Accepting card payments and direct debits

[MrFrost1982]

Hello,
A number of our customers are now requesting to pay by credit/debit card over the phone and also by direct debit for subscription services we have.

We've has several problems with Paypal, as you can see in a thread below, which have no been resolved, but this has been enough to put me off using them much longer.

Me and my business partner both have a poor past credit history and this has posed a problem with our business so far, with getting a business account, premesis etc, but we have persisted and got through it.

We need some kind of merchant service to provide us with the above, but with poor credit histories, can anyone suggest any options?

Thanks

 

[nickjohnston]

Google Checkout for merchants is a straightforward way of taking card payments, either through a website, over the phone, or by sending email payment requests.

Would like to know a good option for direct debits myself.

 

[Brain Frost]

Im no expert but I have been looking at google checkout, dont remember all the features and options off the top of my head but looks nice for what I am doing and might be worth looking at to see if it fits yiour needs.

edit: lol beat me to it. Dont you need a direct debate mandate to do DD, should be through the bank I thought, shouldnt need a merchant service for that I wouldnt have thought?

 

[letterboxunlimited]

Paypoint.net have started using European banks for poor credit cases. Try them for a full merchant account. If that fails PM me as I have another solution!

 

[Brain Frost]

sorry but why not just share with the rest of the forum, thats infuriating when you are looking for a solution to something and it has been taken to PM, unless its private info?

 

[letterboxunlimited]

sorry but why not just share with the rest of the forum, thats infuriating when you are looking for a solution to something and it has been taken to PM, unless its private info?

As you see I have already suggested one company openly on the forum, the second option is more complex and the company involved charge a higher setup fee which is for extream cases only

Lee

 

[Brain Frost]

Still dont see why it would have to be confidential but fair enough, thanks for explaining. Its more of a pet peeve of mine as I use forums a lot for solutions and hate seeing a post with a problem and then either a reply "dont worry i sorted it" or a "I'll PM you the answer" kind of goes against the whole point of the forum for me.. but thats prob just me so ignore.

 

[PayPoint net]

Hi there -

We are indeed partnered with a number of banks in Europe, as well as UK tier 1 banks, to provide payment processing services to a wide range of merchants with different trading histories and business models. We would be happy to talk to you about options for your business - PM over your contact details and we'll give you a call.

Best wishes
Rochelle

 

[elitejones]

Google Checkout for merchants is a straightforward way of taking card payments, either through a website, over the phone, or by sending email payment requests.

Would like to know a good option for direct debits myself.

I got through your link it helped me.Thanks.

 

[nextdayprint]

Not sure about solutions for DD, but for card payments, I'd suggest Nochex, having just gone through a heavy few days of making the decision myself. Google checkout is nice to offer but is limiting, similarly to Paypal. I was just offering Google chekout initially on my site and the conversion rate from placing products in basket to paying was shocking (about 1 in 20) this became more like 1 in 10 once I added Paypal (though transactions split 50:50 at mo). However, Im in process of adding Nochex and have already used it to take a couple of orders.

I am confident that my problem with conversion has been down to the payment methods offered but will post again in a couple of weeks once I have new stats.

Nochex was up and running in about 24 hours without paying for the accelerated setup, and with 50 quid setup and ok transaction rate, no contract etc, was a bit of a no brainer for me over paypoint, worldpay, etc.

Also I have shocking credit from a few years back that is still a load stone around my neck but was instantly cleared. Anyway, till I complete installation of nochex, this is all kind of based on my research etc, so if you can wait a week or two I'll let you know for sure.

 

[nextdayprint]

Oh yeah, i'd suggest anyone using only paypal or google checkout, should keep an eye on their stats for people viewing their checkout and also on people placing items in the baskets but not buying. If your results are anything like mine when you do this, then I expect you will also consider some kind of other payment method that doesnt require people to have accounts/store their info somewhere.

 

[enigma1]

I think one of the problems merchants have with paypal is they don't understand or utilize its features. If you start getting chargebacks is bad for business, but many mistakes happen because merchants do not verify correctly billing and shipping addresses and orders placed by scammers fall through.

Paypal pro for instance shows if an order can be cleared (if the customer is eligible) based on the shipping address they have on record. Pay attention to these details to reduce or eliminate disputes. If you are using some sort of instant payment notification again you need to verify that payment is through and there is no discrepancies with the addresses.

 

[nextdayprint]

Right, just a quick update on my installation of Nochex on www.hippoprint.co.uk:
Firstly, my turnover in the first two days has matched the previous two weeks (in which I had Paypal and Google checkout as the only payment options), though I can't be certain this isn't a freak in buying patterns, and this was also bulked by a very large order. What I can say is, every transaction but one since installing nochex has been through them and as such is costing me less than the other methods.
Secondly, whilst their telephone support and email support is good, they do need to work on their site, as most of my calls are related to broken links or lack of info on their site.
Thirdly, integration is a little harder than I'd like and am having to change checkout system all together because they only except one line of product description unlike paypal or google checkout, and as such is not great for multiple item purchases.

Will update again after a more sensible period of time.