Hi Sergio,

First, let me say that I am by no means an expert in the area of Credit Card Processing. I am learning the hard way, by trial and error!

Our POS system did not have integrated CC processing until last fall when a new client insisted. We ended up with PCCharge mainly because the hardware vendor suggested it.

I also have licences to West Wind products but did not use them in this case.

Being a newbie, I was not at all sure exactly what I needed. The client bought PCCharge server and I bought the PCCharge Developers Kit (around $750). I used their OCX controls and finally got them working for Credit and Debit cards, but not without a few long nights. There was a bug in the PCCharge system concerning commercial credit cards that I discovered and they fixed. The support folks were very helpful.

But I have been experiencing another problem that PCCharge (GoSoftware acknowledges) and the fix will not be available until October. The problem is that when multiple registers hit the server at the same time (within a couple of seconds) the server does not properly distinguish which register placed each request. I have been living with it because this particular client uses more than one register only during peak times and even then the sales are spread out. I have had the problem three times in six months. Not too many but still......

BTW, the processing company they use is Heartland Systems. Their support has been mediocre.


Recently I was approached by another processor called Mercury Systems. I am currently exploring how to integrate their OCX into our POS system. They have been very helpful and the Developers kit is FREE and no software is required for the client either. They can access their account via internet.

Rick Strahl promotes Authorize.net which looks a lot like Mercury. I visited their site and requested info which is due tommorow. But reading their manuals on line, I could find no support for Debit Cards or Gift Cards so I will wait till they call me tomorrow.

Hope this helps,

Ken





>Hello Ken,
>
>I am looging at pccharge to develop a POS for one of my clients.
>
>What Merchat account/Credit card processing company are you using?
>Can you recommend one?. What about the rates?
>
>Thanks,
>Sergio