Choosing an Online Payment Processor

[Ozzy]

Getting started in E-Commerce - Choosing an Online Payment Processor

Despite the claims that the UK is a great place to set up shop, finding the right service for taking credit card payments online can be a stressful journey! In the second of our Getting Started with E-Commerce series, we guide you through some of the minefield that is online payment processing.

So, what do you need to take debit and credit cards online?

1) A business bank account
2) A merchant account to process credit card payments
3) An online payment processor to process card transactions automatically online

These can all be with separate institutions, or at your business bank.

Business Bank Account:

If you don't already have a business bank account, get this sorted first. You can do little without it! Have a look at MoneySupermarket.com for a comparison of accounts.

Merchant Accounts:

A Merchant Account is an addition to your business bank account that allows you to accept credit and debit card payments. If you already have a merchant account from your bank, check with them before processing internet transactions as additional permission is usually required for this, even if you already do process Cardholder Not Present transactions. If your bank is unwilling to set up a merchant account for you, have a look at the sites mentioned below for information on a payment processor combined with a merchant account. Be warned however, that it is usually more expensive to go down this route.


Choosing a Payment Processor:

An online payment processor automatically processes debit and credit card orders from your site, so you don't need to handle the card details at all. There are a number of areas that you need to consider when choosing an online payment processor:

1) Setup fees: These can vary from free to £250+
2) Annual Fees: Again this may be free or can be as high as £160 (for example WorldDirect from Worldpay). These may be replaced with a monthly fee in some cases.
3) Merchant transaction fees: These are the fees your merchant bank charges for the transactions. Can be a fixed rate or a % of the transaction, or both.
4) Online processing fees: This is charged by the company processing the transactions online for you. Can be a fixed rate per transaction or a % of the transaction.
5) Bank fees: A generic fee (for want of a better description!) that may be charged for transferring funds to your bank account.

And check the lead time for receiving the cash in your bank!

1) Worldpay's WorldDirect service has a lead time of 4 weeks + (though this can be negotiated after a period of trading)
2) Others may be daily or weekly if you have a merchant account

If you have a merchant account, then one of the following online payment processors can be used:

http://www.protx.com
http://www.netbanx.com
http://www.secpay.com
http://www.worldpay.com (https://secure.worldpay.com/app/splash.pl?Pid=59151)
http://www.kwikpay.co.uk
http://www.securetrading.co.uk

If you don't have a merchant account, then try the following (they include merchant facilities):

http://www.worldpay.com (https://secure.worldpay.com/app/splash.pl?Pid=59151) (WorldDirect service)
http://www.kwikpay.co.uk (KwikOnline service)

There are also alternative options such as:

http://www.paypal.com
http://www.nochex.com
http://www.fastpay.co.uk


Step by step example using Worldpay's World Direct service:

1) You need a company bank account if you are trading as a company, so that's your first step. Best place to start is the bank where you have your personal account as you will have a history with them.

2) Then set up your website and the shopping basket you have chosen. If you don't have a merchant account, and don't think your bank will give you one, then you will probably go for World Direct from Worldpay so get a shopping cart that works with that.

3) Once the cart is set up, order your Worldpay account. You need a bank account and a website in order to apply for Worldpay.

4) Once Worldpay has approved your account, link it to the cart (this varies with each system so you will have to read the cart's manual for that)

5) Test it in test mode and then set it live. It's worthwhile testing it in live mode as well with a low-priced product and then refunding the money to your account.

Written by Managed Web - http://www.managedweb.com

[kyber]

I would like to add Pay Systems (http://www.paysystems.com) to the list. We have used them for over a year and have been very happy indeed. Yiu can use them with or w/o a merchant account.

Charges vary so shop around.

Stuart

[momtrepreneur]

Hi,

There are so may merchant services out there.

Nochex and Paypal - previously you have to be a member to purchase something and now thats change but does this mean that they don't need to be a member to purchase right there and then but once the order is processed you would still need to apply to be a member prior to the shop despatching your goods.

They're cheaper version of Worldpay but then they give out the small business operating from back bedroon kind of image or am I mistaken? Yes there is nothing wrong, I suppose it depend on how you want your business to perceived.

Paysystem is ok but they don't allow you to refund partially, just full or nothing at all. Check their charges for sending you the funds. If you're selling multiple items of different types, the shopping cart does not itemised these.

Regards

[SillyJokes]

We use WorldPay which seemed expensive at first but was convenient as we didn't need a merchant account.

Now we have negotiated much lower rates because they know our business is working.

Lower rates are there for the asking once you have been up and running for a while.

[Sibs]

Also, if you have a merchant account with your bank (for online payments) you probably won't need a separate payment processor.

You don't also need to use an off-the-shelf shopping cart as your web designer should be able to write a tailored one for you.

Thanks
Sarah

[owen@westwindmoves]

I think offering all 3 as an option to pay is the best offer.

Worldpay - probably give out the best image.

Nochex - I've actually found this to be an excellent system and if you are a small business looking for a processor without having to pay startup costs (like Worldpay) or cannot wait 4 weeks for your cash (like Worldpay) then this has to be a good alternative.

Paypal - Used to get a lot of bad press. Things are changing with Paypal. They are now owned by E-Bay, you no longer need a Paypal account to buy on a site using Paypal as a gateway. Many people regard Paypal as looking amateurish - however, you do not need to use the buttons provided by Paypal - design your own instead and simply have a Paypal button as an option at the final checkout.
There are 43 million account holders, so to ignore Paypal in case it "conveys the wrong image" might not be such a good idea.


My advice is to develop your own shopping cart (or use a third party shopping cart) and then offer the user the choice of which payment gateway to use. Strangely enough, we used to be a Worldpay affiliate partner but most people paying on our site used Paypal when given the choice out of the two (although I know other people who found the reverse to be the case).

[Thais]

I've just discovered this thread, and am glad that I have! :D

So far, as I'm a small business for a pretty specialised market, I've used NatWest Fastpay, but I don't recommend them at all! I have continual problems with them & can only contact them online. The latest hassle was their refusal of a client's payment...because it was over £25! On their site, they tell you £50 is the payment limit but surprise! all of a sudden it seems the limit is now £25!! They didn't bother to change this info on the website, or let clients know :evil: They did give me an apology but what good is that?? I had to call the client, calm her down & persuade her to send me a cheque! The sign-up process is also long & complicated, so no wonder the majority of my customers prefer to send a cheque.

So now I'm looking into Nochex & Paypal, both of which seem to offer a good cheap service. From customers' feedback, it seems so many have Paypal accounts already - I suspect they are all E-bay fans! :wink: But Nochex is fairly well known too.

I had a look at the Pay Systems site, but they don't seem to want to tell us about their charges (or maybe I just couldn't find this - it could be me). At least Nochex & Paypal are quite clear on this.

Onwards & upwards....

:)

[kyber]

I should have mentioned, we have stopped using Pay Systems. They were forced to switch to requiring full merchant accounts which we did not want.

As most of our (LAM Design) customers are after personal service they pay in cash or by cheque when they visit, we have decided to just use PayPal and Nochex from now on especially given how much simpler PayPay payments are for newcomers these days. We find features such as sending PayPal invoices very useful.

I don't think that the majority of people on the net have a big problem with PayPal these days but accept that for higher volume transactional sites, it is important to have a number of payment alternatives including a "proper" card processor.

