What do people think about Intuit's online credit card processing?

It turns out that Intuit does online credit card processing. See here.

What do people think about their services? How do they compare to Google Checkout or PayPal?

Are there any horror stories?

Intuit's Merchant Services Account is not bad compared to many others, especially as they encourage online merchants. They were developed more for the brick and mortar operations, especialy as they integrate into the Quickbooks brands, but they've done a good job staying competitive in the online venue. And it's a 'combination' account allowing both swiped and MO/To keyed transactions.

Whether it is a good solution for you depends on your business. From everything I've seen, especially if your business is 100% Internet based, PayPal offers the the best for convenience and costs. And their 'basic package' with no monthly fees is usually sufficient. They already include AMEX, as well.

If you need a service that allows 'swiped' transactions, electronic checks, or other services then a 'portal'based system may be necessary. Pivotal Payments is one I've worked with in the past, and they began with 'MO/TO' businesses. Shopping is well worth the effort, the fees vary widely among the different MSA providers.

Look for these:

1) Statement Fee (Monthly flat fee usually $7-25)

2) Minimum Monthly Fee

3) Per Transaction Fee (usually $.05 - $.30, but I've seen as much as $1.25)

4) Batch Fees (varying costs based on how often you 'reconcile' stored data, and can include 'penalty' rates for missed batches, or late runs)

5) Individual rates by Brand of card. (These get really complicated sometimes. Visa/MC are usually carried at the same schedules, Discover usually a full 1% over those. AMEX sets its own rates. And there are several levels of these rates based on the kind of transaction (swiped, keyed, with and without signatures, debit cards with and without pins, etc.) AND they all can charge added rates based on the type of card (corporate, employee issues, travel cards, etc.)

Usually, equipment is extra (buy it outright if you can, avoid leasing), phone charges can also be added (most require a dedicated landline). If you add an online processing portal, there is usually an added monthly fee for that.

Watch for the 'free swipey machine' offers. Some companies will try to pass off obsolete and 'reconditioned' equipment, others add costs to the 'fees' to cover their costs. Some are really provided at almost no cost, so again shoipping is a good idea.

Hope this helps

I assume this would be used for "Card not present " sales? A lot depends on your total number of sales per month and average ticket price. The 2.9% they charge is pretty standard. You can do better with your own merchant account. You need your own American Express merchant account as far as I can see. (They would just act as a gateway for AmEx payment.)

They are also pretty vague on international charges. They mention 3.54% for some types of cards, but don't mention the extra fees on all international transactions. If you don't sell outside the US, that's fine. If you do, be aware the credit card folks add at least 1% extra on top of the already mentioned fees for an international transaction and currency conversion.

The rate isn't bad if you are doing low volume low price sales. But if you are selling expensive items, with a low chargeback ratio, that is not a good rate. 1.7% to 1.9% for items with an average ticket price of $75 - $100 would be better.