what do most of you guys use? I am looking into getting something soon. Do you think using a 3rd party looks bad for the company? What are the advantages of using a real merchant account? What are the cons?

Thirdparty processing:

1.) cheaper when you are a small company
2.) easier to integrate (they usually don't have an API, just weblinks etc)
3.) accept different cards

Own merchant account
1.) your own corporate name shows up on the credit card
2.) cheaper processing rates (higher monthly fees - this is why it's not cost effective when you process small volume of transactions)
3.) recurring billing option (from CC batch file)
4.) accept different cards (you will need to call Amex and Discover to activate cc processing with these companies)

thanks apollo :D

can u guys give me a merchant account provider which gives an API