Stuart

[Entrepreneur]

Most purchasers don't have a problem with Paypal but, as a vendor, I wouldn't go near them. They have the ability to freeze your account for the most trivial reasons with any money you still have in it. If it's your only payment system your business immediately grinds to a halt. If you've carelessly left a lot of money in the account, you could end up out of business. And Paypal definitely gives that "Mom & Pop in the garden shed" business image.

Ebay itself has a bad reputation for not dealing adequately with fraud - and there's plenty.

In contrast, WorldPay seems to have gotten it about right. Maybe that's because they can afford to. They cost more but it's probably worth it.

[StartUp]

Interesting discussion, I have always used worldpay, and still do, but since adding Paypal as an alternative, quite a few people have gone for this option rather than paying through Worldpay.
I suppose it's because they don't have to add their credit card details again if they already have an account?

I have also found that quite a number of what I would call "big players" on the internet only use Paypal.

Julia

[ARTzWeb.net]

It is worth mentioning that I stopped using WorldPay because of their inability to detect fraudulent transactions. They may seem hype, but the amount of money that was drawn from my merchant account with them due to chargebacks is something that all of you need to be aware of.

We registered for the 2co.com service and guess what, even though you don't even need a business bank account, they have detected most fraudulent transactions.

I ended up paying more than 200 quid to them in less than 4 months. This is not good at all.

So I decided to drop the hype worldpay account and get one at 2co. Much happier customer with them!

[Entrepreneur]

So I decided to drop the hype worldpay account and get one at 2co. Much happier customer with them!

Hmm, it doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence in them to find two typos in just one sentence:

Should you elect this payment method, you will be given further payment instructions. As soon as the funds are received, which is dependant on the sender and their contries banking systems, the order will be filled.

(This appears in a pop-up when the customer wants to get more info about credit transfer).

[WSC-Will]

For some additional advice on choosing an online payment processor I'd suggest looking at http://www.electronic-payments.co.uk, a website backed by the DTI and Scottish Enterprise.

[sportingmemories]

Thanks for the good advice, we (www.sport-signings.com) have gone with the PayPal Shopping Basket option to start with, with a view to move to Protx (www.protx.com) in the coming weeks. PayPal almost has it all, fantastic transaction fee`s, easy for the customer to use etc.

It does have its drawbacks though, which I will highlight here. They don`t accept quantities, for example our company generally only has one quantity of each item so when that is purchased it needs to be displayed as sold, this isn`t possible with PayPal. We got around that problem with some nifty. asp scripting on our end of the site. When the checkout procedure reaches our successful payment page it is then displayed as sold on our website.

Also the £500 spending limit on unverified accounts can prove a sticking point if you`re products are of a high value. Due to those two quite major problems we will be moving to Protx ASAP, which still provides fantastic transaction fees without any of the drawbacks.

Has anyone else had similar problems with PayPal?

[on_way_to_fame]

I am not sure if its directly relevant, although I would like to know, isnt paypal the easiest to set-up? Also do you need to have a business bank account to actually set-up paypal (I guess you dont) ?

[GamesMission]

There are also some UK based "All in one" bureau accounts that allow you to use their merchant account

These are:

www.metacharge.com
www.optimalpayments.com
www.worldpay.com

Other options include

www.2checkout.com
www.durangomerchantservices.com (not tested)

I urge people to check these out.

But all in all the best option is still getting a IMA number (internet merchant account number) from your bank and then use a 3rd party psp such as protx, datacash etc

You could also try www.paypal.com, www.nochex.com and www.natwestfastpay.com

I hope this helps!!

Cheers
:D

[jasonj]

I have recently advised two of my clients who we are designing ecommerce websites for to use paypal to take the payments. Any small business wanting to get into ecommerce is being charged through the roof with £250 set up costs and £25 per month costs. If you start turning over 4-5k per month then worldpay and other authorisers are worth considering. If your a small business testing the water then paypal is the way to go.

We can help companies who want to get into ecommerce develop a professional looking site at a reasonable cost. www.3k-design.co.uk

[simon-at-shopfitter]

Interesting thread and it highlights that there many differing views about online card processing.

We at NOCHEX are keen to work with internet vendors to provide merchant accounts that are equivalent to Worldpay's World Direct account (i.e. combined merchant account and payment gateway).

The good news is that we're improving our payment pages and functionality all the time to provide a professional looking service.

Something that is worth mentioning is that our rates are lower than PayPal, our anti-fraud activities are robust and as standard we provide chargeback protection (subject to certain limitations that shouldn't affect most small businesses) on our basic seller account.

We also do listen to our users and respond to customer support queries as quickly as we can, which is an advantage for UK based small businesses who don't have dedicated IT staff.

If anyone has any comments or queries then please feel free to contact us, either here directly to me or visit our contact page at http://help.nochex.com/esupport/index.php?_a=tickets&_m=submit

:-)

Simon
Communications Manager
www.nochex.com

[kyber]

Simon,

Do tell me more about the "merchant account" offering. There is no information on your website, just a get in touch request.

Stuart

[simon-at-shopfitter]

Hi Stuart,

The reason the website only says 'get in touch' is because we tailor the service to suit your needs rather than providing a prescribed level of features.

We will be rationalising our product offer soon, however, in the meantime I can tell you that we can be flexible on a number of account parameters depending on your status and transaction levels.

Sorry this is a bit vague but it really is determined by looking at a number of variables and requirements on an individual basis.

I hope thats of some help.

:-)

Simon
Communications Manager
www.nochex.com

[kyber]

Some. I shall PM you. Thanks.

[spigmite]

Hi Simon-at-NoChex,

I was testing both Paypal and Nochex out initially but found that with NoChex, on some orders, the confirmation email failed to contain the buyer's address details. As this isn't listed as part of one's account details when logged into the site, this meant I had payments, but no delivery addresses. When I emailed customer support (numerous times) they simply said that 'oh yes, we're aware of this problem'. No suggestions of a work-around and not forthcoming about how any fixes were going.

A shame, as I would have liked to use a UK company. Obviously though I went with Paypal in the end.

Nick

[simon-at-shopfitter]

Hi Nick,

This is something that we have addressed recently.

We're phasing in new payment pages etc. which include all the information that you're looking for. This will be well underway soon so if you decide you'd like to take another look at Nochex please feel free.

There is a large volume of accounts to be migrated to our new system, so if you already have a Nochex account that you'd like to use please watch the Nochex website for news and instructions on how to implement the changes.

I hope thats of help.

:)

Simon
Nochex

[whitesparkpromo]

We use protx for authorisation with our own merchant account.

This works out much better for us as the % on transactions is really low.

Apparantly a lot depends on your business.

Worldpay has a great reputation, but waiting 4-6 weeks for money must hurt cashflow. I only wait 2 days!

Stu

[spigmite]

Hi Simon,
You should have told yr support people to be more forthcoming with that information! -- as a result of being in the dark about whether nochex was doing anything about it, I got myself up and running with Paypal.

I'll bear it in mind in the future though.
best,
Nick

[cantspel]

Hi,

I'm surprised no one has mentioned how often ProTX are down.

In April and May 2005 they for offline for far to long due to a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS) and recently they have also had intermittent problems.

I get the impression that they do not have the capacity to handle modern hackers and suggest that they are cheap for a very good reason - their service is poor!

[Ozzy]

People I have spoken to know I personally do not trust Protx because of their companies history, but they seem to have secured some high profile support from the likes of LloydsTSB. I don't know why but then theer goes.

