The Best Payment Processors to Accept Payment on My Website

According to a recent survey, Flagship Merchant Services was rated as the number one payment processor for online payment acceptance facilities. They were followed by Merchant Warehouse, goEMerchant Merchant Accounts, Chase Paymentech, Merchant One, The Transaction Group, Merchant Accounts Express, First Data, Gotmerchant, and Electronic Transfer Inc to complete the top 10 payment processors in that order for 2010.

The review and results were based on the following factors:

1. Ratings

2. Application Process

3. Fees

4. Transaction Fees

5. Features

6. Fraud Protection

7. Accepted Credit Cards

8. Help/Support

1. Ratings: Every company was rated on the following parameters: average approval rating, cost per month (based on the reviewer’s own formula), start-up cost, account setup time, customer service, Internet-based features, and P.O.S or Swiper-based.

2. Application Process: All the payment processors except Merchant Warehouse, The Transaction Group, Merchant Accounts Express, Gotmerchant, and Electronic Transfer Inc. provide digital application. Average approval rating varies in the range of 95% to 99% amongst the top 10 and account setup time is in the range of 0 to 3 days.

3. Fees: Monthly fees are of 3 types: gateway fees, which are in the range of $9.00 to $19.95, statement fees from $5.00 to $10.00, and monthly minimum fees from $15.00 to $25.00.

4. Transaction Fees: The lowest Internet-based fees of $0.20 are charged by Merchant One and The Transaction Group, while lowest retail fee of $0.19 is charged by Merchant Accounts Express.

5. Features: Features, like virtual terminal, payment gateway, merchant account, P.O.S credit card swiper, e-check, shopping cart, and recurring billing, are commonly found across all processors. Account clearing is done within 1 to 3 days.

6. Fraud Protection: Fraud verification features, like address verification, real-time processing, SSL, and CVV2, are provided by every processing merchant.

7. Credit Cards Accepted: All the leading credit cards are accepted by these payment processing companies. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and debit cards are just some of the examples.

8. Help and Support: It is very important to choose the right payment processing company by the kind of post-sale service they provide. Companies like Merchant Warehouse, goEMerchant Accounts, and First Data score very high on parameters like 24/7 support, toll-free phone numbers, e-mail, fax, and live chat (online).

Companies that have topped the latest survey are generally found to have a paperless application process, approval rating of 98% or more, several gateway options, no annual contracts in some cases, and lower transaction fees.