9 thoughts on “Credit Card Processors”

1. A merchant account with PayPal offers the option for credit cards.

2. I just got a personal account with Square (http://squareup.com/). I haven’t actually tried it, yet, but the handy scanner that plugs into smartphones is genius. Intuit also has something called Go Payment (http://gopayment.com).

3. Thanks Dick for including my question.

   Some background.

   I already use PayPal and their credit card service, however, some of my clients have recently found their transactions rejected – it some cases, even an invoice as low as $700 has been a problem. The companies range in size from billions in revenue to millions, it doesn’t seem to matter. Something about the transaction is flagged and when they or I call PayPal, the answer is vague – they can not say why the transaction was blocked, just that it was and that it was for good reason, but do not disclose what the reason was.

   These are the same clients that had no problem paying a year ago, but now something has changed.

   So I am looking for an alternative. Does anybody use any other credit card processing service?

   Thanks in advance

   –Charlie

4. I have no personal experience with it, but I just saw this:

   http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2384242

   linking to this:

   http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/29/how-feefighters-saved-startups-50-million-a-year-in-credit-card-fees/

5. check with your bank for a merchant account
   sam’s club (uses first data)
   costco (similar to sam’s club)
   those apps on the smart phones

6. I am running my business from India.

   I use PayPal and 2Checkout. The fees for 2Checkout are a bit high (8.5%) but they accept a lot more cards and work in many countries. Another problem with 2c is that you cannot invoice people. But you can always create a product like – consulting hours and then tell your client to purchase that product in multiple units based on how much you want to invoice them.

   The last option I use is bank transfer. I give the clients my bank account details and they deposit money thru overseas transfer.

   Note: Shaving my head with a fork would be easier than Getting a merchant account in India.

7. Charlie Hall wrote:

   – begin quote –
   Some background.

   I already use PayPal and their credit card service, however, some of my clients have recently found their transactions rejected – it some cases, even an invoice as low as $700 has been a problem. The companies range in size from billions in revenue to millions, it doesn’t seem to matter. Something about the transaction is flagged and when they or I call PayPal, the answer is vague – they can not say why the transaction was blocked, just that it was and that it was for good reason, but do not disclose what the reason was.

   These are the same clients that had no problem paying a year ago, but now something has changed.

   — end quote —

   I have had a similar experience in the past few months. When I ask why all I get is a laundry list of reasons why Paypal may reject/reverse a transaction with no specific information about the rejected/reversed transaction.

   I figure that at some point I will have to explore an alternative. One of the options is Google’s Checkout service.

   Sadly, I suspect that every service will be similar both in terms of their charges and in terms of their responsiveness to customer issues. It a price we pay for the arrogance that comes with companies becoming monopolies or oligopolies — and the preferential treatment that financial institutions, particularly large ones, receive from regulators.

8. I prefer PayPal but have offered Google Checkout to clients in non-PayPal countries. Google verifies the transaction, holds it for 2-3 days, then automatically EFTs the amount to your bank account. They charge 2.9% and it typically takes 5 business days before the money hits your bank account.

9. Hi guys,

   I don’t use PayPal, but the invoicing service I use had a FAQ entry on what to do if a payer is getting an error with PayPal (“Your payment can’t be completed. Please return to the participating website and try again”):

   “You may need to follow these steps to remedy the situation:

   1. Log into your PayPal Account
   2. Click ‘Profile’
   3. Click ‘More Options’
   4. Select ‘My Selling Tools’
   5. Click ‘Block Payments’
   6. Under the Payment Receiving Preferences, find the “Block payments from users who:” section
   7. Uncheck the “Initiate payments from the Pay Anyone subtab of the Send Money tab” option
   Click ‘Save'”

   I have no idea if this is applicable or if it works – just passing on the information. HTH

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