I am impressed as a consumer that NoChex have put themself in the public by taking part in a forum such as this, it reminds you that they are human and willing to help.

I have used Worldpay since they were just a small private company of 5 people, and was pretty much their first partner when they launched their partner programs. Things have changed a lot since Royal Bank of Scotland acquired the remaining shares and took the company right over. Some of the people I used to know well are still there but its a lot of new meat and the customer service levels have dropped through the floor. Shame because generally their technology and service is very good, just their support team are dead from the neck up when you try to solve a problem.

One day I will probably leave Worldpay but because of my contacts and history there the rates they charge me are lower then any other provider can match. I've shopped around and not even Protx can match the rates ;)

[Dynamic-Xchange]

I would suggest the DXGlobal Payment Console.

. : What Is The DXGlobal Payment Console? : .

The DXGlobal Payment Console is one of the most exciting services to be provided by the DXBusiness range of services. The DXGlobal Payment Console allows businesses to integrate a single payment method onto their web site and simplify their transactions between their customers. With over 30 payment services and over 50 payment options the DXGlobal Payment Console is just the solution you're looking for.

By providing a central management console for your payments you can eliminate the need to have multiple payment buttons on your web site and allow you to present your checkout in a clean and professional manner.

Best of all, the DXGlobal Payment Console can be used and implemented for FREE and even better still, allows your business to claim a bonus on the payments processed through your DXGPC!


. : Who Can Use The DXGlobal Payment Console : .

Any registered DXBusiness can make full use of the DXGlobal Payment Console for their web sites. Features provided within the DXGPC allow web site owners and developers to seamlessly integrate multiple payment services with minimal coding. By providing your customers with the broadest range of payment options you make your customers experience more enjoyable and keep them returning again and again.


. : Where Do The Funds Go? : .

As the DXGlobal Payment Console is a gateway between your web site and external payment services, the funds remain in your external accounts or services. This provides you with some unique benefits:

- Never worry about checking multiple services to see if a payment has been processed as all your payment logs are contained in one easy service.

- Use only the service you feel comfortable with or maximize your service acceptance. By providing you with the option to customize the services that you wish to accept you can add or remove a payment service within minutes.

Visit - https://www.dxinone.com/?DXLink=103373 and then click on the 'Find Out More . . .' link below the flash presentation.

Also to find out more information about DXBusiness Services click here:

http://www.dxinone.com/DXBusiness/General/General.Overview.asp

Hope someone finds this useful.

[cantspel]

Hi,

Has anyone tried Velocity Pay?

http://www.velocitypay.co.uk/

Rates are £18 + VAT fixed a month for under 350 transactions, then 0.1%.

Might be worth a look as cheaper than ProTX![/url]

[enigmatix]

If you use paypal on your site... does the Customer need a paypal account to proceed with the purchase?

I mean that would be a pretty big BLOCK on getting payments.. if you come to the pay option and paypal is the only option and then you have to create an account to purchase using paypal.

[cantspel]

Yes, I believe you need a Paypal account to pay with Paypal.

Reasearch has shown that users don't trust sites as much that use such obvious 'partner' payment systems.

If you have the time and skills it might be worth trying something that uses direct payment in to a merchant account and does all the checking invisably on your own site, such as ProTX direct or Velocity Pay.

[Dynamic-Xchange]

No they do not need a PayPal Account to pay via PayPal. They can simply be taken to the purchase screen and pay through the PayPal service via their Credit or Debit Card.

[Dynamic-Xchange]

I would suggest the DXGlobal Payment Console.

. : What Is The DXGlobal Payment Console? : .

The DXGlobal Payment Console is one of the most exciting services to be provided by the DXBusiness range of services. The DXGlobal Payment Console allows businesses to integrate a single payment method onto their web site and simplify their transactions between their customers. With over 30 payment services and over 50 payment options the DXGlobal Payment Console is just the solution you're looking for.

By providing a central management console for your payments you can eliminate the need to have multiple payment buttons on your web site and allow you to present your checkout in a clean and professional manner.

Best of all, the DXGlobal Payment Console can be used and implemented for FREE and even better still, allows your business to claim a bonus on the payments processed through your DXGPC!


. : Who Can Use The DXGlobal Payment Console : .

Any registered DXBusiness can make full use of the DXGlobal Payment Console for their web sites. Features provided within the DXGPC allow web site owners and developers to seamlessly integrate multiple payment services with minimal coding. By providing your customers with the broadest range of payment options you make your customers experience more enjoyable and keep them returning again and again.


. : Where Do The Funds Go? : .

As the DXGlobal Payment Console is a gateway between your web site and external payment services, the funds remain in your external accounts or services. This provides you with some unique benefits:

- Never worry about checking multiple services to see if a payment has been processed as all your payment logs are contained in one easy service.

- Use only the service you feel comfortable with or maximize your service acceptance. By providing you with the option to customize the services that you wish to accept you can add or remove a payment service within minutes.

Visit - https://www.dxinone.com/?DXLink=103373 and then click on the 'Find Out More . . .' link below the flash presentation.

Also to find out more information about DXBusiness Services click here:

http://www.dxinone.com/DXBusiness/General/General.Overview.asp

Hope someone finds this useful.

Following on from my previous post an integration guide has been released to aid people in the setting up of the The DXGlobal Payment Console into your own website.

https://www.dxinone.com/GDTDownloads/PDF/DXGPCUserGuide.pdf

Hope someone finds this useful.

Best Regards,

Simon.

[asianfactory]

hey :D everyone.
here is lisa from Shanghai China. I own a e-store. I have been on e business for a long time. I have some customers in EURO. but I meet a big problem. that is how to get payment from customers. Customers perfer credti card payment. But i have no UK bank account to set up online payment account. would you give me some advice ? Is there any good online payment that good for Chinese sellers.
thanks a lot!

[MarkPearson]

Does anyone use www.velocitypay.co.uk?

Your feedback would be nice

[thegateways]

I've not heard that name so far, if you're looking for good solution especially for European country you can check it with chronopay.com, they are having good service and support and their charges are quite affordable.

[Norseman]

Sorry, I've deleted my post

[etechsupport]

Good advice :) You can add chronopay.com another stable and reliable payment processor especially for EU.

[Hedgehog Toys]

We have used Nochex from day one and have found the system to be excellent both for the buyer and trader. Funds are transferred to your account quickly and transactions so far have been smooth.

I used Paypal when i had an Ebay account but they caused me too many problems and locked the account for stupid reasons and then you couldn't get any sense out of their 'customer services'.

[ink4-u]

i like NOCHEX best, but try and let a customer try and pay you more than £100 in the same transaction.

[magic-merl]

For me I would have to suggest the PayPal route. This is even more evident when you administer your own web sites as you control exactly what is on screen not the 3rd Part software that runs your cart.

PayPal is a good starter - lower rates etc. Once established then consider upgrading to someone like WorldPay, I have used them in the past and they are good - but if you margins are low then don't rush into anything with them.

Tip - Keep it simple at first and develop your payment methods over time!

[thegateways]

I think it is also important to review the Payment frequency for a payment processor. Some pay as soon as the customer makes the payment, others may make weekly, bi monthly or monthly payments to their clients. Also, you have to put a minimum amount that you wish to be transferred to you, which means you will get your money less often.

