As merchant service providers for the past five years or so we have been closely involved with the changing rules and regulations regarding the provision of merchant accounts. The difficulty involving merchant services seems to be increasing with the passage of time. Businesses have been categorized and most banks will allow merchant services to be provided only after a credit risk is shown and accounted for. Offshore merchants [that are outside the US] have the greatest difficulty of maintaining a merchant service as the set up fees and per transaction fee seems exorbitant.

We have studied the market intricately and analyzed the data after conducting research offline and inline in an effort to bring to you the best merchant service solutions available online, today. This data includes an accumulation of the results we received and which allowed us to ascertain the best of the best in terms of merchant service providers, offshore merchant account providers, merchant services that provide accounts to high risk merchants like adult site merchants, gambling site merchants and pharmaceutical site merchants, and also third party merchant account providers.

Each of these merchant service providers as been thoroughly investigated in terms of reliability, customer support, and secure and confidential merchant service provision and ranked accordingly. At times we felt that only one company deserved a ranking and in these cases only one site recommendation will have been made.

Our research will continue and this site will be continuously updated. We are open to your suggestions and hope that this site proves useful to you and helps you launch a successful merchant business online.

Why do you need a Merchant Service

Merchant service providers allow you access to a payment gateway which is a intermediary between the shopping cart on your site and the financial processes dealt with through the merchant account.

Thus the choice of the correct merchant service provider is essential and must be compatible with your shopping cart.

There are three ways to start accepting Credit Cards on the Internet:

• Obtain a merchant account from your bank
• Use a Merchant Account Provider to obtain your merchant account
• Get a Third Party Merchant Account

Merchant Service

For small businesses's and foreign merchants it may be hard to find a bank that will allow a Merchant account to be opened. Banks are wary of Internet merchants from new ventures and off shore addresses as they are considered risks in terms of fraud and form of service inv loved i.e. they do not require physical receipts.

Yet, merchant accounts are the most convenient form of gateways allowing the merchant independence in terms of sales and the ability to relegate a price boundary without restraint. Read More

Third Party Merchant Service

Third Party Merchant Accounts are a viable solution for merchants who do not have merchant accounts of their own. This is a gateway and account all in one. A third party company has a merchant account that it allows you to use. That means that the payment is accepted on your behalf by the company and funds are then transferred according to the contract.Read More

When choosing a merchant service regardless of the type focus on the following:

• Statement - Charge per statement generated by the merchant service provider
• Application fee - Some merchant services charge a nominal amount for the application form regardless of acceptance or rejection.
• Setup fee - A fee is charged when the software is installed on your site that will allow the payment gateway to be functional.
• Discount Rate - The percentage deducted by the merchant service provider for every product sold on your site
• Transaction -The flat rate charged by the merchant service provider on each transaction excluding the discount rate
• Monthly Minimum - The charge made by the merchant service provider to your account regardless of the level of sales each month
• Reserve - The fee or percentage reserved in order to prevent excessive charge backs or cover the losses in situations of fraud.
• Charge back - A charge applied per transaction when a client rejects the charge on their card.

Choose the merchant service that offers the best and user friendly system and applies the lowest net charges after taking into account all of the above factors.