Credit card fees?

[vieekk]

I'm probably going to use osCMax on a shopping site I'm going to design, but I'm just wondering: are there any fees that should be payed to the credit card companys? I mean, osCMax has got support for some credit cards, but doesn't VISA or PayPal take some fee from the ones that uses their system?

I'm sorry if my question doesn't make sense, but I'm kind of tired right now (11:43 PM here in Sweden). I would really appreciate if you could try to answer my question.

And then I'm also just wondering - is it easy to modify osCMax? If I make a design first - can I get osCMax to work with that design pretty easy? I speak PHP.

/Viktor

[michael_s]

Credit cards: the oscmax realtime credit card modules require that you already have a merchant account and payment gateway in order for them to work. Your merchant bank will set the fees based on your credit rating.

The offline credit card module does not require a realtime payment gateway, but you still need a merchant account.

If you are skilled at html and php, yes it is really easy to modify or create your own osCMax template.

[vieekk]

michael_s: Thank you for your answer. But I'm still wondering if VISA, MasterCard or PayPal take fees from the owners of webshops when they're using their systems? And how much is that fee then? Okay, this is not a osCMax-question, but I will be glad if somebody could clear this up? Or is the webhotel I will soon order the only thing that will cost money for me? I hope you understand my question..

[michael_s]

Yes they take fees per transaction. That is how they make their profits.

The fees are based on your credit risk for Visa and MC. Paypal has standard transaction fees too. When you get a merchant account all this is set up when your application is approved.

[vieekk]

Aha, okay, thanks for your answers. I wasn't sure if the situation was like this or if you payed an amount of money per year to them, but I guess this would be the most logical. Well, thanks. I've installed your system now and I'm starting to learn it.

[vieekk]

Just one more question: does anyone know how much these fees are per transaction? Like, five percent or something?

[michael_s]

Like I said, it depends on how the merchant bank rates your application. If you have good credit and are a low risk business, the rate will be lower. If you have bad credit and or high risk transactions, your rate will be higher. I have seen rates between 1.8% and 4% plus a transaction fee between 10 and 25 cents (gateway usually charges this).