ecommerce payment processing

RonSpr

Hi, I am trying to get a new website up and running, there are money transactions involved on the site in the form of paying a booking deposit, max €5 at a time. I am wondering which soluition to get implemented to look after the transaction side of things? By which I mean payment processing...

Axwell

Paypal is probably your best and easiest option to incorporate as its a single item you are selling. The only thing is that paypal doesnt accept laser cards at the minute, you could go with realex which does but its more costly and more beneficial with a high volume which you may not have. Paypal will do what you want and charge you a small transaction fee, check their website but i think its around 2-3%.

RonSpr

Axwell wrote: »

Paypal is probably your best and easiest option to incorporate as its a single item you are selling. The only thing is that paypal doesnt accept laser cards at the minute, you could go with realex which does but its more costly and more beneficial with a high volume which you may not have. Paypal will do what you want and charge you a small transaction fee, check their website but i think its around 2-3%.

Thanks will look into that, so Paypal can handle card transactions and the user doesn't have to have a Paypal account?

podgeen

Hi

If you want to use a payment service provider like Realex, SagePay or WorldNet then you will need an Internet Merchant Account with an acquiring bank. If you are a startup company with no trading history then you may have difficulty in getting an Internet Merchant Account although if your area of business is low risk and you have a detailed business plan then you might be ok.

The other option is to use a Payment Bureau such as PayPal, RBS WorldPay or NoChex. You do not need an internet merchant account if you go down this route. The only Payment Bureau that allows you to accept Laser transactions is RBS WorldPay but they are quite expensive as they have a one time setup fee, a monthly fee and a percentage of each transaction.

My website has a list of the providers who work with Irish merchants which might be a useful starting point. Also do a search on boards for "online payments" and you will find lots of similar posts on the topic.

Dave

adm

A very cheap option would be to use http://www.romancart.com . They have an option called 'manual swipe' where they store the CC details on their server for 24 hours and you manually process the credit card.

Note: I have no affiliation whatsoever with them. I have just used them in the past.

podgeen

I would advise against the manual swipe option with romancart. Storing credit card details is a bad idea due to the risks associated with it. This should be left to the experts i.e. the payment service providers. If you are storing card holder details then your requirements for PCI Compliance are greatly increased and the risk to your business and reputation is also increased.

The following text is taken from the RomanCart website where they explain their manual swipe option -

"However, it takes time to manually process transactions and your acquiring bank might not allow you to use this method - check your terms and conditions."

I would be very surprised if the terms of your Merchant Service Agreement will allow you to accept card details over the internet and then manually process them with a POS device.

Dave

Stupid_Private

I'd imagine PayPal would be your best bet. You'll struggle to get a Merchant Account from a bank with the average spend on your site being less than €5 (something to do with fraudulent transactions).

Axwell

RonSpr wrote: »

Thanks will look into that, so Paypal can handle card transactions and the user doesn't have to have a Paypal account?

Yes this is true, for credit cards. They dont do laser as i said above but for credit card transactions the user doesnt need a paypal account.

westmeath

Hi,I am currently setting up our website for shopping online and wanted to get some feedback about which is best option for us?Paypal,sage,realex.....
Not sure as of yet what amount of sale we will have online but we are in business for 20yrs.
Would prefer to have laser transaction include due tonot everyone has credit cards etc.
we are a gift shop if this helps.
any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
also any ideas on price inclusion for postage and packaging?

Liam Byrne

westmeath wrote: »

Hi,I am currently setting up our website for shopping online and wanted to get some feedback about which is best option for us?Paypal,sage,realex.....
Not sure as of yet what amount of sale we will have online but we are in business for 20yrs.
Would prefer to have laser transaction include due tonot everyone has credit cards etc.
we are a gift shop if this helps.
any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
also any ideas on price inclusion for postage and packaging?

Laser is being discontinued, so won't be an issue for long. Most of the renewed bank cards are Visa Debit, with AIB seemingly being the only one holding out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_(debit_card)#Participating_Financial_Institutions

westmeath

Thanks Liam,hopefully aib will follow soon and make it easier for us to decide.