Thanks Tina,

This was very helpful.

It actually appears that Verisign has a product similar to your PCCharge, called Payflow Pro. From what I can gather from emails to Verisign and from their web site, it provides a programmer interface to their processing products. I would still need to sign up for a merchant account.

It may be a bit pricey for my client - $60 for 5,000 txns/month - but it sounds like Verisign may be one of the more reliable vendors.

>There are a few ways to go about this:
>
>1. A full service provider, such as Verisign (there are lots and lots more - do a google search for credit card programming and review), which will sign you up for a merchant account, provide you with scripts (not necessarily web - many have 3rd party ActiveX controls they will certify) and submit the transactions to the network (i.e. VisaNet, FNB, etc). They control the transactions going to the banking network, provide you with reports for reconciliation to your bank account, etc. These generally charge a per trx fee, in addition to the normal discount rate charged for a merchant account.
>
>2. Get your own merchant account, then get a product such as PCCharge Payment Server, which has an SDK, and integrate into your app. (This is the way we went, and unfortunately I cannot recommend this vendor - I'm looking for another solution as we speak.) There is no per transaction fee, as you are directly connecting to the bank network with no middle man. You control settlement of the account, the server software has some reporting, or you can write your own.
>
>3. Get the specifications from one of the big gateways and "roll your own". This method usually requires socket-level C++ programming, and the gateway (i.e. VisaNet) will have to certify your solution before you can deploy it.
>
>There are some hybrids - some providers of #2 type software provide building blocks to allow you to create your own payment server.
>
>The right solution depends on volume and cost considerations - #1 is easiest to do, and can be cost effective if you want to offload the responsability for all of the bank network connections and settlement to the provider.
>
>Good luck!
>
>
>
>>Hi All,
>>
>>I have a potential client who is interesting in having credit card processing as part of his application.
>>
>>Has anyone gone through this process from scratch? I've seen a number of threads touching on various elements of accepting credit cards, but I would appreciate any advice on coordinating the whole process - finding an acquirer or merchant bank, finding the best software, and what is involved in integrating it into my app.
>>
>>I've seen people recommend Signio as a solution provider. I checked out their website (which I guess is the Verisign website), and most of their products seemed geared towards web apps. What about if I create this as a client server app? Customers will be phoning in their credit card info, and there is no need for a website, so I may well go with client server.
>>
>>But even if I find a software solution, what other steps do I need to take to have this client accept credit cards.
>>
>>Thanks for you help.
>>
>>David