Virtual Terminals

A virtual terminal is a payment processing software program that sends information digitally to allow you to do transactions from your business through a computer. It is convenient because you can access this from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. This is non-traditional because it really is virtual. These do not apply to storefronts where you have a machine to swipe a credit card through (a card reader).

Whether your business is online, a storefront or both you can use a virtual terminal through your computer. This just allows your financial institution to communicate and transfer data with your customers financial institution. The virtual terminal is just like a card reading machine in that you can receive payments and issue refunds. These terminals can even be used with wireless devices so that you can be at outdoor venues and still accept your payments (like fairs, sporting events, concerts and more).

There are a lot of companies that offer virtual terminals for payment processing. More and more this is becoming popular because the virtual aspect of payment processing is so versatile.

PayPal is one company that offers a virtual terminal and it is a name that your customers will trust. The greatest part about PayPal besides how easy it is for customer and merchant is that you can accept all forms of payment, you are not limited to credit cards.

Google Checkout is another Internet based payment processing company that offers the virtual terminal option. Google also allows you to accept all forms of payments and is integrated with your other Google accounts.

Authorize.net allows the ease of online and offline payment processing. They understand that you may have mail order, telephone order, storefront, and online payments. This great company also allows you to be a reseller so you can make money online with this resource.

Visit Authorize.net today!

There are many more companies that offer this service. Depending on your needs and what you are willing to pay you will have to choose which company fits yours.

Costco Merchant Account Review

Costco is a name everyone knows and trusts. Costco signifies stability and honesty in the business and retail arenas. Now Costco has partnered with Elavon to offer merchant accounts for Internet, phone, mail, fax, and retail businesses.

This service from Costco is only available in United States and they have an average amount of approvals out of the applications that they take in.

Here are the typical fees involved with a Costco merchant account:

• Discount rate of 1.64% for card swiped purchases
• Transaction fee of $ .20 for card swiped purchases
• Discount rate for mail, phone and Internet is 1.99%
• Transaction fee for mail, phone and Internet is $ .27
• Executive members of Costco do not pay a statement fee - otherwise it's $4.95/mo.
• Executive members of Costco do not pay an application fee - otherwise $25
• Live 24/7 support
• Never any batch fees
• $20 minimum sales or you incur fees
• There is merchant account equipment to pay for but Executive members of Costco get a discount

To find out more visit Costco.com. If you do not find what you need there you may want to try:

Charge.com

Adult Merchant Accounts

This may not be a big surprise but websites and businesses that deal in adult content or materials require a different kind of merchant account than most other businesses. Because of the higher risk of these businesses the overall cost of the merchant account is going to be greater than other merchant account costs.

Part of what makes adult content or materials at a higher risk is simply the nature of it's business. They tend to have more charge backs which exhaust financial institution resources, they are not widely accepted and approved of by the whole of society, and because there are times when the business fails and they close down leaving a merchant account provider without their money. These all add up to the fact that merchant account providers have to protect themselves.

What all is considered "adult"? Anything that cannot be purchased legally by someone under 18 is technically considered "adult". Whether it is tangible or not it is considered "adult". A few examples of businesses that are considered as adult businesses are:

• Adult Entertainment - this takes in everything, even video games. You have books, movies, magazines, and toys.
• Dating, Escort or Massage Services - It is probably easy to imagine how customer's who aren't satisfied for whatever reason may try to do a charge back.
• Gun Sales - Due to the events in the news for the past few years people are more alarmed when it comes to having guns, selling guns or anything have to do with them. You definitely don't want them to be with the wrong people. Charge backs are also common in this business.
• Liquor Sales - Because drinking is an adult behavior this is definitely an "adult'' based business. On top of which you can usually get tobacco and/or lottery tickets at the same place which is another reason why it is considered adult. A major risk is burglary, having employee problems, the risk of selling to a minor (knowingly or not).

If you are already in one of these businesses or just starting one you may want to keep in mind that it will probably be harder than usual to obtain a merchant account and when or if you do get one you will pay more in merchant account fees. It's just how it works.

To find out if you can get a merchant account please visit Charge.com today!

Merchant Express Review

Merchant Accounts Express offers quality merchant account services with the support of the most knowledgeable customer service staff in the industry. Merchant Accounts Express has been helping businesses with merchant accounts since 1998. They were one of the first companies to offer Internet merchant accounts and payment processing options.

Merchant Accounts Express is based in New Hampshire and serves thousands and thousands of satisfied customers all over the U.S. They help the small business as well as the huge company to solve all of their merchant account issues. They know that customers deserve the highest level of customer support and they are always there to help you. They even offer a 30 day money back guarantee to make sure you are completely satisfied.

Some of the features offered are:

Free setup
FREE Authorize.Net
FREE check software
FREE shopping cart
FREE 24/7 support
Get approved fast - same day!

