| Merchant Account | PayPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for growing businesses that want to get the most out of Main Street Sites | Good for businesses just starting out | |
| Pricing | ||
| Transaction Fees | $0.30 | $0.49 |
| Visa & Mastercard | 2.9% | 2.59% – $4.09% |
| American Express | 3.2% (optional) |
2.59% – 4.09% |
| PayPal | – | $3.49% |
| Monthly Fee | $11 | $0 |
| Monthly Minimum | $5 (for months w/ no payments) |
– |
| Features | ||
| Customer Vault (securely store credit cards for future use) |
Yes (optional feature for $10/mo) |
No |
| Payment Batches (requires vault) |
Yes | No |
| Monthly Billing (requires vault) |
Yes | No |
| Installment Plans (requires vault) |
Yes | No |
| Ad hoc Payments | Yes | No |
| Free Virtual Terminal | Yes (included with NMI gateway) |
No ($30/month) |
| ACH / eCheck Support | Yes (optional feature) |
No |
| Automatic deposit to your bank |
Yes | No |
| Easy Bank Account Reconciliation | Yes (fees deducted at end of month or pay as you go) |
No (pay as you go only) |
Our merchant account processing partner is Electronic Payments, Inc (EPI). Our gateway partner is Network Merchants, Inc (NMI).
We have partnered with EPI and NMI for over 10 years. We could have partnered with any number of companies. The reality is that we chose to partner with EPI and NMI because they have offered excellent service to our customers and we trust them. In fact, we use EPI and NMI for our own merchant account and gateway. In other words, we use the same service that our customers have access to.
If you need a merchant account, please write us at support@mainstreetsites.com so that we can send an application to you.
You can also write us if you have questions or if you’d like to set up a time to discuss your options.
If you’d like a merchant account, please let us know so that we can send an application to you. All applications must go through underwriting before approval.
In addition to the signed application the underwriter will need a few other things:
After you complete the merchant account application and provide the supporting documentation, we will submit everything to underwriting. Most merchant accounts are approved within 1-2 business days.
After approval it usually takes another 1 – 2 business days before your merchant account will be ready to process payments.
Customers with at least $500,000/year in online payments may qualify for our interchange plus program. Please contact us for details.
Main Street Sites charges an additional fee of 0.4% of payment volume for all online payments made through third party merchant accounts. A third party merchant account is any merchant account that is not obtained through our processing partnership with our processing partner, Electronic Payments, Inc.
If, for example, you process $3,000 during the month through a third party merchant account, we will charge $12 in third party merchant account fees.
We have these fees due to contractual agreements with Electronic Payments, Inc. and PayPal.
Please contact us at support@mainstreetsites.com if you’d like to use a new or existing third party merchant account.
One of the reasons we partner with Electronic Payments, Inc. is because they don’t have a history of forcing rate increases. Having said that, they can’t operate their business at a loss. If Visa and Mastercard raise their fees (which are paid on your behalf out of the fees Electronic Payments, Inc. collects from you), then it is possible that your rates will need to be adjusted in the future.
A refund results in an authorization fee (from the merchant account provider) as well as a gateway transaction fee.
Network Merchants (NMI) is the best option for most of our customers. We also prefer NMI because it’s easier for us to support our customers who use NMI.
That said, we can provide Authorize.net gateway accounts through our processing partner (Electronic Payments, Inc.).
Please note, however, third-party merchant accounts and Authorize.net accounts are subject to additional fees. In order to avoid those additional fees, you must get your merchant account and Authorize.net account through our processing relationship with Electronic Payments, Inc.
Merchant account and gateway fees are collected via direct bank debit by the providers. For example, the merchant account processors we partner with automatically collect merchant processing fees from your bank account. Likewise, the gateway providers debit your bank account directly for their fees.
If you’ve used PayPal you’ll know that PayPal deducts their fees from each transaction. Merchant account billing is different. With a merchant account all of the fees will be debited in a single lump sum at the end of the month. NMI gateway billing works the same way.
Fees between the merchant account and gateway are split as follows:
Merchant Account (Electronic Payments, Inc.)
$5 monthly fee
$0.20 + 2.9% per transaction
Gateway (NMI)
$6 monthly fee
$0.10 per transaction
NOTE: If you sign up for the customer vault, those fees are billed through NMI as well.
Yes, stored payment profiles are supported by our merchant account options. The “Customer Vault” option is required to enable this ability.
A virtual terminal is a web-based application that allows you to process credit and debit card payments by phone or in person using only a browser.
Your customers can pay either by clicking on a “Pay Now with PayPal” button or by entering their credit or debit card details directly on your checkout page. In either case, PayPal will process the payment.
This is not currently supported by our integration with PayPal. If you need this functionality today you should use a merchant account with the customer vault option enabled.
ACH or eCheck processing give you the ability to process eChecks (i.e., electronic debits against your customer’s checking account).
Credit card processors and eCheck processors are different. A merchant account gives you the ability to accept credit cards. A merchant account doesn’t give you the ability to process eChecks. In order to process e-checks, you need a separate eCheck processing account from an eCheck processor.
Yes, we do, but they are not commonly used by our customers. To get started with eChecks, you’ll need an echeck processing account. This requires a separate application which must go through an underwriting process. Let us know if you’d like to explore this option.
eCheck processing has its own set of fees which are above and beyond other merchant account and gateway fees. eCheck fees depend on processing volume but are generally around $20/month plus 0.75%. There is a $55 application fee for new eCheck accounts.
eChecks probably don’t make financial sense unless you expect to process at least $1000 in e-checks every month.
eCheck processing is more regulated than credit card processing. In order to process an eCheck, you need a written authorization on file for each checking account you wish to debit.
Given the requirement to have a written authorization on file, eCheck processing is only appropriate for monthly payment implementation scenarios. eChecks are not a good solution for businesses that require upfront payment for classes.