Secondly, It is also important to know little more about the payment processor like has their customer support been nice ? Has it been more than acceptable as per your requirement ?
What are the current issue ? How they've dealt with the vast majority of issues promptly?

As some has recommended here I found chronopay The Netherland based company is really growing fast, offering good solution to merchants of EU, their site is quite promising and take care of their customers as above.

[Sharon]

Hi,

Could anyone give me reasons not to use PayPal?

I'm hopefully going to start receiving payments on April/May. I don't expect to receive more than 10 payments a day at about £50 each (one payment a day would be a nice thought to start with :wink: )

I have a Barclays Business Account, and would like the money to go into the account more or less immediately.

I'm hoping to keep costs as low as possible obviously, as we start up.

I've got quotes from Barclays and WorldPay, but I don't know why I'd use them when I could just use PayPal?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

[Sharon]

I've now had some T&Cs from Barclaycard Business... they want £7500 cash as a security!

That has really helped to make my decision... we don't have £7500, we're starting up a completely new company, and remortgaging the house to get the set-up costs, we're not millionnaires yet! :wink:

[FreeLocal]

PayPal now operate their system without having to sign up with them.

[babybizsifu]

paypal is easy to register & easy to access. You don't have to have a bank account to open a paypal account

[verus]

Kagi is good though, other is paypall.

[webit]

Interesting discussion, I have always used worldpay, and still do, but since adding Paypal as an alternative, quite a few people have gone for this option rather than paying through Worldpay.
I suppose it's because they don't have to add their credit card details again if they already have an account?

I have also found that quite a number of what I would call "big players" on the internet only use Paypal.

Julia

Anyone know of 'big players' who just use Paypal? - also what's the max transaction (Nochex being £100/200)

Anyone using Chronopay? http://www.chronopay.com/

[Early Warning]

One thing to look for when choosing an Online Payment Processor is check what they will do to protect you from fraudulent transactions

[Neil Tulloch]

NetBanx can also assist businesses that do not have a merchant account through its Bureau Service. There are no annual fees associated with using NetBanx and the rates are competitive.

[My Business Mate]

Whilse there are a number of options, it seems to me that the best option is to get your own credit card merchant facility. But the banks don't like start ups or web based businesses.
Has anyone had any recent successes with the banks and if so which one?
Thanks
Ian Jones
mybusinessmates

[Surf_Anonymously]

My online payment processor is 2checkout.com , I would also recommen WorldPay.com.

Cheers

Dan

[billyboy]

You should add e-Path to that list. I came across these guys by accident but have since set up a few oscommerce and zen cart clients of mine with them and its surprising how good the thing works. No transaction fees and its only about £90 per year with nothing else to pay. Looks like an unusually good solution and my webdev clients are very happy which is the only thing that counts really.
Cheers

[billyboy]

Whilse there are a number of options, it seems to me that the best option is to get your own credit card merchant facility. But the banks don't like start ups or web based businesses.
Has anyone had any recent successes with the banks and if so which one?
Thanks
Ian Jones
mybusinessmates
Hope I don't get in trouble for posting a second time but I just saw your post Ian.

I don't want this to sound like an advertisment but I'm now using e-Path with most of my clients e-commerce sites. But the interesting thing is some banks evaluate the e-Path gateway differently to real time gateways. The amount you pay on your merchant account will largely be calculated on the risk assessment.

As you know with a real time gateway anyone anywhere can enter any number they like and the merchant had better hope like hell they don't get a charge back down the track. The merchant can't check the order before its processed with a real time gateway. This is maybe the biggest reason why banks just don't warm to internet businesses.

According to one of my clients they had a .4% reduction in their merchant account fees at their bank after they informed them they were transacting on the net only using e-Path. Another cleint of mine who I set up a zen cart for and accepts cc payments with e-Path tells me his % fee with his bank is actually less than my own and I have been at the SAME BANK for ten years!!

Banks have the very cheap manual MOTO (mail order telephone order) merchant account for as low as £3 per month. With this you can accept credit ard payments that come to you by phone and like some of my clients, accept them through e-Path on the net. It works out to be very cheap all up, even cheaper than PayPal.

I have yet to really look under the skin of it but its looking as though I may even scrap my own real time payment gateway for this mob and it will save me a fair bit. I don't mind manually charging credit cards at all and if I too can get a reduction in my merchant account fees at my bank I'll be in a much better position than I am in now. So it does seem there are ways to work things to your advantage, my clients are doing better then me at the moment.

Cheers

[coultog]

We at NOCHEX are keen to work with internet vendors to provide merchant accounts that are equivalent to Worldpay's World Direct account (i.e. combined merchant account and payment gateway).


Simon,

I currently use NOCHEX and PayPal for my payments. I was worried about charge backs, so I decided to apply for a merchant account to accept higher transactions (£300). Had someone said we would need to have a retained balance of £500 I wouldn't have bothered applying. For small businesses having £500 of cash out the use doesn't work. Do you know if there are any plans to make the retained balance lower or remove it all together?

Thanks

[Bee]

Has anybody any ideas on how a new business can get an online merchant facility as well as a chip & pin facility?
As a new company we are having difficulties getting a bank to give us this facility and it is delaying our launch.......

[gilesmay]

Our company deals with this matter, if you need help please call us or PM me for more details,

Giles
01933 355 699

[PrivateInvestigator]

Do you know of any payment processors or cheap merchant accounts thatw ill allow me to charge a customer's card? I work on a split fee basis. The client pays me a small upfront fee, and a second larger fee only if I provide results. The trouble is that getting the second payment off of the client is soemtimes very difficult (greedy people lol :D). I'd liek to just charge their card for the second payment after waiting a few weeks after notifiying them.

[office man]

hi

i have just launched our new office supplies site officeprofiles (uk or com)
and have been very pleased with the way protx have guided us through what can be a daunting task.
Their bak office system is also second to none

[Mr.Digital]

KwikPay.co.uk is dead, it's on Sedo for sale.

I'd also add 2checkout.com, their a great CC processor.

[jopassmore]

Hi

Can anyone tell me roughly how much the worldpay costs are for a small company. I am designing a site for a small business and they have suggested worldpay but without asking for a quote, they don't give any idea of cost.

As a comparison, I have used securehosting.com for one of my sites and that seems to work very well. They have an annual charge of £85, a setup charge of £25 and cost per credit card transaction is between 8 and 25p depending on how many 'credits' you purchase in one go. How does worldpay compare?

Thanks

Jo

[mickyluv]

STAY AWAY FROM SCAM SITE JENSLEYPAY.COM !!!

This is a fair warning to all merchants that are wondering about signing up with jensleypay.com ( alias) jensleypay limited, jensleypay.net... If you ever want to see a dime of your money then DON'T DO IT!!!

their verification process literally TAKES WEEKS... I signed up in November, added their button to my page in december, it is now March 3rd and I haven't received A DIME.

I placed my first withdrawl request on January 3rd (this is how long it took just to be allowed to place a request for withdrawl).

. I emailed them repeatedly asking them "where is my money", only to find out after the withdrawl request it takes an additional 21 days to be processed (which they won't tell you unless asked).

So 21 days pass, 30 days, 50, now 60 and STILL NO MONEY!


Mind you this is only THE FIRST WITHDRAWL REQUEST! I still have about 4-5 separate withdrawls total in the amount of $1000 which I haven't received one penny of.
I have emailed them repeatedly and have gotten one excuse after the other of why I haven't received my money. My company has ZERO complaints by the way! I was forced to take their button off my page because I was financially drowning, so I signed up with another payment processor.

