Payment Gateway plus Merchant Account

[melon_sydney]

Hi All

We are an Australian company looking at selling online in $US. We need a payment solution (payment gateway + merchant account) that can handle Visa, Mastercard and Amex.

We have reviewed PayPal and Worldpay and neither suit our needs. Can anyone recommend an alternative?

Requirements.

1) Accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex
2) Handle US$
3) Highly customisable to integrate with a web app.
4) Good support.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

[advancedmerchant]

Unfortunately, due to Visa/Mastercard cross border regulations, you will need to find an Austrailian provider, or one that has a Merchant Acquiring Bank with an Austrailian presence.

V/MC does not allow Merchant Service Providers to cross the V/MC boundries, as each region has their own levels of interchange, regulated either by V/MC, the local government, or open market conditions.

As an example, to open a US Merchant account, an applicant TYPICALLY (can vary a bit due to the Sponsor Bank regs) needs:

1) US based business with physical address in the US
2) US based checking account for settlement
3) Principal with US address
4) Principal with US Social Security number or TIN number

[Dinghus]

What did you not like about PayPal? They have their Pro version and PayFlowPro which are very flexible and powerful.

[SnerdeyWebs]

Maybe Google Checkout might be ready. You can just email them and ask as I know they are working in other countries then just US.

http://checkout.google.com/

Not sure, but a thought.

Good luck!

[racerx]

Can't speak to the international banking rules but we work with a number of gateways with different clients of ours and Authorize.net is the best in my book with regards to their A.P.I. (I.e. connecting custom applications.)

[MrGamm]

I find it hard to believe that PayPal doesn't suit your needs.

PayPal quite literally has every possible payment structure available to my knowledge. On site ordering with credit card and paypal using your own ssl certificate, offsite ordering...

I realize that there is a big stink made by a few people when using paypal. They are unjustifiable claims in my opinion. Paypal is extremely affordable and easy too.

What is it about paypal which you feel they don't offer? I haven't run any tests but I imagine that in todays day age, not offering paypal as an option could actually hurt your sales. However it is just a guess.

[arius]

Yes Paypal pro should do the job. Why does not fit your needs?

[advancedmerchant]

Originally Posted by MrGamm

I find it hard to believe that PayPal doesn't suit your needs.

PayPal quite literally has every possible payment structure available to my knowledge. On site ordering with credit card and paypal using your own ssl certificate, offsite ordering...

I realize that there is a big stink made by a few people when using paypal. They are unjustifiable claims in my opinion. Paypal is extremely affordable and easy too.

What is it about paypal which you feel they don't offer? I haven't run any tests but I imagine that in todays day age, not offering paypal as an option could actually hurt your sales. However it is just a guess.

A few people???? Jeez. Take a look at all the posts at paypalsucks.com, aboutpaypal.org, paypalwarning.com, heck, just Google "Paypal problems" and you see horror stories of people having funds frozen, merchants being penalized for what their customers do, etc...

I am sure you have had a good experience, but it seems that when you or a customer has a disagreement with paypal, the merchant always foots the bill, and there is NO dispute with Paypal... they just refer to their "Terms of service" which means they win.

[quickcreative]

We've integrated with Paypal using the Java API. It works great, there's a large developer network, and it's straightforward to use.

[sharonjackson]

One of my customers uses Shopping Cart Software, Ecommerce Solutions, Internet Marketing Tools and Merchant Accounts by 1ShoppingCart.com

It is easy to learn, they have on-line tutorials and videos, you can purchase any number of different packages and unlike my experiences with paypal, their on line and by phone technical assistance was always easy to find and excellent. I highly recommend them

[MrGamm]

Originally Posted by advancedmerchant

A few people???? Jeez. Take a look at all the posts at paypalsucks.com, aboutpaypal.org, paypalwarning.com, heck, just Google "Paypal problems" and you see horror stories of people having funds frozen, merchants being penalized for what their customers do, etc...

I am sure you have had a good experience, but it seems that when you or a customer has a disagreement with paypal, the merchant always foots the bill, and there is NO dispute with Paypal... they just refer to their "Terms of service" which means they win.

No I haven't had all good experiences. But I have had sales which is more important...

