Choosing an Internet Merchant Account..?

[Klaerth]

A family member of mine is seeking to extend their business to the web, and has requested my assistance. Unfortunately, though I've fiddled with a couple of free/open-source shopping carts and the like to get the hang of them, I've had difficulties researching what company would be good to seek an internet merchant account/payment gateway through. A simple search brings up many that, on first appearance, appear irreputable, with the only one standing out as otherwise being Paypal.

Would anyone have any suggestions as to potential companies to look at to compare services/prices, or resources for me to seek out? Thank you kindly. =>

 

[PTNL]

You really haven't given any requirements for the merchant account, so tossing out merchant account recommendations that are appropriate for your needs will be a needle/haystack scenario.

Here's an alternate approach to your decision: Pick your e-commerce package, and find out what merchant account(s) they work with. Some packages may even have a list of merchant accounts they recommend. Let that be your initial pool of choices. Then check with your bank on which merchant accounts (from that pool) that they can communicate with or recommend. Then drill into the filtered list of merchant account vendors on pros/cons based on your needs.

 

[Javi]

Authorize.net
Chase PaymentTech

Paypal:
Website Payments Pro.
Payflow Pro - although it appears they are beginning to phase this out as it used to be a verisign app.

 

[webdes03]

I have used Authorize.net with MerchantPlus. I'd highly recommend Authorize.net as the processor, plus their API is quite nice if you need to do any custom integration down the road.