Credit call

[4little1s]

Anyone any experience of using Creditcall ? Good and bad ? http://www.creditcall.co.uk/

 

[marky9378]

Hi

This is what actinic uses i think you are better off going to hsbc as you can accept credit/debit card payments directly without no payment gateway (The middle man) it does work out cheaper as you only have 1 monthly plan instead of 2.

If you use creditcall call you will be paying them and the bank as you still need a merchant number.

 

[paul.sherlock@creditcall.]

Sorry I totally disagree with this advice (I would I'm the e-commerce manager for CreditCall).

All the banks payment arms including HSBC Secure Trading are indeed middle men, you're not cutting any one or thing out, you're actually putting all your eggs in one basket.

If for example you don't use an independent like CreditCall then Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC etc etc offer you a better merchant service rate you not only have to change Acquirer, you also have to re-integrate a new payment provider and also make website changes.

You're also find by using any of the bank owned systems you'll be getting functionality which isn't quite as feature rich as the independent providers on the market.

I'm quite happy to offer you a comparison so please feel free to email me at paul.sherlock at creditcall dot co dot uk.



Thanks,

Paul

 

[paul.sherlock@creditcall.]

Anyone any experience of using Creditcall ? Good and bad ?

Please feel free to give me a call on 0117 930 4455 and I will go through the offerings in further detail.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[marky9378]

Yes but you work for them so i disagree i cannot see the point in paying two companies which can work out costly to a small business when HSBC have it all and just pay 1. And its already in actinic ready to go. There is no website changes and the payments are already set up in actinic so its a case of just putting in your merchant number etc etc... to set this up.

 

[paul.sherlock@creditcall.]

Hi Mark,

You're paying them for 2 things. Your paying HSBC for your merchant services (MSR) and also your HSBC Secure Payments. How much are you paying for the latter? I expect your paying a whole lot more than using an independent and without the same level of functionality.

HSBC offer good service and good rates and I have no issue reccomending them for that but not in the payment arm. They just haven't got the functionality or pricing to compete with the indepenedents.

How much are you paying just for the Secure Payments part of your business (pm) if you wish and I'll offer you a comparison.

 

[Jetlag]

My website (via mrsite) takes payments through paypal, which is fine for the moment, but what I need to do is to take card payments at shows (with, say, a virtual terminal) or over the phone. Can Credit Call provide a solution for that?

 

[paul.sherlock@creditcall.]

Hi Jetlag,

Ideally you would need a merchant account from any of the UK Acquirers. I would suggest getting a terminal rental rather than a virtual terminal (chip and pin has lower merchant service rates and less chargeback risk than a virtual terminal). Virtual terminals are basically suggesting the transactions is customer not present.

CreditCall don't offer this facility but you could try 123 Send, Adelante or Commidea who all offer short term and long term rentals for mobile chip and pin solutions.

 

[Jetlag]

Ok, thanks Paul.

 

[PayVector]

Yes but you work for them so i disagree i cannot see the point in paying two companies which can work out costly to a small business when HSBC have it all and just pay 1. And its already in actinic ready to go. There is no website changes and the payments are already set up in actinic so its a case of just putting in your merchant number etc etc... to set this up.

I am afraid as another independent processor like Credit Call I am going to have to agree with Paul from CC. HSBC does not give away a gateway service. All the costs associated are factored into increased interchange fees.

However both sides are right when it comes cost savings. If your only doing a handful of transactions a month where the increase interchange fees is less than a monthly fee elsewhere then something HSBC might be better for you. The problem comes, and what Paul is saying, when you cross the threshold of increased interchange costs you more than paying an independent processor. You may be locked into a bank for 1, 2, or 3 year contract with the bank so its going to cost you more.

The other key point I agree with Paul on value adds that come with using an independant processor. With 1 integration into the independent you get all the services that independent offers like access to multiple banks for when it comes time to negotiate better rates. There is not point in switching banks to save a grand if your web developer is going to charge you 2 grand to do the additional work.

And just so you know the HSBC system is software that was written by a company that no longer exists called Clear Commerce. Efunds gobbled them 5 or so years ago and asset stripped the company. They then charge HSBC a ridiculus license fee but have not developed anything new on it in ages. 5 years is an EON in web software life. HSBC has also had some epic downtime over the last 18 months. Have a look on these forums. I think the longest one was they went down on a friday and did not come back up until monday morning.

Hope this helps.

p.s. Any offer Paul makes you I will beat

 

[paul.sherlock@creditcall.]

Very good points.

One of the other points you should check on when choosing a Payment Provider is who wrote and designed the software and if it's created and managed in house for the very reasons Iridium states.

P.S - You couldn't beat me on price

 

[marky9378]

I am afraid as another independent processor like Credit Call I am going to have to agree with Paul from CC. HSBC does not give away a gateway service. All the costs associated are factored into increased interchange fees.

However both sides are right when it comes cost savings. If your only doing a handful of transactions a month where the increase interchange fees is less than a monthly fee elsewhere then something HSBC might be better for you. The problem comes, and what Paul is saying, when you cross the threshold of increased interchange costs you more than paying an independent processor. You may be locked into a bank for 1, 2, or 3 year contract with the bank so its going to cost you more.

The other key point I agree with Paul on value adds that come with using an independant processor. With 1 integration into the independent you get all the services that independent offers like access to multiple banks for when it comes time to negotiate better rates. There is not point in switching banks to save a grand if your web developer is going to charge you 2 grand to do the additional work.

And just so you know the HSBC system is software that was written by a company that no longer exists called Clear Commerce. Efunds gobbled them 5 or so years ago and asset stripped the company. They then charge HSBC a ridiculus license fee but have not developed anything new on it in ages. 5 years is an EON in web software life. HSBC has also had some epic downtime over the last 18 months. Have a look on these forums. I think the longest one was they went down on a friday and did not come back up until monday morning.

Hope this helps.

p.s. Any offer Paul makes you I will beat

But you still need a merchant number with the bank this is what im saying in paying twice as the banks charge around £18 a month for this. So if you are a small business why pay twice when you only need to pay once

 

[The Movie Booth]

I can't get into the argument of best prices, who needs what etc.

What I can say is that we use Credit Call to process transactions at all of our terminals. From a service perspective, Credit Call are great - always helpful, respond to queries quickly and are open to change.

For these aspects, they come highly recommended from me.