[jeffblake]

Some of the newer gateways (Braintree, Stripe) don't have monthly fees - but there is a tradeoff. Both of those guys have a high per transaction fee (25-30 cents) and also a relatively fixed discount rate (I haven't heard of anyone negotiate it down with volume). They also don't have some of the extra features other gateways offer: ACH/EFT transfers, Interac Online (canada), card-present transactions (lower discount rate), etc.

For example, I use Beanstream (canada), my monthly fee is about $70, but I pay a much lower discount rate (as I can plug in my own merchant account), and my per transaction fee is only 10 cents. When I do 4,500 transactions in one month for a big event, that saves me $900 alone. I can also do automated ACH transfers to my clients (I provide event ticketing software), Interac Online support, and more. My business model is also TPPA (third party payment aggregation) so the risk is much higher. They also have great customer support.

But the $70 does hurt. I think more and more gateways will start to have to offer no monthly fees much like Stripe/Braintree.

[jkuria]

I'd switch to Stripe in a heart beat if they worked with 1ShoppinCart.

[kyledilger]

Why? 2.9% is almost a full 1% higher than what you can get otherwise. On top of 1sc's 1% transaction cost, you're looking at 4% just for processing!