Card Payment options online or in shop?

[Parley]

Hi all, hope someone can advise as there is a minefield of information out there and I am pulling my hair out.

I am a existing business just starting out in retail and am due to open my bricks 7 Mortar and online shop in a few weeks.

My question is what type of card processing unit is best for both shop and online, I have a paypal here account but will this suffice?

Thanks for looking

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

If you are going to process regular payments then having an actual card terminal (be it countertop. wireless, or mobile) is going to offer you lower processing rates in the long run, especially for Debit cards and also direct processing into your chosen bank account usually within 1-3 working days.

Same goes for the online, if regular processing then you will cover the minimum monthly charge requirements and benefit from lower rates if you choose a merchant account with a payment gateway.

We work with a number of leading acquiring banks and have access to discounted rates/terms for merchant accounts and terminals.

Happy to assist further if you want to send me a PM.

Thanks,

Simon

 

[threenine]

We make use of and recommend http://www.gointerpay.com/services

 

[Parley]

I really do appreciate your answers my concern is that I wont be making much transactions in the first six months until I get established both online & retail shop so I would probably be better along the Paypal route to begin, does anyone see any pitfalls with this?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

I really do appreciate your answers my concern is that I wont be making much transactions in the first six months until I get established both online & retail shop so I would probably be better along the Paypal route to begin, does anyone see any pitfalls with this?

Thanks for the advice.

3.4% + 20p per transaction regardless of card type - that means you will pay the same for Credit and Debit whereas with a merchant account you could be less than 1% for Credit and less than 0.5% for Debit depending on terms agreed. Still worth considering depending on the transaction amounts.

 

[DontAsk]

3.4% + 20p per transaction regardless of card type -

Or less, depending on turnover.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

Or less, depending on turnover.

"You can apply for these Merchant Rates if you’ve received more than £1,500.00 GBP in PayPal payments in the previous calendar month. If you’re eligible for these Merchant Rates, log in to your PayPal account and apply via the online form"

 

[japancool]

"You can apply for these Merchant Rates if you’ve received more than £1,500.00 GBP in PayPal payments in the previous calendar month. If you’re eligible for these Merchant Rates, log in to your PayPal account and apply via the online form"

As long as you take the required amount - and you go through the application process, you won't be turned down for it.

Paypal Here payments start at 2.75% + 20p rather than 3.4%. As there are no recurring monthly fees or terminal rental fees, it can be worth it for low volume transactions. Plus, the funds become available immediately.

 

[Talay]

12 month contract with a main name, say Elavon or First Data should see you in the realms of under 0.4% for debit cards and under 0.7% for credit cards and around £20/25 per month for a terminal.

You will be looking at a minimum monthly charge of say £25 but you can give them some rubbish about the turnover and you will only get a re-rate after a year, if you get the rates fixed for the whole 12 month contract, which is easy.

So you are in for a minimum of £50 or so a month but you compensate by having average fees of around 0.5% (after debit / credit card split) against say 2.5% for "cheap" solutions.

So how does that maths work out ? £50 / 2% = £2500 turnover per month so if the "cheap" solution costs £25 per machine, you only need sales of £1250 per month to cover the other savings.

Play with the numbers but they are real.

 

[Talay]

There are options out there designed for start up and seasonal businesses whereby you a have a £0 minimum monthly service charge, so you only pay for the rental of the machine, which will be around £20 per month with a .4% debit card rate and you'll get a proper chip & pin machine rather than a card reader.

I see your company has had 3 different names in less than 6 months.

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10392015

What is your depth of experience in this field ?

Concern only because quite a few newcomers to business card processing have been caught out by very poorly drafted contracts which had onerous conditions or were for multiple years and came with huge penalties to get out of. Many people burned on this forum.

One broker I spoke to recently, though in the interests of transparency I have always transacted direct, wanted me to sign up where they took a percentage of (their calculation) of the "saving" between what I was paying and what they were purportedly offering.

However, in the small print, they wanted to roll this provision, causing an overhang to the contract, and in some ways, their sought to "own" my profile and data. You might give away rights to pictures you put on Facebook but corporate data is not quite the same !

 

[Cithy1937]

I mostly use worldcore debit card for all my online transactions and withdrawals. It is very fast system and have no drawbacks. It is very secure online payment gateway and no harm to use it online.

 

[Alex Paterson]

Lot to talk about here, Card rates, Physical security and the technology devices involved MINEFIELD!

So PayPal themselves act as the merchant on your behalf and perform the acquiring with the card networks. This is perfect for so called Micro-Merchants because they do not have to set up a merchant account, there are no checks, its quick and easy to set up and on the face of it its very cheap etc. if you are a mobile dog walker/groomer, hairdresser, window cleaner, or you rarely take card payments but want the option to take them when you need to these are good solutions, i have even seen buskers with these now.

The downside is that you pay extortionate rates for the transactions. I think its around 2.75 - 3.0% per transaction plus the fee regardless of the card type because its a blended rate. If you are a bricks and mortar business then there is no substitute for your own merchant account especially if you need to take payments online too.

Best advice is do not ignore the rates, on first glance its easy forget that a 2.4% difference in rates, could mean you are literally thousands of pounds out of pocket each year simply for not shopping around for better rates, its a no brainier, do your homework and gain the equivalent of a 2 week holiday in Thailand.

Hope this helps...