Established retailers and manufacturers have an advantage over software companies, consultants and Web companies when it comes to accepting credit cards from customers.

Internet merchants often are considered by the companies that process the payments to be a risk. There is often no collateral, no inventory, no storefront to visit. So the largest processors -- called merchant services companies -- are hesitant to put up the cash in advance until they collect from the cardholder. For many of these smaller companies, the only visible, cost-effective option has been to accept payments by PayPal.

Now Intuit, the company that owns QuickBooks, is creating a merchant service -- and the situation may change. Intuit's merchant services account is aimed at people who use QuickBooks -- and the business categories that the large processors see as risky are among the biggest groups of QuickBooks users. Dan Wernikoff, the Pittsburgh transplant to Silicon Valley who runs Intuit's merchant services group, says the company is reaching out to these groups as a primary market for merchant services.

The QuickBooks Merchant Services offering integrates with QuickBooks so the merchant can process the cards and enter them in QuickBooks without duplicating effort, as they would have to do with standard merchant services accounts. Credit card transactions can come from three directions -- a standard invoice, a phone order or a Web store. Most card processors stay away from companies that only do the latter two, but Mr. Wernikoff says Intuit wants these types of customers.

The company has struck agreements with a handful of large Web hosting companies to create Web stores that are quick to set up and be integrated with QuickBooks Merchant Services. The company offers a software development kit so independent Web operators and companies can create their own Web stores linked with the service. That should further open the market for Web-based service providers that want to accept credit cards, but might not pass muster for the larger processors.

When it comes to choosing merchant services vendors, fee structure is important. Most services, including the QuickBooks Merchant Service, charge monthly fees -- fees per transaction and a percentage of each charge.

When choosing a merchant service, store owners should determine how much each service will cost based on the number of transactions and value of each transaction that they expect to process through the service. Companies that take transactions on the Web and from telephone or live personnel probably also will need to pay fees for each type.

For many merchants, the QuickBooks Merchant Service will be competitive. For others that are locked out of anything other than PayPal, it may offer an alternative for customers who wish to patronize their businesses.