Payment processing for online retailers is becoming increasingly complex

[mandy]

...credit cards and their first-cousins—signature-debit cards—have some major drawbacks for Internet retailers. First, they are the most expensive option when compared to other online payment vehicles, such as online invoicing, automated clearinghouse payments, personal identification number-based debit, and e-mail payments.

The Internet Retailer survey found that almost 60% paid a discount rate that averaged between 2% and 2.9% per transaction. Another 13% paid rates of 3% or more, while 22% paid a discount rate of 1% to 1.9%.

More than 81% of the retailers also paid their third-party processors additional fees, such as a monthly service charges or per-transaction fees. Small volume retailers typically pay higher fees...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=19114