This lead to them emailing me stating that if I stop basically letting them steal more of my money, then my earnings will be held for an additional 180 days. I was forced to open up a secondary webpage and added their button on it just so they couldn't put a hold on my funds (still hoping to get them).

Well they have now said because of my forums posts about their company they have stopped payment proceedings all together. The bottom line is, they never intented to pay me in the first place and have reportedly done this to several other merchants.

I'm just glad I took their button off my webpage before they could steal more of my money! I now have a legitimate payment processor that directly deposits my money every few days to my bank account.

I have reported jensleypay to the FTC, consumer affairs, rippoff report and several other offices.

[CottageCooks]

I've used paypal since I started my website 3 years ago and have been very happy with them. I was in the same boat as you with being a small business start up and my web man suggested paypal as the easiest option as I already had an account with them. The verification process is quick and it's free to withdraw funds over £50. The money takes about 5 working days to move into my business account. I find this good because depending on cash flow, I can let funds build up in my paypal account then transfer, say, several £100s into the business account, saving myself business banking fees!!
I'm not sure how long it is until you can apply for paypal payments pro which is an upgrade that gives lots of additional features and is what I use now.
I looked into Worldpay but the fees and set up were too high for me and their customer services didn't respond to any of my e mails asking for further information.
Any probs I've had with paypal have been dealt with swiftly - I'm really v happy with them.
Dani
__________________
COTTAGE COOKS
"getting children cooking"

[office man]

Oh dear!

If i were you i would post your experience of JENSLEYPAY on as many business forums that you can find, stick to the plain facts, and let other business people know what kind of company they are. If they have any sense at all they will change the way they have dealt with their customers or loose a ton of future business - let their PR manager know what you have experienced too!

Good luck

www.officeprofiles.co.uk (http://www.officeprofiles.co.uk)

[gilesmay]

Interesting reading. We look at the market and provide advice so great to know there are problems with this particular company. If any one else experiences similar problems with other providers please let us know,

thanks

[mickyluv]

[quote=office man;208337]Oh dear!

If i were you i would post your experience of JENSLEYPAY on as many business forums that you can find, stick to the plain facts, and let other business people know what kind of company they are. If they have any sense at all they will change the way they have dealt with their customers or loose a ton of future business - let their PR manager know what you have experienced too!

Good luck

Thank you. I have and this is what happened..
It is now March 6th and still havent received my money. Jensleypay told me that my fund transfers have been cancelled because of my recent forum posts.
Could you imagine paypal not ever paying anyone for posting on the forum "paypal sucks". It's called freedom of speech, I guess they didn't want me to expose them for the frauds that they are, as if they were gonna pay me otherwise from December to March now, YEAH RIGHT!
They were warned several times that I would expose them and they couldnt care less! I just gave them another excuse to withhold my funds and try to justify it! They told me that one person (meaning myself) making statements about their company doesnt matter to them and when I called them on the phone, they hung up as soon as I told them who I was!

[office man]

Just had anpther idea for you, in lighht of another post i have read this morning on the forum where a member had a competitor using dirty tricks, why don't you report them to google.

If you do a google search on them they come up number 1 but not far behind is a string a bad reports and bad feedback (they say if you do a good job for someone they tell 2 people but do a bad job and they will tell 10 !!!). you are clearly not the only person they have stiffed - keep posting as all your posts will get ranked - remember to keep mentioning their name. Also why not contact some of their other disgruntled customers - you never know.

Good luck

[markpadam]

A little note about Nochex Merchant account

I've just closed by merchant account and been told by nochex that they will now hold on to the accounts balance for 6 months before its released!

Be warned if you plan to use them

[loulou]

Hi

I'm trying to find an online payment processor and merchant account that will except payments for adult video on demand downloads and having a bit of trouble!

Does anyone know of any that will do it?

Thanks

[Taabish]

A little note about Nochex Merchant account

I've just closed by merchant account and been told by nochex that they will now hold on to the accounts balance for 6 months before its released!

Be warned if you plan to use them

Hi,

Although thats pretty annoying im fairly sure they tell you that when you sign up, at least they made it pretty clear to me when i signed up for a merchant account.

[markpadam]

Yes it was in the terms and conditions but them never mentioned it to us.

The reason its annoying is because during the year that we used Nochex we never had any chargebacks, yet the reason nochex say they are holding on to the funds its so that cover any chargebacks which might ocour now the accounts closed.

We try to provide the best customer service we can and so our customers would never need to claim via nochex.

[owen@westwindmoves]

Just returned to this thread after 3 years!

We have implemented a lot of checkout systems for our web clients and I can honestly say that Nochex would be our recommended #1 option with a Paypal offered as an alternative to the user at checkout.

Worldpay... The systems fine. But I seriously can't see how they can justify the high setup costs, monthly fees, 4 week wait for the release of funds and additional transaction charges. So despite the fact we offer a Worldpay integration service I would never recommend these to a client.
Nochex are very good and I think Paypal have gained the confidence of the web community over the last 3 years.

[brandyace]

any merchant processing over 50K/mth, direct account is the way to go. Better rates. More control. Shorter settlement times.

[GAMESMASTER87]

We use protx.
The original plan was to use nochex but we heard that they use another provider themselves so thought might as well go straight to where we needed to go.
Protx are cheap but youll need some programming knowledge to integrate it.
anyone started using Google checkout yet?how are you finding it?

[konanmotihar]

I've been using FAC for a couple of months now and so far they've been great. They offer an interesting bespoke option which allows for offshore online payment processing.

[Lorna]

We've just signed up with Nochex, so fingers crossed......

[feelgr8]

What sort of experiences have people had with Paypal Pro and Google Checkout? Also has anyone used Fastosts internet merchant account?

[frankieboy]

My business partner n°1 has become daopay.

They are a pay per phone system that perfectly fits to my mp3-sale-homepage.
My customers stay anonymous - a wish I can completely understand - and can pay almost instantly. You more or less "see" the payment proceeding.


I dig them, they have a good customer service and treat their customers / clients competently.

Nice.

[Caz]

Hello :)
Does anyone know off the top of their head how much ebay and Paypal fees are?
Thank you

[feelgr8]

Paypal fees: https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outside
eBay fees: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/fees.html

[hijodeputa]

Took me quite some time to read through all the posts. Thanks to all the advices and sharing.

I want to expand my business to Asia and thinking whether is needed to find a local payment gateway there. Is Paypal popular in Asia? I know Worldpay has its own office in Singapore but I heard from other forums that it is not that well accepted. I found a few other choices. Payment Asia, Enets, Ccavenue etc... Any suggestions?

Also do they have any regulations on taxation? This could also be a headache in long term....

[saidexo]

There are various payment processors to choose from for a business website. They differ from one another for their some features as well advantages and disadvantages.
Yeah, maybe most entrepreneurs use paypal, but the fact is that there are still variable alternatives to paypal such as moneybookers, escrow, alertpay, stormpay, e-gold and so on.
Personally I prefer moneybookers, as in contrast to paypal it is international and available for any country in the world.

[Bonnie11]

SecureTrading are launching a Merchant Account Service next week at Internet World, with very competitive rates and an introductory offer. It is not showing on their website yet but definitely worth a call. 01248 672075

[owen@westwindmoves]

We use protx.
The original plan was to use nochex but we heard that they use another provider themselves so thought might as well go straight to where we needed to go.
Protx are cheap but youll need some programming knowledge to integrate it.
anyone started using Google checkout yet?how are you finding it?

