Originally Posted by beaner

p.s. I will post back more on the VISA/MASTERCARD fees. I'm fairly certain they are not required at all. My second MID is getting set up next week and not one mention of this fee. Reason is... who's asking for it? Not my *NEW* merchant specialist... not the gateway software, not the bank... so nobody is asking for this money from what I can tell. It is a grey area, for sure, for me. IPSP (aka third party billers)... have already been labeled as HIGH RISK and Visa and Mastercard expect this fee with each new merchant.

The fees are typically $15 to $40 per month base, then around 3% plus 20 cents per transaction (something similar), and you do NOT, NOT, NOT want to be tied into anyone that claims a never returned reserve until 180 days after account closure. In fact, you can easily get setup with accounts and no reserve is ever asked for. The reason is, it's only to line someone else's pocket and it sure as hell is not the processing bank, the software gateway, or Visa/Mastercard.

Find a merchant specialist that is fair... takes their couple of percent profit and are happy with that.

Straight up... when push comes to shove, you should be around 6% fees, a small monthly fee, and you have to handle all of your customer service (not hard). You can go with *value* added specialists who handle all of your customer service as well, and your percent will naturally go up.

Just gotta make sure your merchant specialist isn't really just a reseller for an IPSP tied into a separate gateway as well.