Lee Blue gives a thorough explanation of what business owners often overlook when they make decisions about accepting card payments. Getting a merchant account and a payment gateway tied to it looks like a sensible option on the surface, but it is not a good solution for every merchant.
If you are not a large enterprise with a five-digit monthly sales volume, think twice about getting yourself a merchant account and consider all of its costs that go far beyond compelling transaction fees and the setup fee. Choose a merchant account only after you’ve done careful research, or you will find yourself paying more than expected.
For small operations, a better, cost-effective alternative is PayPal Payments Standard, Stripe Checkout, or Standard Checkout by Amazon.