If you’re looking for a credit card processor, Authorize.net may be one of the options that you’re considering. With their virtual terminal, all you need to process credit cards is a computer and an Internet connection. What’s great about this approach to processing is it gives you more flexibility than options that tie you to a specific terminal machine.
What Features Does the Virtual Terminal Offer?
Not only does an Authorize.net terminal allow you to process credit cards from any computer with an Internet connection, but it makes it just as easy to access and manage your account. You can do things like set up automatic deposits into your merchant bank account. You can also connect this processing option to your website. That gives you the ability to allow online customers to check out in the same manner as retail customers. Depending on your business model, you can also set up recurring billing that’s done automatically.
How Much Does It Cost?
While those features sound very appealing to most merchants, the big question on their mind is how much it’s going to cost them. As with all available options, in order to understand the true cost, you need to be aware of all the fees that are part of this service. Also, keep in mind that while the following fees are the average that’s charged, merchant accounts can vary from one business to another. Depending on your specific industry, you may end up paying slightly more or less than these amounts:
Getting Started: It costs $99 to set up a virtual gateway. Since physical processing machines can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, this is definitely a good deal.
Monthly: The monthly base fee for this service is $20. That fee covers customer support, fraud prevention tools and three connection methods. The methods are simple checkout, server integration and advanced integration. Having more than one option means you get full control over the checkout experience that you create for your customers. There are three other monthly services you can add for additional fees:
- If you’re especially concerned about fraudulent online orders, you can add the Advanced Fraud Detection Suite for $9.95 a month.
- If you want to create billing subscriptions, Automated Recurring Billing costs $10 a month.
- To take the hassle out of storing sensitive data provided by customers, Authorize.net offers a Customer Information Manager for $20 a month.
Per Transaction: The standard fee for processing any credit card transaction through this terminal is $0.10. Then when you close your batch of transactions, which is normally done every 24 hours, an additional $0.25 fee will be assessed.
If you have any additional questions about Authorize.net, feel free to ask them in the comments!
Tags: authorize.net, credit cards
