E-Commerce Solutions: Payment Gateways & Merchant Accounts

Need to accept credit card payments online? Not sure how to get it working? This site is dedicated to providing the information you need as well as providing you with the right services.

3rd Party Payment Processors

For many, setting up an account with Paypal, Stripe, or another processor is enough for their needs. These types of accounts are best for those who have smaller businesses and do not want to worry about the web development needed or PCI compliance.

The issues with Paypal that have come up for many merchants was no solid recourse to a dispute. We experienced this ourselves when Paypal charged us $1000 because a client no longer needed the work we did for them even though we already completed the work and they signed off on it.

Since we found Paypal untrustworth for merchants, we decided to no longer accept Paypal payments. Paypal tends to side with the customer, not the merchant, and doing some searching will bring up a number of complaints.

It's not all doom and gloom, though, most transactions come through fine. But if you want a higher level of protection from chargebacks, a true merchant account is the way to go.

Merchant Accounts

There are many different merchant account providers out there. If you are planning on processing orders online, you must have a MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) merchant account to process "card not present" transactions. Not all merchant account providers provide this type of account.

Our suggested merchant account providers:


  • CDGCommerce.com - We've been a customer for over 10 years and very satisfied. A smaller business with a friendly model of no up-front fees and no hidden fees. CDGCommerce also has a free payment gateway available.
  • Authorize.net - Authorize.net is the most popular payment gateway and now also offers merchant accounts as well. You can have your merchant account and payment gateway all from the same company.

Our suggestion is CDGcommerce, and we get great rates CDGCommerce far below the 2.9% rate that Authorize.net offers. Authorize.net may have a higher rate, but they also have clout in being a large company owned by Visa. As such, they have a bit better support system.

Payment Gateways

Your payment gateway provides the connection between processing payments through the internet and your merchant account. They are a necessary link if you do not go with a 3rd party processor. They often provide a secure payment form which you can brand and process through their website as well as virtual terminals to manually enter payments or process voids and cancellations.

We have only one suggestion, because it is hands-down the best:


  • Authorize.net - Owned by Visa and providing merchant services to

If you select CDGCommerce as your merchant account provider, they do offer an option to save on your gateway fees by using their own Quantum Gateway. I've dealt with both of these gateways and found Authorize.net to be more robust and a bit faster to process. If saving on gateway fees is important to you, then by all means give Quantum Gateway a try. You can always switch to Authorize.net at a later time. They now offer Authorize.net for FREE - See Below!

Do Your Homework

Don't take our word for it, use the internet to dig for answers. Also, be sure to ask your existing bank about what they offer and be sure to mention that you need a MOTO/Internet account for processing transactions online. By all means, shop around. Get the rates and monthly fees they will charge and compare.

In the end, you can not go wrong with CDGCommerce for a merchant account and Authorize.net as a payment gateway. Right now, CDGCommerceis offering a special exclusive offer which hands down beats anything we've seen:

  • FREE Authorize.net Setup
  • $0/month Statement/Service Fees
  • 0% Additional Processing Fees
  • FREE Advanced Fraud Defense Suite (AFDS)
  • FREE Automated Recurring Billing (ARB)
  • FREE Customer Information Manager (CIM)
  • FREE Sync for QuickBooks (SFQ)

Normally, each of the services cost an additional monthly fee, but with CDGCommerce, you get all of these for free while this plan is still available for new sign ups.

Sign up with CDGCommerce Now

Need Web Development or Payment Processing Integration?

Authorize.Net Authorized ResellerWe are a full-service media company that focuses on web development. We've been working with Authorize.net since 2004, and an Authorize.net Certified Developer as well as an Authorize.net Partner.

We have integrated secure payment systems for the American Cancer Society and many other entities. We stay up-to-date with the latest API changes and requirements and can ensure that your website processes transactions smoothly and securely.

Contact us at 315-469-8414 or message us and we will get back to you.