Free Merchant Services

Do you want to accept credit cards at your business but do not wish to get a merchant account? A lot of people are hesitant to start accepting credit cards due to the difficulty of getting a merchant account or due to the expense of paying someone to put it all together for you.

Now you can accept credit cards without going to a lot of trouble and expense. There are now a growing number of third-party merchant account services that allow internet merchants to accept credit card payments on their Web site without the need of a merchant account. Instead, transactions are processed through the third-party providers' accounts. They charge a processing fee with each transaction that's higher than the discount rate charged by regular merchant account providers.

They do so by providing a secured website you can link to, process your customers orders, and receive those payments. Many of these services come complete with valuable additional features, for example a built-in shopping cart, 24x7 customer service, and the ability to accept other forms of online payment.

These services are also popular with non-U.S. businesses, with businesses selling content and services, and with older businesses that have poor credit.

Here is a list of third-party merchant account services who are willing to help you get your business up and running.

NOTE: You should contact the service provider to check their current rates since they are subject to change.

• 2CheckOut
• Verotel
• ClickBank
• PayPal

2CheckOut
Website:	http://www.2CheckOut.com
Setup Fee:	There is a 1 time only set up fee of $49.00, after that you only pay for sales, sell nothing, pay nothing.
Monthly Fee:	None
International:	Yes
Orders By:	Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover/Novus, Diners Club and JCB and derivatives of those brands, and online checks.
Processing Fees:	5.5% commission on each sale plus a $0.45 charge per sale.
Extras:	When an issuing bank sends a chargeback dispute, the bank also charges a research fee. This fee can range from $10 to $30 depending on the bank. 2CheckOut reserves the right to pass the bank's charge back fee on to supplier involved, at our discretion.
Notes:	The admin area allows you to set options so that you can ensure everything is working properly without an actual credit card or check being billed.
Max Item Limit:	None

Verotel
Website:	http://www.verotel.com
Setup Fee:	None
Monthly Fee:	None
International:	Yes
Payment By:	Accept all major credit cards, electronic checks, and 1-900 phone billings.
Processing Fees:	13.5% - 15.0% Credit cards, 20% - 30% 1-900 transactions
Extras:	Verotel will charge USD $ 15.00 plus the value of the transaction per chargeback. Customers will receive an invoice on the 1st day and 16th day of every month. Verotel 1-900 transactions will appear on an invoice on 1st day of the month, at least one full month after the month in which the transaction occurred.
Notes:	Verotel offers only credit card processing for websites offering content. Please note, tangible products and services can NOT be sold with a Verotel account.
Max Item Limit:	$75

ClickBank
Website:	http://www.clickbank.com
Setup Fee:	There is a 1 time only set up fee of $49.95, after that you only pay for sales, sell nothing, pay nothing.
Monthly Fee:	None
International:	Yes
Payment By:	Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Eurocard, Bravo, Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit, and Novus. They accept online checks from the USA and Canada.
Processing Fees:	$1 + 7.5%
Extras:	ClickBank only sells specific types of products. All products must be: 1. Deliverable entirely over the internet via web pages, downloadable files, or email. 2. Deliverable to every customer within 24 hours of purchase. 3. Backed by appropriate technical support pages, written in English, and hosted at your own web site.
Notes:	A reversed charge is a chargeback if the customer first filed their complaint with their bank or credit card company. In some cases the banking network will assess an additional "chargeback fee" against us. If this happens we may be forced to debit the fee from your account. This fee may range from $5 to $25 and is dependent on factors beyond our control. Luckily, for responsible site owners chargebacks are extremely rare.
Max Item Limit:	The price limit is the maximum retail price that can be assigned to one of your products. The standard price limit is $50. In rare circumstances we can approve products priced at $250 or more.

PayPal
Website:	http://www.paypal.com
Setup Fee:	None
Monthly Fee:	None
International:	Yes
Payment By:	Accept all major credit cards and electronic checks.
Processing Fees:	Merchant Rate: 2.2% + $.30 Standard Rate: 2.9% + $.30
Extras:	Payment Options including the Shopping Cart, Subscriptions, Single Item Purchase buttons and Donations
Notes:	Merchant Tools including Instant Payment Notification, Password Management, Auction Tools, and Permissions.
Max Item Limit:	$10,000