For example a complaint which came in last week was regarding phishing... which we all know has nothing to do with the paypal system at all. Phishing is network hijacking on the internet or flat out fraudulent trickery... Nothing to do with the brand name at all... ( BTW... no phishing occurred... it was just a case of fad name usage... )

The complaint was followed up with more disagreements as to how the paypal invoice had a statement suggesting that next time they make the payment directly through thier account rather than with thier credit card. I'm sorry... I cannot accept a company advertising thier services as a legitimate reason to stop using the service.

Additionally... paypal has Pro... Which gives you full control over the process. I'm making the move over on the Christmas break. The only potential problem with Paypal to my knowledge is that they might not offer interac payment processing which I am willing to go to another supplier for I will not remove paypal as an option from my websites. I am not going to cut off the generation who could care less how they make the payment so long as it's easy and convenient.

One irrate customer is not worth alienating the others who are quite happy with paypal. jmo...

[dlamar]

I agree with the posters here that PayPal is NOT the best solution...

I have switched ALL my online business to PayJunction PayJunction - Merchant Account and Credit Card Processing

In the interest of full disclosure, after I integrated PayJunction for one of my clients, I looked into it further and was absolutely wowed with what they provide and the low cost. I became a PayJunction reseller and switched ALL my web businesses over.

The PayJunction solution is cheaper and better than Authorize.net and provides better back end tools than PayPal.

You do have to have a US-based presence as decribed by others. Perhaps you can enter into a business arrangement (LLC?) with a US-based partner?

[puamana]

I have used Authorize.net for over 10 years with excellent results...
however, you may need to get a US based merchant account to use their service.

My merchant account is through Costco/Nova (Now Elavon)
and if you go to their website, at Elavon, Your Global Source for Innovative Payment Solutions I'm sure you can get something setup.

Authorize.net also has a global, toll free number:

1-866-437-0476 which goes to their sales department, and they would happy to assist you.

Good luck

Puamana

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by racerx

Can't speak to the international banking rules but we work with a number of gateways with different clients of ours and Authorize.net is the best in my book with regards to their A.P.I. (I.e. connecting custom applications.)

Yes, Authorize.net is an excellent gateway/processor.

However, one still needs a merchant acquirer for Visa/Mastercard, and separate merchant accounts with American Express and Discover

[mannequin-lady]

I use RBS WorldPay as my payment gateway. Australia is in the list of countries in RBS WorldPay. I use authorize.net and their fraud detection suite.

I also use a PayPal business account which is what I started out with and have used for years with no trouble. That said, I'd better watch out!

[morestar]

try x-cart with the paypal payments pro integration - their both cheap to start with and the user stays on your site when they checkout

[ShoppingCartExperts]

You can set up a US currency account account with the NAB. They are the only Australian bank that allows this.

Then you can connect up to securepay.com.au for example if your cart does not interface directly with the NAB to accept sales online.

SecurePay are the only external gateway to allow the US or any other currency I believe as well through NAB.

You will have to jump through some hoops as it is quite convoluted to get set up and expensive.

Better than trying to set up a US company and bank account though as this way you just have to deal with local companies.

Thanks
Cam Flanigan

Shopping Cart Software – Ecommerce Solutions and Web Hosting From VP-ASP

[kevE]

We use Eway might be worth a look.

[kula]

Its not that difficult or expensive to set up a US presence! At least if you can expect to make significant sales in the US. I think it can be done for less than $5000. If you want to look into this option, I would suggest making contact with one of the many Delaware attorneys who specialize as agents for Delaware corporations. It does however, subject you to US taxes on the sales here. I would expect that you would get at least partial credit for US taxes paid from Australia/NZ or from a Western European taxing jurisdiction. (At least that's the way it works for US entities doing biz down under or in Western Europe.)

With respect to the PayPal controversy, I've found that adding PayPal to the payment options reduces bounces from the checkout process, as does the addition of Google Checkout. The reduction in bounce is far greater than the number of customers who choose PayPal and Checkout to actually pay! I now recommend offering both in addition to a traditional payment gateway. I guess when people see you maintain accounts with PayPal and Checkout, they have more confidence that you are a legit vendor.

[Addler]

We also recommend Authorize.net for the payment gateway and their fraud detection suite. For merchant account services, please consider Eagle Merchant Services offering a lowest cost guarantee, no contract and no setup fees.

For a limit time, they are also offering an exclusive offer of the free setup of an Authorize.net Payment Gateway for new E-commerce merchant accounts.

