I've inquired with a few banks about getting setup to take credit card payments. Seems expensive and requires a long-term commitment even if its just a phone-in card confirmation plan. A wireless POS terminal is considerably more again.

Anyone use any of the online payment processing companies?

I havent figured that out yet either i did look at the Costco thing but it seems i have to get there terminal . I work from home so i really would rather phone it in myself too.

Try using this online solution Start accepting credit cards using paypal

I use ... its a terminal called PC verifier, and it does have a handheld unit too, the company is: merchantanywhere.com and the rates are the best we've found and they've been very reliable with support and no minimums, always the same rate. The rate is a point better if you scan the card as opposed to typing it in. I forget the rates but have always been satisfied and they are way lower than the bank.

$10 a month plus 2.2 Discount fee, and we phone them in.

We don't do large volume sales, so a machine would cost more to maintain, we have knuckle busters in trucks, great for getting signature on site, then just phone it in.

try this company:
http://www.atlasinnovation.com/index.html
they are very reliable, knowledgable and most imnportant best at customer service.

What bank is that thru if you don't mind my asking. I would accept credit cards if I could get a deal like that

Concord automated transaction service
Memphis Tenn.

http://ir.firstdatacorp.com/news/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=120888

What is nice about the service is, the money is usually in the bank the next day, and they do offer better rates. Most of the other companies tried to sell us up to terminals and expensive equipment plans, this company offered the basic service.

Thanks LK I see they are international so i have called them for further Details.Had to leave a message.

I've got a similar deal to take credit cards... $10/month, around 2.4%, and a free terminal. It's with my local bank. Try negotiating for the terminal. Our plan has no minimum.

I called them in for several years before going to this system. Don't ever give employees your PIN though. Transactions need to be processed in the office.

The terminal is nice because it gives us feedback as to the transaction. We staple the receipt to the invoice copy. If the customer wants one, we mail it to them. We always rub the credit card to the invoice with a pen for the impression (3 carbonless copies) and get a signature. The customer gets one, the second is used to send them the receipt copy (upon request), and the cardstock back sheet is kept on file.

I think I'll be dropping mine - I have the same $10/mo rate but a good 90+% of my customers would rather write a check - out of the checks i've only had one "bad" one and they cleared it up in cash shortly after (the IRS had frozen their accounts)

You may be missing the real value of accepting credit cards, customers will tend to have more work done, when they find out you accept them. it can increase you business, and your income.

Did you get any response Doug?

I've been looking hard and $10/month plus 2% is unheard of.

I don't expect it to help with my commercial customers, but I think it will give me more confidence and protection on the consumer side.

I spoke with the local Snap-On tools dealer and he estimates 75% of his business is card payments. Obviously, he has no trouble justifying his POS terminal equipment and processing fees.

Yes i did set up with them. It is a 3 year term ..l. its best if your Deal with Canada trust with them ....The deposit is 48 hours at the most.my accounts are at another bank so i pay 10.00 more per month to have the money transfered to my bank.

I can pm details in a bit.

These guys gave me a call a few weeks ago
http://www.cardexpayments.com/

Amen. There's no doubt that having the ability to accept credit cards will put you in a much more strategic position to get customers to go ahead with extras. Not to mention, your money is 95% safe. The other 5% is usually just little garbage like when the wife approved a few more bucks to replace some dimmers and husband comes home furious because he could "have done that himself" and challenges the charges. Even in those instances, they rarely ever win their challenge against your charges. I set up my credit card services through BJ's Wholesale Club about ten years ago and have been very happy with their contracted provider, Chase Merchant Services. The money is in our account within 48 hours and the fees are nickels and dimes compared to the added revenue that you can generate. It's well worth it.

PayPal's fees are a bit higher, but they are also a very reputable processing agency that requires very little out of pocket expense. I believe that they require that you deposit a token amount of money in your account to cover reversals for the first few months, but after that, it's just a matter of paying percentages. If you have them transfer funds to your bank account, it is practically free. If you want them to send you a check, it costs a couple of dollars more on a per-payout basis.

u2slow I sent ya an email

I'm checking into them currently.

Thanks Doug!

Here's some things I found out (looking mainly for terminal-less solutions):

Paypal doesn't have the Virtual Terminal product for Canada. Only website shopping/checkout is available for us.

Verifone makes and resells two products called IPcharge and PCcharge. The former is web-only. The latter is a software package. Both can accept swiped card transactions with an add-on pin pad or card-swiper that you buy outright. The two Canadian resellers I could find (VersaPay and ChasePaymentTech) weren't up to speed... they said they couldn't do debit, didn't know of any compatible pin pads or swipers, and would still have to pay the card-not-present transaction fees.

Moneris was the most expensive and only offer the virtual terminal as an extra cost accessory to a basic POS term merchant account. They are nested with CIBC, BMO, and RBC so they have a bit of a monopoly going.

TD/CanadaTrust has MerchantPC. They had extra costs because I'm not a TD customer. Plus the in-your-face big bank pricing.

Cardex only seemed to have terminal-based solutions. I never got a call back from them.

In the end I went with InternetSecure. Their virtual terminal works on any Internet connection - even dial-up. They quoted me lower discount rates that listed on their website, and a lower setup fee. Plus, I can do debit transactions.