Electronic payment. How do i do it?

goz83

Hi, I run 2 very small businesses. One is non-profit. The businesses are registered and I have business accounts for both of them. One is a trading name if thats important.

I would like to be able to accept payment by credit or laser card. Ideally I would like to have one of those chip and pin devices which accept the cards directly or by entering the card details for over the phone payment. I know my bank would be more than willing to provide the equipment and set up at a premium cost. I would like to set this up myself or have someone do it for me without the heavy costs involved. Any info on how this can be done or how it works would be great.

Can the payments be processes via a broadband connection or does it need to be a land line? I only ask because my land line is NTL and i'm not sure if that causes a problem. Prices would be appreciated too. Thanks.

PS - I have considered the online payment and decided it wasn't the best option as it seems to be too messy.

Dabko

From my experience you have 3 options;

1) Paypal style online credit card processing. Pain in the ass and expensive.

2)Get a merchant account(elavon- only 1 im familiar with - BOI), get in touch with Paypoint in the uk (great payment gateway, cheap prices too) and when people come into your store, you log on to a simple fill in the card details section on their site.

3) Get a merchant account and let them rape you with the charges they command in order for you to have a terminal at your premises!

goz83

Dabko wrote: »

From my experience you have 3 options;

1) Paypal style online credit card processing. Pain in the ass and expensive.

2)Get a merchant account(elavon- only 1 im familiar with - BOI), get in touch with Paypoint in the uk (great payment gateway, cheap prices too) and when people come into your store, you log on to a simple fill in the card details section on their site.

3) Get a merchant account and let them rape you with the charges they command in order for you to have a terminal at your premises!

Can I use my current business account (option 2) or do i need t set up an account specifically for this?

Dabko

good question.
As you currently have a business acccount set up, you are applying for a merchant account as an addon. This account doesnt fucntion like a normal bank account (deposits, cheque book...etc), rather a holding account.

When you process a payment (say paypoint), the system automatically transfers the funds to your merchant account (elavon). From here, the merchant account processes the funds and transfers automatically to your day to day business account.

The whole process, from paypoint via merchant acc to you bank acc takes 2-4 working days.
Once set up, you dont really have to do feck all.:)
Hope this is of some help.


Sorry, to answer your question simply - No, you can use your current business account to make an application.

chillywilly

Dabko wrote: »

good question.
As you currently have a business acccount set up, you are applying for a merchant account as an addon. This account doesnt fucntion like a normal bank account (deposits, cheque book...etc), rather a holding account.

When you process a payment (say paypoint), the system automatically transfers the funds to your merchant account (elavon). From here, the merchant account processes the funds and transfers automatically to your day to day business account.

The whole process, from paypoint via merchant acc to you bank acc takes 2-4 working days.
Once set up, you dont really have to do feck all.:)
Hope this is of some help.


Sorry, to answer your question simply - No, you can't use your current business account to make an application.

Dabko

chillywilly wrote: »

Sorry, maybe ive missed something myself, but i had 1 x Boi business account for the company. I contacted my bank account manger and they put me in touch with Elavon (euroconnex at the time i think). From here, after filling out this that and the other, i eventually came out the other end with a merchant account and still only 1 x Boi bank account?

Maybe im wrong but i have filed several sets of business accounts in the past few years and there is 100%, definitely still only 1 x boi account accossiated with that company?

goz83

I do have a number of a guy who supposedly sets these things up but I wanted more info 1st. I saw a really cool site which uses consumers mobile phones to buy things. It looks awesome and really convenient. The consumer pays for the product online using their mobile number which is in turn billed (if on billpay) or charged from credit (if pay as you go). This is just not for me because most people use pay as you go in ireland and my minimum product is €25 to €150 which most people just dont keep on their phone. Great idea tho.

Dabko

goz83 wrote: »

I do have a number of a guy who supposedly sets these things up but I wanted more info 1st. I saw a really cool site which uses consumers mobile phones to buy things. It looks awesome and really convenient. The consumer pays for the product online using their mobile number which is in turn billed (if on billpay) or charged from credit (if pay as you go). This is just not for me because most people use pay as you go in ireland and my minimum product is €25 to €150 which most people just dont keep on their phone. Great idea tho.

That is very cool. Where you see that offered?

ClaireyBee

Hi Goz,
I eventually want to start selling things on my website once we're vat registered, this sounds really handy, can ya give me more info please?

goz83

the site is www.mobillcash.com

you have to apply to them first and they send you a pdf form to print and email or fax back to them. I haven't gone beyond this point but they do offer a demo of how it works on the site. One problem I had was my mobile number is an "083" and it didn't seem to work in the demo. Apart from that, I think it's a great idea and I might offer it for my non-profit site as i'm thinking of charging €5 for a particular low membership I currently give away without charge.

portanure

Hi Guys

Here is the rate card for jan 09, its a bit complicated.

Regards
P