[wildman]

Has any one done a detailed comparison between PPI Paymover and Mercury? How they work, offered services, ease of use? We want a processor that works with Retail Edge, that can process MC/Visa, Discover, Amex, Debit, and pin debit. I also need ability to process some sales(wholesale) outside of retail edge. Is there anyplace that shows screen shots of this, and the different end of day reports provided by both company's? And cost, are they comparable?

[RetailEdge Moderator]

The services provided by both Mercury Payment Systems (MPS) and Payment Processing (PPI) are similar. Both can set you up with MC/Visa, Discover, AMEX and Pin Debit. The rates should be similar as well. As you are probably aware, we took a long time providing a direct integration with any processing partner. This is for the simple reason that we wanted to make sure that the partners we worked with would provide our customers with the lowest available rates.

We see our customers being pounded every day by banks and merchant accounts providers that are not really providing the value that PPI or MPS provide. PPI and MPS provide 24/7/365 support. Try getting that from your bank (there is a reason people talk about "bankers hours"). The integration with PPI and MPS provides an integrated solution. No more terminals where clerks can get approvals for the wrong amounts. Or worse yet, you get low rates but have a terminal rental fee of $50/month. These devices actually cost about $300. This is another method we see merchant providers using to get retailers' business.

We provide direct integration with PPI and MPS because we want our users to get the best rates possible. Many POS systems/software provide links to only one processor (QuickBooks POS and Intuit Merchant Services comes to mind). Try getting competitive rates from them. We are so confident that you will be able to get competitive rates from our partners that we also integrate with PCCharge. If PPI or MPS does not provide you with competitive rates, then don't use them and go with any processor and use PCCharge. We also put our money where out mouth is and we use PPI to process our own credit card transactions using RetailEdge. I am not sure that you will find any/many of our competitors doing this.

One other thing that PPI and MPS will do for you is provide you with a rate quote. Take your existing statement and see what and where you are really paying fees. We see it all the time. Merchant accounts and banks saying they are providing low rates but not really. Remember when they are publishing rates it is usually on "Qualified" rates. This means a card present transaction with a straight VISA/MC card. This means that any rewards/cash back/corporate card that comes in does not fall into this category. How many VISAs and MasterCards do you see that don't have some sort of promotion attached to them?

RetailEdge is designed to not only provide our customers with a high feature/low cost product, but also provide them with the lowest on-going expenses. We have incorporated features in the program like Gift Cards and Loyalty programs that don't have recurring charges. Our maintenance programs are not only very affordable compared to other solutions in the market, but they also include program updates so customers won't incur future charges for upgrading their systems.

Has any one done a detailed comparison between PPI Paymover and Mercury? How they work, offered services, ease of use? We want a processor that works with Retail Edge, that can process MC/Visa, Discover, Amex, Debit, and pin debit. I also need ability to process some sales(wholesale) outside of retail edge. Is there anyplace that shows screen shots of this, and the different end of day reports provided by both company's? And cost, are they comparable?