Paypal is two-fold - they are an IPSP (Internet Payment Service Provider) and offer merchant accounts (and an electronic payment gateway) to (some) users. Paypal will offer their IPSP solution to some users whereby it looks as if the merchant has their own merchant account - allowing a user to stay on the merchant site.
If you are in the United States and are doing more than $1,000 a month - consider a merchant account along with an electronic payment gateway (LinkPoint / YourPay, Authorize.net / Cybersource, Payflow, etc). This is because usually with an IPSP, you need to wait on your money or ask them to send it to you. With a merchant account, the money is usually deposited into your account 24-72 hours after the batch process.
Another IPSP is 2Checkout that a lot of merchants use. 2CheckOut's business plan is a bit different in the eyes of the card associations (Visa, MasterCard, etc) whereas 2Checkout is selling your products / services.
With an electronic payment gateway - you will get a virtual terminal as well. This will allow you to process credit card transactions on the gateway's secure server. (Yes, Paypal offers this to some merchants.) And with an electronic payment gateway, you can have an API to process the credit card transactions on your secure web page. This way, the consumer sees no deviation during the checkout process.
I was getting ready to respond to your
Need advice on e-commerce site? post but it seems on there, you are offering advice / help on merchants accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by printchemist
Hey guys! I own a printing website, Printchemist.com – Online Color Printing: Business Cards, Postcards, Posters, Calendars, Flyers, Brochures. If anyone needs any advice on how to run and operate an e-commerce site i will be more than happy to help you out. You can email me at info@printchemist.com.
Thanks!
Romi |
So that being all said - you first need to decide if you are going to use some sort of IPSP (where you usually use their merchant account) or you get your own merchant account (and electronic payment gateway). Remember, just an electronic payment gateway (LinkPoint / YourPay, Authorize.net / Cybersource, Payflow, etc) is not enough to process credit card transactions. You still need a merchant account.
How Does a Credit Card Transaction Get Processed should help on how the credit card tansaction is processed. And
Choosing a United States Merchant Account should help you with determining a merchant account provider in the United States. If the merchant account provider is in the United States and does not state what bank they are registered with, do not use them. In the United States, merchant account providers have specific terms that must be followed.
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