The Difference between Merchant Service Provider’s and 3rd Party Processors

There are two types of companies that can enable a website to accept credit cards. The first is a 3rd party processor and the second is a merchant service provider (called an MSP, or ISO). The are 3 primary differences between 3rd party processors and MSP’s: the way a website integrates with their service, the liability that the website owner has over the transactions that they process, and the price that a they will pay for the ability to accept credit cards. 3rd party processors include companies like PayPal, Google Checkout, 2checkout.com, CCnow, Clickbank, and many more.

The difference between MSP’s and 3rd party processors:

MSP

• The business applies for a merchant account directly with a MSP.
• Business is personally liable for everything that they process.
• Customer‚ credit card statements have the business name on them.
• Use with a Payment Gateway (Seamless integration available).
• Some fixed monthly fees in addition to processing costs.
• More professional look and feel to your website

3rd Party Processors

• Business processes under the name of the 3rd party processor.
• Customer‚credit card statement has 3rd party processors name on it.
• Business and customer have limited protection from being ripped off.
• Must use 3rd party processors checkout system.
• Some have setup fees.
• Most have high processing costs.
• Business is partially liable for the transactions that they process.

Read the original article at: http://www.merchantequip.com/merchant-account-blog/