Getting Started continued-

Now here's the tricky part. You actually have to do these two steps together because your bank will, typically, need to know which Internet clearing service you intend to use. Also, most applications require you to indicate which gateway software you will be using.

In short, be prepared to contract with two separate companies and pay two separate setup charges and monthly fees if you intend to maintain your own seller bank account and offer real-time credit card authorization over the Net. If you can't qualify for a seller bank account of your own, there are many service providers out there that will function in place of a seller bank account. Whatever route you take, make time to evaluate a couple of payment processors. Compare their setup fees, transaction fees, and the support services you get from each before signing on the bottom line.

In the next several sections we will try to provide some examples and "templates" that can serve as a guidelines against which you can evaluate the various payment processors out there.

Selecting a Seller Bank Account Provider

To authorize and settle credit card payments over the Net, you should obtain an Internet seller account from a bank. (If you are going to use CyberCash as your payment processor, the bank must support "autopostauth" transactions.) Not all banks support Internet businesses. Your credit card processing company can help you select a bank that they can work with.

The payment processors that ShopSite has integrated into packaged products use the FDC network as their primary network. This means that if you chose a seller bank that isn't on the FDC network you may find yourself paying a premium setup fee. Typically you get charged on two fronts: the setup fee costs more and the response time is slower because the service is using a modem connection instead of a leased line connection to the financial network.

If you are a new Internet business or a new business in general, your personal credit history is the single most influential element reviewed during the application process for a seller bank account. That is not to say you won't qualify for an account, but the bank will look more favorably upon your application and the initial rates they offer you, based on your personal credit history.

If You Have an Existing Bank Relationship

If you already have a seller bank account, check with your bank provider and make sure your type of account is one that can accept Internet transactions. Be aware that some banks charge a premium for a charge-back if the bank discovers you have a face-to-face type of account (which might be the case if you are using IC Verify or MacAuthorize as your interface to the payment processor) but are now running your Internet charges through that account. A word to the wise: check with your bank on how they "play the game."

If you have an existing seller account, and decide to Internet-enable that account, your payment processor can help you get your account type changed. However, once the account type is changed to an Internet-type account, it will no longer support a terminal connection (the type of account typically used to process face-to-face type of transactions).

Selecting a Payment Processor

Third-party processors, Signio, CyberCash, Authorize.Net (on Sparc and Linux server platforms), and ClickPay are offered in ShopSite Manager and ShopSite Pro. To use either, you need a merchant bank account.

Basics You Should Know

Here are some hidden costs that we came across during our research.

• If you intend to use CyberCash, be sure to ask your seller bank account provider if they charge a premium to process a transaction that comes to them via CyberCash. We discovered that some banks charge a 10-cent premium per transaction for a CyberCash transaction.
• What is a transaction? Let's start with an order. The request for credit card authorization is recognized as a transaction by most processors; the submission of the order for settlement after you have shipped your goods is another transaction. Therefore, the typical order will rack up two transactions to the processing service. When evaluating card clearing services, make sure you understand how that service counts transactions.

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