e-Commerce Payments Using Authorize.net
With Authorize.net, you will receive your payouts faster, at 1 to 2 business days. Similar to PayPal, Authorize.net provides service for recurring payments for subscriptions. We have found Authorize.net's subscription service to be more robust than PayPal's. An Authorize.net subscription will only cease if the credit card is cancelled, expires or the charge is otherwise declined. With PayPal, we have seen subscriptions unexectedly terminate when the customer changes their account information with PayPal.
Authorize.net is a bit more expensive than PayPal and Google Checkout when it comes to transaction fees at 2.19% plus 25 cents per transaction. A flat monthly service fee is charged by Authorize.Net when the merchant's transaction processing fees for the month do not exceed the flat monthly fee amount. The minimum monthly fee is $25.00. If the merchant's transaction fee (i.e., per-transaction fees and discount fees) for the month is $17.50, the payment gateway will charge the merchant an additional fee of $7.50 to make up the difference. If the merchant's transaction fees for the month exceed $25.00, an extra fee is not charged.
| Merchant Account Setup Fee: |
$0.00 |
| Monthly Fee: |
$9.95 |
| Authorization Fee: |
$0.25 |
| Visa/MasterCard Qualified Discount Rate: |
2.19% |
| Visa/MasterCard Mid-Qualified Surcharge: |
0.70% |
| Visa/MasterCard Non Qualified Surcharge: |
1.20% |
| Minimum Discount: |
$25.00 |
| Chargeback Fee: |
$19.00 |
| ACH Return Fee: |
$20.00 |
| Batch Fee: |
$0.25 |
| Online Reporting Fee: |
$0.00 |
| Verbal Authorization Fee: |
$1.20 |
| Early Termination Fee: |
Waived |
| Visa Authorization Access Fee: |
$0.005 per authorization |
| Visa International Assessment: |
0.40% |
| MasterCard Network Access & Brand Usage Fee: |
$0.0185 per capture |
| MasterCard Cross-Border Fee: |
0.40% |
| MasterCard International Assessment: |
0.45% |
| Gateway-only Setup Fee: |
$99.00 |
| Gateway-only Monthly Fee: |
$17.95 |
| Gateway-only Per-Transaction Fee: |
$0.10 |
| Optional Advanced Fraud Detection Suite |
$9.95 monthly |
| Optional Automated Recurring Billing |
$10.00 monthly |
| Optional Customer Information Manager |
$20.00 monthly |
To apply for an Authorize.net payment gateway account, please click the link below.
Authorize.net application
This link will take you to the Authorize.Net online application where you can apply a payment gateway and/or merchant account. You can also sign up for any of Authorize.net value-adding services such as Automated Recurring Billing (subscriptions) or Advanced Fraud Detection Suite.
The fees above, as well as fees for Card Present (CP) payment gateway and merchant accounts and all Authorize.Net value-adding services will be specified in your application
Before you begin, there a few things about the online application you should know:
- After clicking the "Sign Up Now" button, you will go to the online application home page. Before you can access the application, you will need to create an account by clicking the "Create Login ID" button. Once you are finished, click Login Now. You will be taken back to the online application home page where you can sign in and begin the application process.
- When applying, you will need to either sign up for a new merchant account, or provide information on your existing merchant account.
- If you have questions while applying, just click the Help link located in the upper right hand corner of any application page. These help files are extremely useful and should answer any questions you have.
Once you have completed and submitted the application, Authorize.Net will review the provided information and contact you directly concerning your account. If at any time you have questions or need additional assistance, please call us at 973-796-2820.
PayPal
PayPal is popular, convenient and flexible when it comes to offering payment options to your customers. The biggest disadvantage to PayPal is that it does not offer a seamless checkout experience – the customer bounces betwen the merchant site and PayPal's site.
Google Checkout
If you are an AdWords advertiser, a Google Checkout badge will appear with your advertisement, highlighting your ad among the others. For some, this badge is sufficient reason to offer Google Checkout, at least as an option. Fees are relatively low, but there is no live support.
Credit Cards
The advantages of accepting credit cards are the convenience it gives to online shoppers and faster processing of transactions. The disadvantages in accepting credit cards are higher transactional costs and the need to provide security measures.