We now implement Google Checkout as our preferred solution. Low transaction fees, quality brand and various other goodies such as email invoicing, google checkout icons etc.

Still offer Paypal as an alternative but I can't see how companies like Worldpay are going to retain a market share unless they change.

[deniser]

We have been using Paypal for the last 2 years and decided, now that the business is up and running, to swap to Secpay.
Our experience of Paypal is this:
On the plus side:
(i) no set up costs or monthly fees. You just pay as you go which is fantastic for a start uo business where you have no idea whether you will make the volumes necessary to justify hefty fees.
(ii) anyone using Ebay will be familiar with it and it is a very quick checkout process
(iii) it works in many countries around the world
(iv) the facility which allows you to send an invoice is useful
(v) refunds are free and you even get the proportion of the original fee reimbursed to you
(vi) fraud protection if you send goods up to £500 to a confirmed address by recorded delivery
(vii) you control when you transfer money to your bank account and you don't need a special business account if you don't want one.

The most annoying of the downsides are:

(i) some people see the work Paypal and immediately log out either because they mistakenly think they need a Paypal account or because they have had a bad experience with Paypal on an Ebay transaction
(ii) if you have ever had a Paypal acount it recognises your email address and doesn't allow you to pay with another credit/debit card and the customer goes round in circles because they can't remember their log in details
(iii) they are not interested in fraud. I have reported many instances of fraud to them and they take no action to suspend the account or do anything further.

On balance though it is excellent for a start up business but you must operate your own anti fraud measures which are quite obvious once you get going. Having been stung once, I detected the rest quite easily with some commonsense.

I have now changed to Secpay and am having some teething problems in that my overseas transactions are all failing because the house numbers and postcodes don't match up. I will try to set it at a lower security setting and see of that makes a difference.

Any other tips on Secpay would be much appreciated.

[NickLockett]

We're looking for an on-line payment soution which allows us to take cards for payment and which allows a transaction (verification) code to be used.

This needs to be sent to us and included on the bank statement so that the card transaction can be linked to the account holder.

The transaction on the statement would have the last 4 digits of the user account (***XXXX) and a unique transaction code (YYYYYYY).

i.e. Payment for CCOMMS Account ****XXXX Code YYYYYYYY

Anyone any idea who might provide this?

Looking at over 50k per month in transaction values
Thanks
Nick Locket

[Cheryl]

Hi, really interested to read the options here, we are looking to move forward in this field and have been recommended to take a look at Invapay they can automate invoicing and complete electronic payments. invapay.co.uk are not any of these lists so has anyone heard or had experience with them. They are obviously a smaller company rather than some of the big names in this thread but could that be a good thing???? They also do a pay as you go system so you only pay for the payments made or recieved via the electronic payment system, which would be good for us to start with.

[streetslocal]

Hi, really interested to read the options here, we are looking to move forward in this field and have been recommended to take a look at Invapay they can automate invoicing and complete electronic payments. invapay.co.uk are not any of these lists so has anyone heard or had experience with them. They are obviously a smaller company rather than some of the big names in this thread but could that be a good thing???? They also do a pay as you go system so you only pay for the payments made or recieved via the electronic payment system, which would be good for us to start with.
I wouldnt touch them.
Established since october,and a basic template website system that does not answer anything really.
Also the directors have been directors of many dissolved companies!

[PayPoint net]

Just to let you know that SECPay and Metacharge have re-branded to PayPoint.net. We still offer flexible payment gateway packages to merchants that already have an Internet Merchant Account; if you don’t, we can provide you with a complete solutions package (payment gateway + internet merchant account).

We started processing payments for many of our established merchants when they were just starting out, so check us out and get in contact, even if it's just for a chat to discuss your options.

[ukresident]

Getting started in E-Commerce - Choosing an
secpay



SecPay has now rebranded to PayPoint.net

[sirearl]

Big advocate of Paypal here used it for 5 years.

Advantages Biggest in the world.

Everyone knows it.

Customers like it as a dispute nearly always goes in there favour.

No overheads monthly charges,do no business pay nowt.

simple to calculate your fee's.

reduced rates the more you sell.

Earl

[Gate2Shop]

Another to add to the list is g2s.com for handling accounts with or without previous merchant accounts set up. A truely full service provider.

[Kosta]

Hi all, I would like do add EmerchantPay to the current list.
Emerchantpay is specialized in high risk & adult merchant online.

[streetslocal]

Really?
I wonder out loud,do you own or work for that company?

[Kosta]

Currently working for them, pal.
Is there something I could help you regarding our services or just asking about?:)

[qpjewellers]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']I have used both worldpay and PayPal although neither was appropriate for my business. Worldpay are very secure and have a relatively easy online system although their big letdown for me is the deferred settlement they offer. In my case (and I drop-ship) it was 30 days! NOT GOOD as I’m sure you understand about cash flow! PayPal on the other hand are arguably the worst company I have ever done business with although the customers love them as it is (let’s face it) easy and reliable to use. I would recommend protx, in my opinion the best gateway you can get with 2-3 days deferred settlement and an excellent online system, very user friendly.

[streetslocal]

Currently working for them, pal.
Is there something I could help you regarding our services or just asking about?:)

Its just it could come across as SPAM:eek:

[e-wiz]

Has anyone recently used HSBC's electronic end to end payment solution. I'm looking around and want to get sone insight on whether there are issues in integrating their service into websites?

[LightingGiants]

Thanks for this post just what I needed. Im just awaiting to open the bank account will sureley at these payment companies. Im i going the right way are payment companies a better solution to having your own payment thing on your site.

Thanks

[quikshop]

Another to add to the list is g2s.com for handling accounts with or without previous merchant accounts set up. A truely full service provider.

Too many unknowns about g2s.com, not entirely sure where their head office is but its not in the UK. There are other threads about this lot worth searching for on which Gate2Shop failed to answer some important questions. Avoid.

[roi_grong]

i've been using Moneybookers for the last 3 odd years, and I'm very happy with them. I have read complaints elsehwhere, but they have been very good with me.

I also used Paypal for a year, but I don't think their Terms and Conditions are particularly fair. Never had a problem with them either, but I dropped them last year.

[Electronica]

Try Patrasys.com, they are another good provider and have always been good to my business. Paypal never ever allowed us to accept more than £2000 on a single order. Patrasys allows us to transact up to £25000 on a single order.

[S Thatcher]

I wish I'd read the thread before launching in to offering payments on line for my customers. I didn't want anything on my site. I wanted to take a card or send and invoice. It seemed easy to set up with Pay Pal. Then a week in the whole thing went belly up. I'd set up a business account and then because as a business I'd done £1700 of business they blocked the account.
How can you offre a business account that defaults at £1700. I then had to re-confirm a whole load of othings such as card etc that I had already done, and then they said that my business was not welcome, but wouldn't tell me why an dthen would let me withdraw money for sales I'd made.
They are amateur in my opinion, great for selling your old tata for a few pence but I wouldn't go near them again.
I called RBS World pay and bingo off and running. Diffrent World.

