Misty Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I am looking for a new merchant account. I was with authorize.net, but they have just been adding more charges all the time. I pay a statement fee of 35.00 a month. American express is 5.95. And the authorize monthly fee is 19.95.They also have a yearly fee of another 50.00. Now they charge 129.00 a year for privacy compliance.This company is all I have ever used, as they were suggested by my website designer and host, Fallenmuse, so I don't know if I'm being unreasonable in complaining, but it just seems too expensive to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mparadise Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Nope, I am with them too and am looking because of all the added fees since I started. NOT amused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcrafter Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I bank at a local bank and use merchant services through them. I get charged 3.7% per transaction. Period. No other fees. You may want to check with your bank or other banks to see what they offer. If you go with another bank, you'll have to have a business account with them. No biggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misty Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Wildcrafter, do you have this connected to your website as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcrafter Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 yeeeeeup! Website and farmers markets, what ever. I call them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barncat Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 try merchant e-solutions or chase payment tech...both great companies..all one rate, no extra fees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 http://thompsonmerchant.com/ (They go thru Chase Payment Tech)Another on you might want to look into..I use the Touch-Pay and enter all CC manually. Even Online sales.That way I can add shipping, make adjustments myself. My monthly fee is $8.99. I do have batch fees, and the Credit cards are 2.19% to 3.79% depending if you verify address and code on back of card.Fee's there IMO a minimal compared to others.. You may want to check it out yourself..HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Wildcrafter & barncat-- these other merchants that don't charge additional fees; do you get your PCI compliance for free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcrafter Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have no idea what that means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Wildcrafter & barncat-- these other merchants that don't charge additional fees; do you get your PCI compliance for free?I do.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoscentsworth Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 www.Propay.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I do.. I am surprised. What is your merchant may I ask? And do you also get a compliance certificate or notification when you have been scanned and found compliant. I get an email notifying me and the right to put a PCI certificate right on my website so my customers can see.The compliance keeps getting more expensive each year so I am also shopping around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 www.thompsonmerchant.comIt must be included in the touchpay.. I have never paid a fee yet?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern.scents Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Great prices and service- http://cdgcommerce.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Ok... Not you all have me doing research on the PCI Crap.:rolleyes2I use Mals to store my data. They now have it set up that you can get A Free PCI Certification Service thru Mcafee..So.. Candybee.. I did not have a PCI cert for my website before today. But I will now.. Thanks..Here is a link for an explanation of it all if you are all as confused as I am..http://www.mcafee.com/us/small/products/security_compliance_services/pci_certification_service.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Ok... Not you all have me doing research on the PCI Crap.:rolleyes2I use Mals to store my data. They now have it set up that you can get A Free PCI Certification Service thru Mcafee..So.. Candybee.. I did not have a PCI cert for my website before today. But I will now.. Thanks..Here is a link for an explanation of it all if you are all as confused as I am..http://www.mcafee.com/us/small/products/security_compliance_services/pci_certification_service.htmlThanks islandgirl. I will check them out. Now that I have had PCI compliance on my website I am very leery of not having it. It sure gives me peace of mind knowing that I have that protection especially working with credit cards on my site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I was just looking at the McAfee link. Now I will have to check and see if my merchant with accept their compliance service.:smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Mcafee charges $319.00 per year. But you can get it free thru mals if that is who you use for your shopping cart.https://www.mals-e.com/support/tpv.php?tp=33 - Scroll down on page.ETS: Free for the first year, then $319.00 a year..UUUGHHH.... Sorry for the mis-information... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Wow! Thats more than I pay. Thanks for checking it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quack Soap Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I don't think I've ever heard of this "PCI" until reading it here. What is it's purpose, and what makes you feel more secure having it? Is it chargeback protection or something? I'm just trying to figure out why there is such a big charge for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcrafter Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 That's why I didn't know what it is. I use Mal's. Very happy with his service and if there's a problem, Mal himself gets back to you and very timely as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misty Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 The PCI is protection for the customer, so that their information can't be hacked into. Authorize.net says it is federally mandated. That we all must be in compliance. They also told me that if I tried to go to other companies, that they would charge for this too. I may just decide to quit taking credit cards. I know this will probably reduce my sales, but I also know a lot of people are tired of the credit card industry as a whole, and are shying away from using them. I'm going to have to think on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I don't think I've ever heard of this "PCI" until reading it here. What is it's purpose, and what makes you feel more secure having it? Is it chargeback protection or something? I'm just trying to figure out why there is such a big charge for it.Its an outside security system that regularly scans and runs a series of checks on your computer system and your website to make sure or as sure as possible that its safe. Its for businesses with websites that use a merchant account and take credit cards. Many merchants require it. This is not the same thing as your security suite you purchase for your computer. In order to have PCI compliance you have to qualify by making sure your system is compliant. The security company helps you out with that. Once you are compliant you get a certificate that you can also put on your website. Then customers can see that the site has been certified with credit card PCI compliance.Think about the information you have when a customer uses their credit card on your site or you manually enter a credit card charge. My merchant requires the compliance. If my system fails to pass then I have to pay a fee until I get it back into compliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenscandles Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 People may be tired of credit cards, but they still use their debit cards. Of course many merchants are charged higher fees when a customer uses the debit card. Just putting in writing what I'm sure you already know - if you don't take credit you also don't take debit. Not a big deal for some but it can be for others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quack Soap Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 so Candybee are you saying "somebody" (government, whatever, I'm still a little lost) is checking all of our sites to see if we're "compliant" or do they just intend to come after you if your customer's info gets hacked? Sorry, guess I'm slow, I still don't quite understand, even after reading online after posting my question here. My website has never been hacked ~ I'm such small potatoes compared to the zillions out there and half of my customers pay by Pay Pal. I don't recall seeing anything about this from my merchant service or from Pay Pal. Speaking of which ~ wouldn't Pay Pal be responsible for this "compliance", not me since they have the CC info, not me?If the fees you guys are throwing around on here is what's going to trickle down to the rest of us, then I'll even closer to throwing in the towel. I guess my first step will be to stop taking CC's through my merchant and just stick with Pay Pal only. This is precisely what I was referring to in the thread last week about the headaches of being in business for yourself ~ the paperwork, taxes, etc. are getting out of hand. Nobody wants to help encourage new, small business ~ they'd rather beat us to death with rules, regulations, taxes, fees, and fines. Really sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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