Best merchant account?
Jun 22, 2009
in
Small Business Merchant Accounts
I was thinking about Bank of America
http://www.bankofamerica.com/small_business/merchant_card_processing/index.cfm?template=internet_e_commerce
What do u think. Is 2.12% a good price?
Any other idea?
I need this to sell software online.
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5 comments
mss on June 22, 2009 at 2:19 am
Yes, 2.12% per transaction is absolutely great, if you can get it, which I don't believe will happen. Keep in mind that this is just one of many rates and also, Bank of America will only give it if your volume is high enough. Let me give you a breakdown of all rates to help you get a better idea of eCommerce merchant account charges.
1. Discount rate - as I said 2.12% is unbelievable, if fact too good to be true. In any case, you should not agree to anything higher than 2.19%.
2. Transaction fee - Bank of America does not list theirs, but it will charge it! You should not agree to anything higher than $0.25.
3. Authorization fee - another "per-transaction" fee. Bank of America charges $0.30, which is way too much. You should not pay more than $0.10.
4. Set up fee - a one-time fee and Bank of America charges $150. You should NOT pay ANY set up or application fees!
5. Monthly maintenance fee - as the name suggests, it is charged monthly and Bank of America charges $19.95. You should not be paying more than $10.
6. Support fee - another monthly fee and Bank of America charges $11.95. You should NOT pay ANY such fees.
7. They have not listed a gateway fee, which means either that they don't offer a payment gateway and you need to find it elsewhere or that you will find out the price later. In any case, you should not be paying any set up fees for a gateway and the monthly fee should not be higher than $10.
As you can see, there are many rates to consider and BofA's don't look so good. I would recommend that you request proposals from several providers, including BofA, and compare ALL rates.
Also, neither PayPal nor Google Checkout have the flexibility that a merchant account does and it's well known that PayPal has a habit of freezing accounts all too often.
Below are a couple of links, one of them to BofA's pricing page, the other - to a specialized provider's eCommerce page.
fawdown on June 22, 2009 at 2:19 am
I will never have any business dealings with bank of america again. They are really shady when it comes to their fees.
2.12% is higher than I get with NOVA (1.50%)
youngfashionista on June 22, 2009 at 2:19 am
Use Google checkout.
Google Checkout, you'll be charged a low 2.0% and $0.20 and if you use adwords the merchant account will be free.
Paypal may be a good option for you too.
Depending on your monthly sales Paypal can be 2.9% - 1.9% + 0.30 per transaction.
Both are easy to set up and can easily integrated into a website.
Val on June 22, 2009 at 2:19 am
I have found the lowest to be Sam's Club Merchant Services. Don't get stuck having to buy a machine from them. Ask them which machines they allow you to use and go to Ebay. You will get a $1200 machine for $75
Pharmacyclone on June 22, 2009 at 2:19 am
Hi it depends on what kind of things you selling on the internet, low risk merhcant accounts are usually for the discount rate of udner 3.00%
but for high risk it varys like 10.00 % + for pharmacy merchant accounts like http://www.ironbilling.com providing to most of the companies out there