Clients ask us all the time to compare a merchant account with us to a third party provider such as Paypal and Google Checkout. So we decided to compile a comprehensive list of all the reasons why you should consider a merchant provider instead.

1. Customer Service – Gotmerchant.com strives to provide excellent customer service. This is the main reason why each merchant is assigned a personal account manager that they may call directly at any time. If you do some searching online, you may find that this is not the same with companies like Paypal. Try calling their customer service department sometime and see what kind of results you get.

2. Seamless Integration & Better Conversions - Using payment gateways such as Authorize.net allows you to offer a seamless integration within your web site.  What does this mean?  The visitor will never leave your web site during the entire checkout process.  This is very important for any major ecommerce merchant.  Neither PayPal or Google Checkout allow your customers to remain on your website during the entire checkout process.   When you add a few extra mundane steps to your checkout process, it increases your chances of losing a sale.  Would you not agree having the highest conversion ratio possible is important to your bottom line?  Think about it from a retail perspective.  How quickly do consumers get irritated sitting in line at the register waiting for their turn?  The longer they wait, the less satisfied they are.   This is no different with Internet shopping.  You want your checkout process as easy, quick and simplified as possible.  Give a customer a reason to abandon their cart and they will.

3. Underwriting - Unlike third party providers, all merchant account providers send their applications through an underwriting process.  This is where a human reviews the account and evaluates it for risk and determines if the business type is acceptable.  Obviously there are certain business types merchant providers will not take, such as adult related businesses.  The list of unacceptable merchant types will vary though from one provider to the next.  There are also many stories available online that start off with something similar to,  “Paypal froze my account.”  This should be expected more often as they instantly approve accounts and ask questions after the merchant starts processing.  According to some information found online, once an account gets held, Paypal can be difficult to reach, especially their risk management department.  It is also said that their call centers are located overseas whereas most merchant providers keep that within the USA.

Something else to consider is the chargeback process.  With Paypal, consumers have two opportunities to dispute a charge, known as a chargeback.  They can dispute the charge with Paypal directly.  If  Paypal rules in the merchant’s favor, they can then dispute the charge with their credit card issuer.  At this time,  Paypal is at the mercy of the card issuer like the rest of us merchant providers.

4. Deposits - Paypal deposits your money into your Paypal account and you then must manually withdraw your funds.  Whereas merchant providers automatically deposit your funds directly into your checking account and this results in much faster funding times.   This doesn’t apply to Google Checkout however as they also make direct deposits.

5. Paypal’s Reputation - Many businesses and consumers refuse to use Paypal. This could be based on a previous bad experience with the company from a consumer standpoint or as a merchant.  You should ultimately give your clients the payment method they choose.  It may be a good idea to offer Paypal & Google Checkout as an alternative option, but not your primary or only option.