There was an excellent discussion on the subject two months ago and I bookmarked it. Unfortunately it reports "Invalid Operator" error when I try to use that bookmark now.

We're looking to hook up a credit card processing to our app. As cheaply and secure as possible :) We're running a subscription-based service therefore a solid recurring billing is a must-have.

Suggestions? Feedback on whoever you're using? Thanks!

Try substituting "item" for the operator name. I think "comment" got renamed to "item" or something, and broke URLs in the process.

comments -> item

You could also try looking up the cached version of the thread on Google.

I am using PayPal's PayFlowPro. They were acquired by PayPal from Verisign, I believe. It has an XML API and a url string type of API. The API contains a very convenient methodology for handling subscription payments, which is why we use them. I was not really into storing credit card information, so the recurring payment is very handy. Very good reporting API as well.

Was the API clear and easy to use? Did you have any trouble with documentation. I have used PayPal but in a more traditional sense, processing single payments. They provide a url where you can verify the buyer. Sometimes their service calls your cgi/script over and over with "complete" status but in fact it isn't. Are there any such quirks with PayFlowPro?

Yes, you can't really think of PayFloPro as PayPal. It is an actual merchant account. You obtain full credit card authorizations and can run reports to reconcile things through the API. The only thing to be mindful of is that the libraries they provide for using the APIs are pretty much either C or Java (I want to say PHP also, but I am not 100%). If you do not use the libraries I am pretty sure you can use URL strings to pass data back and forth.

Sorry, By 'Yes' I meant that the API was very clear. I have not seen any quirks dealing with the PayFlowPro system, it is all server side.

Cybersource. They have a small business section: http://www.cybersource.com/products_and_services/small_busin...

I have used them very successfully in the past. They have an API in various languages that is really easy to implement. For recurring billing, store the card encrypted and bill whenever.

We use CyberSource too. It's pretty good (on a relative basis).

The big gotcha for us is that the reporting API (to get data on existing subscriptions/transactions) leaves a lot to be desired.

I've used cybersource in past, but not for subscription. Do you guys save the credit card info on your servers for subscription, or does cybersource save it for you?

I haven't used it, but they seem to have a Recurring Billing service: http://www.cybersource.com/resources/collateral/Resource_Cen...

I always figured that you want to maintain your own transaction records anyway for internal accounting and metrics. If you do that then you really have 90% of the work already done for a basic recurring billing system.

I've used Authorize.net in the past - worked great.