives it away.

Third parties will allow you to customize the header, and footer. But not the order page. Some people use iframes to get their address visible. But that doesn't go so far, customers should know you're using a 3rd party processor as their name will appear on their credit card statement, order page, and receipt by e-mail.

Hope this answered your questions.

Slight Correction: There is no minimum sales volume needed for a merchant account - at least the places I've been too. You just have to meet the companies criteria.

Yes, I know. But It's not a preferred idea to open a merchant account for less volumes. Yes, I shouldn't have mentioned "eligible" but "recommended" instead.

Thanks partick for this. :)

you just need a merchant processor and cart software that supports the same payment gateways.

ususally like 1.5% or more of sales volume plus a small transaction fee usuall .10 or more. if you have low volume these numbers would be higher and have a monthly service fee.

Thanks for the info. I am still coming up to speed with what all these terms mean and what are the differences between a merchant account and a third party payment processor. I really appreciate the $1K/month goal. I'll do some more research into merchant accounts once I've established that much in sales.

Take a look inside this forum, you'll find many threads discussing differences between merchant account and a third party.

Most electronic payment gateways will provide you with an API to use on your site to capture and process credit card data

There is no minimum requirement; however you still have to pay the monthly gateway fee, I pay $20. Most require you to have a business bank account; here is another fee unless you keep a minimum amount in the account. The discount rates for internet transactions are higher than swipe. I pay 2.35%.

Tim

Yeah, regarding Amazon.com , how come they accept the kind of cards, issued from any country, very quicky, without any problem, and they never ask for anything but the name on the card, its number and the expire date!!!!!

Don't they suffer from fraud?

Don't they suffer from fraud?


Of course they do. IIRC they also ask for the three digit number on the back. Over the next few months I bet you see they implement Verified by Visa and Mastercard Securecode.

Thanks for all the great replies. This forum looks like a great resource.

btw, why do they call fees for accepting credit cards "discount rates" who's getting the discount and from what?

djmc, Could you rephrase your question? I'm afraid I don't get it.
BTW, welcome. :)

Well Visa calls it an interchange rate - this is what they charge the processors, etc. The processors just call is a discount rate - makes you think you are getting something to use them for processing. I am not too sure where the term really orginated but it seems to have stuck & most processors use it.

You - the merchant is being charged this discount rate for accepting Visa / MasterCard.

why dont you try authorize.net ? and give us your feedback.

To add to some of the comments above, the term "discount rate" refers to the concept of discounting the net amount that is funded to a merchant by the specified %.

In other words, if you run a $1,000 sale and the amount paid to you is being discounted by $25, your discount rate would thus be 2.5%.

In order to understand who actually receives these fees, you need to start at the source.

At the back-end of the entire process, the Visa and MasterCard Issuing Banks receive all of the Interchange %'s and per transaction fees. There are over 25,000+ Member Banks and over 100+ Interchange categories that any given transaction can fall into.

The Visa and MasterCard organizations themselves receive a portion of costs called Dues & Assessments. These are the funds that pay for the marketing, advertising, business development and operation of the Visa and MasterCard organizations.

Together, the Interchange costs, dues & assessments represent the lion's share of the total costs involved in any given credit card transaction. The only additional layer above that are BIN sponsorship costs and network transactional fees for authorization & settlement through one of a handful of processing networks.

Add it all together and you now easily have 90-95% or more of the total costs that comprise the overall fees that merchants pay on their transaction processing. The rest of that margin goes to the processors, ISO's and resellers that solicit and support the accounts and who hold the liability and risk on their respective portfolios.

When looking for a merchant account provider or 3rd party processor, you need to consider that all providers limit their offers to certain countries, product lines and credit histories for the business owners.

3rd party providers usually don't require a credit report, but to merchant account providers this is an essential part of the underwriting process.

There are a number of merchant account providers who accept merchants with poor credit histories and high risk products, as well as high risk countries. For these providers, they try to make a profit by charging your a higher 'discount' rate in anticipation of more chargebacks and the risk of outright fraud on the part of the merchant.

If you are based in the United States, have great credit history and low risk products, you have many choices and should expect the lowest rates. Otherwise, it's best to shop around for whatever merchant account provider or 3rd party processor that will give you the best deal based on your particular situation.

The amount of clicks a site receives has nothing to do with CC processing and transferring.

That's true. They propably ask their staff to do so. j/k :)