[NJ]

I have had about 4 experiences with clients using PayPal. In my experience, PayPal is a wonderful system that is ever adding great features. In my experiece, PayPal is a miserable technical support when things go wrong!

[ronlee67]

Regarding Paypal. I like Paypal. Their rates are affordable and everything works just fine on international orders. We have a 4 year old e-commerce site and have used Paypal from the beginning. When we were small it was the only way to go because a regular merchant account was just too expensive and hard to get out of if it didn't work out for us. The only problem was that a lot of buyers won't use Paypal. We often got phone calls from people wanting another way to pay.

I ran a few test purchases through our shopping cart and realized that when you get transferred to the Paypal site customers can easily get confused or put off because of the numerous Paypal sign-up boxes. My customers just want to use their cc to pay the bill....they didn't want to become a Paypal member. Although the mechanism is there to bypass signing up to Paypal, it wasn't made very clear.

Last year we added a regular merchant account after Cardservice International came up with a contract using Linkpoint (FirstData) that had low fees and no cancellation fee. Our sales skyrocketed immediately. No mistaking why. At the time that was the only change we made in our web store. We still have Paypal, primarily to process Amex transactions, but we do get a fair number of people who request to pay with a Paypal invoice. Approximately 5-8% of our orders are paid through Paypal now that we offer regular cc options through Linkpoint.

The point is: Paypal is technically a very easy and smooth running payment service from a sellers standpoint, but not readily accepted by a very large number of buyers. Credit card only systems (without membership signups) are universally accepted by buyers.

[msinfo]

I'd go with WorldPay, the better your volume the worst companies like Paypal and GoogleCheckout are in my opinion.

[pixma85]

google checkout is real nice for all types of payments

[netwebproworld03]

Originally Posted by msinfo

I'd go with WorldPay, the better your volume the worst companies like Paypal and GoogleCheckout are in my opinion.

WorldPay is very expensive. PayPal Pro is $30 US a month and has no setup fee.
* Set-up Fee: GBP 200.00
* Monthly Fee: GBP 30.00 each month (first month payable upon application).

I have a subscription site with 1 year and 2 year subscription plan. WorldPlay cant not support a 2 year subscription right away. Here is the reason.

"Due to the high risk in chargebacks involved with lengthy subscriptions, we would be unable to support 2 yearly subscriptions. However once you have been trading with us for some time, we would be able to look into this for you, however cannot guarantee that we will be able to support the 2 yearly subscriptions."

WorldPlay only supports UK debit cards. I think the US merchant accounts/gateways only support US debit cards. My site has visitors from US and other European countries. It is hard to find a company that will accept debit cards from different countries

[netwebproworld03]

Originally Posted by ronlee67

I ran a few test purchases through our shopping cart and realized that when you get transferred to the Paypal site customers can easily get confused or put off because of the numerous Paypal sign-up boxes. My customers just want to use their cc to pay the bill....they didn't want to become a Paypal member. Although the mechanism is there to bypass signing up to Paypal, it wasn't made very clear.

I had this problem before with PayPal standard. I have since implemented PayPal Pro where the customers do not need to go to PayPal site to enter credit card information and the problem you mentioned above just went away.

[deepsand]

Those using or contemplating using WorldPay might read the following re. their system recently having been hacked.

http://www.americanbanker.com/btn_ar...GXFMOJ&email=y

[PerFectMOney]

what about authorize.net and Plimus inc,or alternatively clickbank,I think this is another great merchant account you need to check out,include 2 check out ofcourse

[X-Cart]

Melon_sydney, what company have you finally chosen?

[Oron]

Originally Posted by PerFectMOney

what about Plimus inc,or alternatively clickbank,I think this is another great merchant account you need to check out,include 2 check out ofcourse

I'm using plimus, a very good service with low fees.

[loversuper]

Double recommendation on Authorize.net, used it three times for three clients, no problems.

[EcommerceTechs]

I use Loud Commerce and never gives me any problem, so far. It has a lot of options for different kinds of business.
First Data Independent Sales Merchant Accounts, Payment Gateways, Credit Card Terminals

My two cents.

[sam40]

paypal can help you create merchant account using visa, master card etc

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by sam40

paypal can help you create merchant account using visa, master card etc

Did you read the OP's post in full?

We have reviewed PayPal and Worldpay and neither suit our needs. Can anyone recommend an alternative?