What are some options for obtaining my own Merchant Account?
A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows your business to accept credit cards. A payment gateway is a service that interfaces between the SOLO Server Shopping Cart and the merchant account. Credit card approval requests are sent from the SOLO Server Shopping Cart to the bank through the payment gateway --- much like a credit card swipe terminal is used in a retail store.
There are many options for you to obtain both a merchant account and payment gateway. Feel free to call or e-mail us if you require additional information.
PayPal Payments Standard
Website Payments Standard is PayPal’s most popular --- and easiest --- way to accept credit cards online.
- Buyers don't need a PayPal account to pay
- Major credit cards accepted – VISA / MasterCard / American Express / DISCOVER
- Buyers can also pay by eCheck
- No setup charges or monthly fees
The Shopping Cart is filled on the SOLO Server pages, and payment is completed on the PayPal website. The buyer never shares their banking information with the Shopping Cart.
Pros: No credit application. No lengthy application. No setup fees. No monthly fees. No monthly minimum. No cancellation charge.
Cons: Being redirected to PayPal's website adds a couple of steps, and some customers may be unfamiliar with PayPal. SOLO Server's recurring billing engine is not supported (use PayPal Payments Pro instead).
If your company is located outside the USA, PayPal has a specific page for processing international payments.
PayPal Payments Pro
Process credit cards directly through the SOLO Server Shopping Cart with PayPal Payments Pro, PayPal’s all-in-one merchant account and payment gateway.
- No setup fee
- $30.00 USD monthly fee
- Buyers don't need a PayPal account to pay, and don't even need to see any PayPal-branded payment pages.
- Major credit cards accepted – VISA / MasterCard / American Express / DISCOVER
- No long-term commitments or monthly minimums
- SOLO Server recurring billing engine is supported for automatic subscription payments
- Buyer can also pay with their PayPal account and eCheck, using the same process as WebSite Payments Standard (PayPal-branded payment page)
- Virtual credit card terminal available for manual payment processing
For additional information, you can contact Bryan Sobczyk from PayPal and ask for "PayPal Payments Pro PayFlow Edition". He can be reached at (402)-938-3623.
Pros: The user never leaves your Shopping Cart to enter their credit card information (unless you want to give them the option to pay through PayPal or pay by eCheck, just like with PayPal Standard). Supports SOLO Server's recurring billing engine. Virtual terminal available for manual credit card orders.
Cons: $30.00 USD monthly fee.
Once you have your PayPal Payments Pro account, you can follow these steps to complete the integration. In most cases, you will simply need to provide us with information that we will input into your SOLO Server account.
Local Bank / Online Merchant Account Providers
There are many online merchant account providers to choose from. In addition, your local bank will also likely be able to provide you with a merchant account. The SOLO Server Shopping Cart supports many payment gateways to submit transactions to your bank. The supported gateways are listed in our SOLO Server System Requirements. We have customers using all of these gateways.
Sometimes the merchant account provider can supply the merchant account in a bundle package. If not, we are resellers of both Authorize.Net and PayPal Payments Pro – both of which can be used with any merchant account based in the USA. Please contact us for pricing on both gateways.
Pros: Might be able to leverage an existing relationship with your local bank to negotiate lower fees. Keep in mind that credit card processing fees can be very confusing and banks often hide behind the myriad of fees. Supports SOLO Server's recurring billing engine.
Cons: Could take longer to set up and begin accepting payments. Total cost of transaction fees might be higher when you consider payment gateway and merchant account fees separately.
We have many years of experience with all of these options and we will be glad to help you along the way!