[Ronney]

The real breakthrough in online money transfer was brought by private non-banking players, i.e. PayPal, Western Union, Epay, etc. These players defined an ingenious way of transferring money online through emails. All users need is to create an account and fund the account using credit card. The money can then be used to make payments, transfer to any bank, any country, and any account instantly. what makes it even better is transaction charges levied by these non-banking organizations, which is so economic that everyone can afford.

[quikshop]

Try Patrasys.com, they are another good provider and have always been good to my business. Paypal never ever allowed us to accept more than £2000 on a single order. Patrasys allows us to transact up to £25000 on a single order.

I suspect vested interests with Electronica, they do nothing but promote a service which has several threads on this forum about it... and neither are positive.

[Dominic Taylor]

I called RBS World pay and bingo off and running. Diffrent World.
A world of darkness, pain, and reconciliation dates which seem like the light at the end of the never-ending tunnel perhaps? :p

We acquired a Worldpay account as part of an acquisiton once. I say acquired - we actually had to setup an entirely new account which took oh, about 4 weeks, then found that they would hold £1k and take 30 days to send any money to us. Those were interesting times. We quickly migrated the entire operation to our primary systems (Protx, now Sagepay) and haven't looked back.

I highly recommend Protx. 2-3 days reconciliation, no 'reserve' amount, no complex fees. Just £20/month or 10p/transaction depending on your level. The next step is to get our Barclays merchant rates to decent levels, they want a meeting in-branch and I simply don't have the time. Amazing how you can do anything else over the phone, especially since they admit the branch staff are numpties....I've been by a branch on the phone to them and the girl said don't go in :p

What Sage will do to it is anyone's guess, but all seems good so far.

[stugster]

Keep in mind, everyone, that this thread is actually over four years old. Things change, fees change, special offers come and go.

[tevysim]

It is worth mentioning that I stopped using WorldPay because of their inability to detect fraudulent transactions. They may seem hype, but the amount of money that was drawn from my merchant account with them due to chargebacks is something that all of you need to be aware of.

We registered for the 2co.com service and guess what, even though you don't even need a business bank account, they have detected most fraudulent transactions.

I ended up paying more than 200 quid to them in less than 4 months. This is not good at all.

So I decided to drop the hype worldpay account and get one at 2co. Much happier customer with them!

It is very interesting discussion. it seems to me that all of you have different experience with those payment system.

Now, it is hard for me to choose payment system because i just start e-commerce.

[sanctu9]

For those of you who find that paypal and ebay are not good to deal with they are both owned by the same company I believe the same company that now owns skype who for no reason whatsoever take money out of your account for themselves if it is in there unused for over 3 months. Basically they are a law unto themselves and I have stayed well clear of any dealings with all those companies... shame really skype was pretty amazing prior to being bought out as was ebay...

[tevysim]

you mean that i should not use paypal, right?

[sanctu9]

well of course you can use them if you like but I myself don't.

[tevysim]

so how is your solution of payment system in order to make truth to buyer?

[GTrotter666]

We used to use PayPal. However their fees are relatively expensive. We now use Protx (Sage) and a merchant account with our bank. Makes debit card payment a hell of alot cheaper to accept and a small saving on credit cards.

I also found too many rejected transactions on PayPal (resulting in abandoned carts) which seems to have reduced with our new setup :)

Gary

[skyhi2]

Someone pointed out earlier in the thread ( well,it has been running for years :-),that Paypal was only used by Fleabayers and people buying old tat.

My,how things have changed.

It`s now probably the most used checkout system on the net ( sure someone will correct me if i am wrong ).

It is now being used by quite a lot of Chinese Manufacturing houses,and getting as popular as Western Union.

Love it,or hate it,it is by far the most "popular" out there.

The Chinese in particular have a very different outlook on trading.

Take Western Union for example,frowned upon in the west ( usually ) as a breeding ground for scammers and the like,most Chinese suppliers use it as the " norm ".

Just my 2 cents.

Skyhi2

[sonofeve]

All,

Are there any reasons or indeed any traps to avoid when applying for a merchant account? Are there any reasons why they would refuse to grant any business a merchant account?

Many thanks in advance

Nigel

[websitedesign]

90% of websites will not require merchant accounts because of the expense in time and money.

For most sites a simple PayPal 'Buy Now!' button will work the best.
-globally accepted and trustworthy (unlike most smaller payment processors)
-don't need anything to set up and only takes a few minutes to insert code in website
-fees are per transaction and low compared to the alternatives

[quikshop]

Any shop that does not offer full card payment facilities through the more trusted UK payment service providers and just offer PayPal will be losing potential customers.

-fees are per transaction and low compared to the alternatives

Compared to what!? UK payment service providers are always cheaper than PayPal when used with a merchant account, often significantly cheaper.

-don't need anything to set up and only takes a few minutes to insert code in website

That is exactly why more seasoned online shoppers will avoid PayPal-only shops, anyone can set up a PayPal account with no credit or fraud checking.

With UK payment service providers you have to be financially viable to open an account.


PayPal is fine to trial a shop concept and to offer as an alternative means of payment but if you want your customers to take your shop seriously, offer them full card payment options through a UK based service.

[websitedesign]

I agree that if you are a company and sell large quantities of products online then registering for a merchant account is the best option....locally in the UK, even better.

"UK payment service providers are always cheaper than PayPal when used with a merchant account, often significantly cheaper."

How much does it cost to setup a merchant account and pay a designer/coder to implement a full service shopping cart into a website?

This isn't free or cheap.

Sure the cost per transaction is lower once the merchant account is set up compared to PayPal... but overall is it really cheaper for most websites? For most it is not.

PayPal is guaranteed payment and it is really hard to rip people off. 9/10 times they agree with the buyer when disagreements arise and they do offer full refunds in such cases...

[quikshop]

How much does it cost to setup a merchant account and pay a designer/coder to implement a full service shopping cart into a website?

The last merchant account we set up with RBSWorldpay was free and their payment service is already integrated into the Ecommerce platform we use, so zero cost to us.

You'll find that most UK payment services are easily or already integrated into popular open source and hosted Ecommerce solutions so there really is no major financial barrier to obtaining a merchant account and accepting card payments online.

Don't get me wrong, PayPal has its place and is a useful option to offer customers as an alternative but its a poor second to UK payment options for UK based retailers.

From a merchants point of view we actually removed the PayPal option for customers some months back from our martial arts shop (http://www.paragonmartialarts.co.uk) and we've not seen any drop in orders at all, if anything there has been a steady increase although that's probably due other activities.

[sonofeve]

Has anyone heard of Crystal Payments based in Mauritius?

[payment gateway]

These days there are so many companies offering online payment solutions, its hard to know which one to go for. I think the biggest issue when choosing an online payment processor is how reliable they are. With the amount of online fraud going on, you need a payment gateway that is secure and that you customers can trust. So shop around, find out what other e-commerce websites are using and make an informed decision.

[Silky]

We chose Paypal....secure, well known..... and now we find they're out an out bully boys. They're currently reviewing our account and have put this on block for 5 whole weeks now (after our best year ever!)
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127915

I haven't read the rest of this thread yet but will do so, we're now desperately looking for a second payment processor if not a total replacement, Paypal's customer service is nothing short of abysmal. :mad:

Silky

[totalwebsolutions]

Please bare in mind EcomMerchant from Total Web Solutions. We are PCI Level 1 accredited and offer a pay page and Virtual Terminal from only £10 per month. Our solution works with an Internet Merchant ID from Barclays, HSBC, Natwest/RBS (Streamline) or Lloyds TSB. The pay page is fully customisable but held on our secure server. It is compatible with most 'off the shelf' shopping carts as well as bespoke integration.

