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Compare Credit Card Providers

Click to compare popular Credit Card programs here

I've been searching for the best independent merchant account providers for VR owners so that I can integrate them into the management tools. I believe that I have found the best solution and you can see how I got there by taking a look at the comparisons page - this shows how Costco, PayPal, HomeAway Reservation Manager and ProPay solutions all compare.

HomeAway Resevation Manager

HomeAway provides Credit Card payments for those that list with them at a 2.5% transaction charge and no other fees (except listing fees). This is a good deal if you think you will always list with HomeAway and pay (their ever-increasing) listing fees.

You need to note that HomeAway is not an advertiser-independent ccard provider. To use the payment system they require that you provide your guest details to them (even if the inquiry did not come via their sites) - this will undoubtedly go into their marketing machine. There's also no way to integrate their payment system with Management tools - any payments made would need to be manually entered into any payment tracking system that you use. If you do want to unlist with them then you'll need to find an alternative provider.

The rest of this article will ignore the Reservation Manager and leave it to you to decide if you want to use it.

Summary

You'll see that CDGComm, eCom, Costco and PayPal offer integrated solutions - using any of them with MyVRZone gives you a Free VR-centric online payments page (that can be embedded in your own site if you want to.

One thing to note is that the charges are not the only consideration. The convenience and amount of your time needed to process a transaction is (often even more) important than the rates. all of the following take your time and are error-prone when copying information:

• Processing a transaction yourself - you need to collect the ccard info and enter the details

• Entering guest info and amount due into a payment processing system
• Entering a transaction into another tracking system

... factor in how much easier and safer it is to have the guest enter all their own info once and have the transaction recorded automatically.

CDGComm - more here

1. No setup/up-front fees
2. Month-to-month contract, 30-day cancellation
3. No minimum monthly transaction fees
4. 2.25% qualified rate
5. $10 per month fixed fee + per transaction fees

eCom - more here

1. No setup/up-front fees
2. Month-to-month contract, 30-day cancellation
3. No minimum monthly transaction fees
4. 2.29% qualified rate
5. $25.99 per month fixed fee + per transaction fees

CostCo

1. Premium membership required for no-setup-fee
2. Annual contract, 30-day cancellation
3. $20 minimum monthly transaction fees
4. 1.99% qualified rate
5. $16.33 per month effective fixed fee for online capability + per transaction fees

PayPal (regular account, NOT Virtual Terminal)

1. No set-up fee
2. No fixed or minimum transaction fees
3. Flat 2.9% per transaction
4. Have been known to hold/refuse some transactions

Integration

For Gold/Platinum Plan subscribers using the Guest Zone the amount due is inserted automatically and the guest contact information is pre-filled and when processed each payment is recorded with the reservation. Depending on the provider you choose, you can void/refund payments directly from the reservation.

For anyone thinking of doing this, try a merchant solution (eg. CDGComm) with no up-front fee and no minimum transaction amount for a low risk option. After a few months see if it is working out for you, and if not then just cancel it without losing any significant payment.

All users (including the FREE Silver Plan†) can offer online payments though MyVRZone.

• Consider a CDGComm here
• For eCom request more information here using your MyVRZone account - if you don't have an account with us then register for one first and then apply - there's no cost and no obligation.

† FREE Silver Plan users must sign up for the MyVRZone preferred provider from within your account to enable free setup of online payments in the Guest Zone.

Click to compare popular Credit Card programs here