For Internet merchant accounts, phone and mail order accounts, :

Discount rate = 2.27%
Transaction fee = $ .24
Address verification fee = $.05
Monthly service fee = $5

For retail store and wireless accounts:

Discount rate = 1.69%
Transaction fee = $ .19
Monthly service fee = $5

For phone processing:

Discount rate = 2.27%
Transaction fee = $ .79
Monthly service fee = $5

For ACH and check processing:

Setup fee = $25
Discount rate = Varies from 0.99% to 1.75% depending on volume of sales
Transaction fee = $ .30

Let Merchant Express help you get set up for payment processing today! They have plans and savings for every business!

Merchant Express - Click here!!!

2CheckOut.com Review

2CheckOut.com, Inc. is based in Columbus, Ohio and was started in 2000. They provide ecommerce solutions to customers worldwide. 2CO offers great services including: financial reporting, tracking, fraud prevention and protection, affiliate and sales tracking and great customer service.

When you sign up for 2CheckOut.com merchant services you will enjoy these benefits:

• Immediate start up
• No contract
• No expensive software needed
• Plug and play code that is easy to use and install
• $49 set up fee
• 45 cents per transaction
• 5.5% of each sale
• Money back guarantee
• Free application
• No statement fee
• No monthly fees
• No leases or extra equipment needed
• Free shopping cart
• Free tech support online

These are not even all of the great features but you will see that there are no hidden merchant account fees and costs. They have a great structured payment schedule to take the guess work out of things. They offer recurring billing, great shipping options and more to help your business succeed.

2CheckOut.com is a great merchant account option for businesses of any kind and any size. They are committed to supporting their customers and staying up to date on software and other features to help you succeed in making money online.

Authorize.net Review

Authorize.net has been providing payment gateway solutions for customers since 1996. Authorize.net provides management of submissions of payment transactions to different processing networks for merchants with merchant accounts.

In 2007 Authorize.net was bought by CyberSource Corporation. They are one of the biggest payment gateway companies on the Internet. In 2006 alone they processed 1.1 billion transactions. Almost 250,000 merchants currently use Authorize.net and trust them to be reliable and secure.

Authorize.net is easy to integrate into your website and current merchant account. They offer several solutions for whatever your needs are. They also offer free customer support although it is not 24/7 they are available during most business hours on weekdays.

CyberSource Corporation who bought Authorize.net, is an industry leader in electronic payment solutions. They not only offer services for online purchases but POS and call centers. They specialize in transactions where the card is not present for the purchase. Half of the companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average use CyberSource for payment processing solutions. They have expanded to have overseas offices and offer solutions worldwide.

Visit Authorize.Net today!!!

Google Checkout Review

Google is more than just a web portal, and advertising mogul. Now Google has come up with a solution for small and large businesses alike with Google Checkout.

Google Checkout is a great alternative to traditional merchant accounts. While third party payment systems may not always include the same features and services that traditional merchant accounts do, they can definitely keep costs down.


The few downsides of Google Checkout are that they don't support international payment forms. You cannot spend Euros to buy things with Google Checkout for example. This can mean the loss of some customers if you don't have another way for them to pay. Another downfall is that Google Checkout is not available with eBay. Some customers may not like the idea of having to sign up for a service just so that they can checkout. It should be noted here that overall the general population trusts the Google name and will not be too alarmed by this.


The great things about Google Checkout are that the customer is 100% protected and so are you if you accept Google Checkout payments. Consumers should love Google Checkout because they have such great fraud protection. They can also rest assured that their information will not be shown or shared with the merchant. This is the beauty of having a third party like Google Checkout handle things. You as the customer or the merchant have nothing to worry about! This is a great option for those with or without a merchant account.

JustHost Shopping Cart and Merchant Tools

JustHost is a web hosting company that provides an awesome deal on two web hosting plans, the JustPlan and the JustPlan Premium. With JustHost you can create, build, and maintain your own business website for $3.95 a month! These web hosting packages are PACKED with features! Many web hosting companies have several plans to choose from, sometimes so many you don't know which one may fit your needs. JustHost keeps this simple by offering just 2 plans that have all the features you will need. The biggest difference in the two plans is that the JustPlan Premium offers you not 1 but 3 domains for life.

Within JustHost's web hosting plans you will find JustHost has eCommerce features that makes it easy to integrate your merchant account with your website. They also support the ability to accept PayPal payments through your website. As an added bonus you can also choose between two different open source shopping carts for your online business, OS Commerce and Zen Cart. Your cPanel control panel makes it simple to install and configure either one of these applications via Fantastico addon scripts.

JustHost offers 16 video tutorials on ZenCart and 18 video tutorials on osCommerce shopping carts, making it simple for even beginners to create a shopping cart for their ecommerce site, some of these tutorials include:

• Adding Categories
• Adding Products
• Managing Banners
• Configuring Your Store
• Configuring Your Currency
• Managing Customers
• Editing Your Headers/Footers
• Editing Your Left/Right Columns
• Sending Emails
• Installing osCommerce or Zen Cart
• Sending A Newsletter
• Adding Payment Modules
• Configuring Product Attributes
• Adding Shipping Modules
• Adding Specials
• Configuring Sales Tax

As many of you may know, setting up an online store can be very time consuming and frustrating if you are not sure about what you are doing. JustHost tries to provide you with all the tools necessary to make it as simple and easy as possible. And if you cannot find the answers you are looking for in their knowledgebase or through tutuorials they also offer a toll free telephone number which they guarantee you will be connected with a real person with real knowledge about JustHost's web hosting to help you.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PURCHASE JUST HOST'S WEB HOSTING!!