For further details search 'Total Web Solutions' via your search engine.

Sales

[yourmomma]

What would be the best solution for someone who takes card payments over the phone? I heard PayPal's pretty good, but I think my customers would have to register with them first. What I need is an ability to process a payment just by entering the customer's card details so that the customer wouldn't even need to go online. Is it even possible?

Any info appreciated.

[Green Jelly]

Yourmomma - this is possible with a PayPal Business account. Customers have the option of using a credit/debit card or money in their PayPal account.

[Green Jelly]

Can anyone share their experience of HSBC Merchant services?

[yourmomma]

Thanks for you reply, Green_Jelly. Sorry I can't help with your question.

The PayPal method sounds good, however, one of the conditions that I forgot to mention is that I would like my company name to appear on my customers' bank statements. I believe that it would look more professional if PayPal did not appear on any of them. Would you happen to know if this is possible with PayPal?

Thank you!

Edit:

From an article about PayPal on some website:

The transaction fees are low and the setup fees are almost non existant. However, you don't officially have a merchant account, so your business name will not appear on customer bank statements.

So not good :(

[MARLEY2]

PAYPAL IS A NIGHTMARE - You get alot of money in the account and they think something dodgy is happening and then freaze your account.

Worldpay has great customer service , But I cant get the return URL to work - 4 weeks later - same problem.

patrasys.com owe me £7000 and will be taken them to court , and many other people have had problems.

cardsave.net - Just signed up to them waiting for details in the post , will let you lot all know soon.

2checkout.com - many people have had problems trying to sign up with that company. and they are very picky who they use.

securepay.com Will let you lot know more about them soon.


hope this info helps

[MARLEY2]

Paypal

Before using paypal.com take a look here , paypalsucks.com

Sellers , If you if you turn over alot of money they want to know everything.

If you are a seller and worried that How you can avoid paypal Chargebacks then Before Reading this Article, you may like to read our Article Paypal Chargback Scams (http://mwolk.com/paypal-chargeback-scam).
To Avoid Paypal Chargebacks -
1. As a seller look at the ebay history of the buyer. If the buyer is very new then you have to be extra careful and if you think the chances of scam and fraud is way too high for you and you can't take the risk, then its better to just avoid such buyers.
2. Just because a buyer has some reputation doesn't mean he can't fraud you or won't file for chargeback. Its always good to talk to the person by email/IM/Phone if you think its worth your time.
3. While Shipping a product, always ship it from a reputable service like DHL or FedEx and always keep all kind of documentation.
4. Most of the Chargebacks happen because the product is NOT tangible that is it is a service. For example, many designers, programmers and web based business owners often gets scammers regularly by people who chargebacks after getting the service as paypal do not cover such cases and you are completely on your own.
In this case, you CAN'T do anything and the money will be deducted from your account and will be given back to the fraud buyer. Paypal may run a formal procedure for this but you will never your money.
To avoid such cases, always make sure that the buyer is an honest guy and always do your due diligence to make sure the person is the right guy otherwise you really can't blame paypal later since they obviously are saying they do not consider such cases.
A small list of options to verify the Buyer can be -
1. Ask for his address and verify it
2. Ask for his Phone number and verify it
3. Ask for his identity proof like passport and verify it.


----------------------------------------------------
If your selling a service , membership , websites , seo

The customer can do a chargeback and you lose all the money !! The customer would just say that they didnt get the goods and then you lose all the money.

[yourmomma]

Thanks for the info! Very useful indeed.

One more question - do you know if any of these companies allow you to put your company name on customer bank statements? I don't want my customers to just see "world pay" or "paypal" on their statements for obvious reasons!

[totalwebsolutions]

Hi yourmomma,

Our solution - EcomMerchant - will allow you to have your company name on the statement as it will be the name set up with the bank providing the Internet Merchant Account.

If you want further information on our low-cost, PCI level 1 accredited solution just send me a private message with your details and I will happily get back to you.

Regards,

Simon

[gloriousnetwork]

Thanks for all the blog posts. We have been using Paypal but are looking to change. I've heard a lot of good things about Sage so may take a look at them.

Best wishes

[gloriousnetwork]

Ecom-merchant sound good too. I'll take a look.

[cosmetics4less]

We use Sage and Streamline with FSB reduced rates. This works fine. We also offer Paypal which we haven't had any problems with in more than 4 years but it's much more expensive.

Customers seem to like Paypal as they perceive it to be safer and it's much easier and quicker than inputting your card details. About 30% of our customers choose Paypal over card payments.

[Dreamwaver]

I think paypal and credit are wide receptive.

[Discountbannerprinting.co.uk]

Paypal can be integrated so you don't even see that paypal is behind the payment process

Website Payments Pro

£20 a month, no merchant account and a decision in a 5 - 7 working days.

You Can accept cards, paypal and they may even give you the virtual terminal free (Payment over the phone)

Not a bad starting point for a company.

[Amy_Sagepay]

Hi All,

If you have any queries about our products or services just give me a shout!

Amy
Sage Pay

[limessl]

I went with HSBC in the end, there were cheaper alternatives out there but I felt more secure going with the people I bank with.

£20 a month isn't bad I guess, and the rates I got as a complete start-up were not a rip-off (although I did use the alternatives as a bargaining tool!)

[simpson7647]

hi all, im on the verge of setting up my E-commerce website, do i need a business bank account?
I currently have a Abbey debit card ive been using to fund my website but do i need a business bank account or will this do fine??

What is a business bank account and what are the pros and cons??

Thanks all

Ryan

[Amy_Sagepay]

Hi Ryan,

The answer is yes. When setting up your E-commerce site you will be required to set up a Business bank account and Merchant account.
The merchant account is necessary because this acts as an agreement between yourself and your bank that you are able to take online payments. Once a shopper has purchased on your site, the funds will need to go through your merchant bank before being settled into your business bank account.

Hope this helps!
Amy

[simpson7647]

thankyou Amy for your quick and accurate reply.
Are there any guides that willl walk me through this as im not too knowledgable about this and im on the verge of setting up my e-commerence shop website.


thanks

[simpson7647]

Hi Ryan,

The answer is yes. When setting up your E-commerce site you will be required to set up a Business bank account and Merchant account.
The merchant account is necessary because this acts as an agreement between yourself and your bank that you are able to take online payments. Once a shopper has purchased on your site, the funds will need to go through your merchant bank before being settled into your business bank account.

Hope this helps!
Amy

hi there, okay i kind of get what you mean.
So if i wanted to run my e-commerce site just through paypal, i wouldnt have to set up a business bank account? Whats a merchant account??
But im wanting to set up other ways of paying such as via credit card as well.

Bit confusing but im sure ill get the hang of it soon :)

[Discountbannerprinting.co.uk]

Paypal standard (No cost expect per transaction) you can take most types of card and paypal over the internet (This will pass your customer over to there site to pay).

Paypal website pro (£20 a month) will allow you to take most types of card and payments over the phone (Virtual terminal) and you can integrate this into your site (The customer will not know it is paypal processing the transaction).

You do not need a merchant or business bank account you can just use your own personal account.

[simpson7647]

thanks for the reply so i dont actually need a business account?

Although i guess there are plenty of advantages to using one?? What are these

Thanks