Charge.com Review

If you have an online store then you know the importance of making sure you can accept all different forms of payment. Customers want to be able to pay with credit cards, debit cards and e-checks. It is a sure bet that if you don't have a merchant account to take these forms of payment you will lose customers.

Charge.com is a leader in the online merchant account industry. They have the best deals around and they will make getting a merchant account as fast, easy and for as little money as possible. They have the best features and the best support available.

When you choose Charge.com you will enjoy the following:

Online application - FREE
Fast setup - FREE
Customer Service/Tech Support - FREE
Shopping cart
Accept online checks
Search engine submission
Real time processing
Secure SSL transactions
Online reports and management
No paperwork, just simply apply online and get an answer by e-mail

With Charge.com you get a merchant account for as little money up front as possible. They accept all types of businesses whereas some of the competition will tell you that they have a whole list of unacceptable businesses. No matter what your business if you need a merchant account Charge.com is a good choice.

Visit Charge.com today!

Personal Merchant Accounts

If you have items that you want to sell online but you don't really do a lot of volume and can't afford all that a regular merchant account costs you may want a personal merchant account.

Another reason you may want a personal merchant account is if you have a high risk business or you can't get approved for a traditional merchant account. For most merchant accounts you have to go through quite the long process to get approved and have everything set up. For personal merchant accounts it is pretty quick and easy. Especially since PayPal paved the way online for personal payment processing. Now most merchant services will take care of personal merchant accounts. Just be wise and shop around.

With a personal merchant account from companies like PayPal, PayNow or any number of companies you can accept credit cards, debit cards and even e-checks. These services can help you increase your clientele as well as lessen the amount of accounting you will have to do because most of them have great integrated software to help with inventory, shipping, and more.

As for the cost of personal merchant accounts you may find that the transaction fee and the discount rate are higher than the traditional merchant account. This is because these accounts are a higher risk and you are being given a great service, so you need to pay for it. On the other hand, you will likely pay less in setup, statement fees, and you probably won't have a monthly minimum.

If you conduct business on the web you need to consider the fact that your website is seen globally. This means that you may have people from anywhere in the world ordering your goods and/or services. You will want to be sure and check with your personal merchant account company about currency conversion. If you want to avoid the costs involved in this then you can state clearly that you don't accept anything but one form of currency for all payments. This may cost you a few sales so only you would know what it is worth to accept other forms of currency.

You will want to really look at the pros and cons of a personal merchant account compared to a traditional merchant account so that you get what will work best for your business needs. Just remember that you can always start with a personal account and move into a more complex plan as your business grows. The bottom line is most people insist on the ability to pay online and if they visit your site but can't conveniently order, you will most likely lose them. Better to get an account where you can please your customers and keep them coming back.

Let Charge.com help you!

Free Merchant Accounts

Free merchant accounts is an odd term. When we speak of free in this sense we mean free of set up cost, application fees and monthly minimums, statement fees. However, nothing is really free and the only way a "free merchant account" can make money is because they will most likely charge a higher transaction fee and a higher discount rate. If you need a free merchant account you may be willing to pay these higher merchant account fees but if you can possibly get a regular merchant account it may be best if you are doing higher volumes of sales. You just don't want to miss out on so much of your profit.

Some of the things that you may experience with free merchant accounts are: limited shopping cart integration, limited services, higher merchant account fees, may require more bookkeeping and effort on your part, and limited website integration.

Some of the great features of free merchant accounts are: they are FREE and free is good, no contracts, no set up fees, no minimum charges needed, online reporting and tracking, some may offer fraud and charge back protection, some may offer a savings account or money market account where the funds are transferred automatically to.

You really need to assess the needs of your business, customers and your website. See what works best for you and shop around. Sometimes it comes down to how much money you have to get started and how great your credit is. Different companies have different measuring sticks for approval.

PayPal merchant accounts can be free if you are willing to choose the limited services. However, PayPal is a great company. The other company that offers these services is Google Checkout.

Internet Merchant Accounts

Merchant accounts are a must for any business owner. If you have an online store where you offer goods or services you surely need a way for your customers to pay for their items online. There are many ways to do this.

You can get a regular credit card merchant account. If you go with right company this can give you capability to use this merchant account in a traditional store front or to process payments online at the time of the sale.

If you have no need for a traditional store front or the merchant account to go with it you may need an Internet merchant account. PayPal is an excellent example of an Internet merchant account. They offer many different ways to do things. You have the ability to process the payments right on your site so that your customer never leaves your website or you can have them re-directed to the PayPal site. Depends on which program you sign up with and what capabilities you want to have.

Keep in mind that along with your merchant account you still need a shopping cart program and a payment gateway. Here are a few companies that we recommend going through for each service:

Merchant Accounts

Shopping Carts

Payment Gateways