Payments method... I need advice...

[cdx]

Hello all...

Currently, I have Paypal.com as the company to process the payments in my site, renting paris apartments for tourists.

When a potential customer get to the Paypal.com page to complete his purchase, he get the login page- where he need to create an account and than he will be able to complete his purchase...

Few people already told me that I have to change Paypal to other company because if they were customers on my site, they would probably not login because it's deter them to create new account while they could just put name, CC number and validation of the card to complete the purchase...

Just thought to ask what you have to say about it. Do u agree with them? What do u do on your website... if there are any good, trustable companies likes paypal that you can suggest me to use...

Thanks in advance for any comment...

Guy.

[vorapolpanya]

i have same issues, some people simply abandon the purchase since they feel they do no wish to join paypal( for whatever reason ).

if you are in USA, there are many choices such as authorize.net & Echo.
they are com based gateway, so customers do not need to leave you site.
the are pretty good.( reliable ) i am using Echo and happy with it.
customer enter all information at my site.

if you are not in USA, 2checkout & worldpay are also realiable. I am curretly using 2checkout for one of my site since the set up fee is much lower than worldpay.

all in all, you can have both paypal & another processor to give customers choices of payment.

[cdx]

It's kind of a tricky situation. I installed a software in my site, so the customer choose dates and number of adults per room, and the software calculate the money and than, send it to the payment gateway.

So, basically , I just need to choose one to work with.

[ResaleBroker]

PayPal offers an Optimized Checkout Experience.

"When PayPal Account Optional is turned on, your customers who are new to PayPal will no longer be required to create a PayPal account to complete a purchase—they will go through an alternate checkout, and will have the option to sign up afterward. Customers who already have PayPal accounts will continue to enjoy the privileges of those accounts and their checkout experience will remain the same.

This feature is available for Buy Now, Donations, and Shopping Cart buttons, but not for Subscription buttons."

This might be what you are looking for.

[cdx]

PayPal offers an Optimized Checkout Experience.

"When PayPal Account Optional is turned on, your customers who are new to PayPal will no longer be required to create a PayPal account to complete a purchase—they will go through an alternate checkout, and will have the option to sign up afterward. Customers who already have PayPal accounts will continue to enjoy the privileges of those accounts and their checkout experience will remain the same.

This feature is available for Buy Now, Donations, and Shopping Cart buttons, but not for Subscription buttons."

This might be what you are looking for.

Yes, but probably because I am located in france, it's not availble for me...

This is mail I got from them 5 minutes ago:
_________________________________________

Thank you for contacting PayPal with your concern.

In order for your client to be able to pay with Paypal they need to
create a Paypal account and then enter there payment details.

It's the only way in France to be able to use Paypal.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.
____________________________________

I sent them a mail if it's going to change some day, I hope they get to me soon.

I checked 2checkout, but they are charging 5.5% of the sale + 0.45 per trans. I think it's alot...

Guy

[vinyl]

What about iKobo (www.freelance-help.com/ikobo)? Free to open account - they have only transactions fees which are 2.99%+$.29 per transaction and they can be fully transfered to buyer. They send you VISA debit card which you can use at regular Visa Electron ATMs/POS...

[cdx]

I put it on the list of the companies I need to check... ;)
Do u use them?

[Weirfire]

Please read this thread

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1009

we've been discussing it for weeks :)

[vinyl]

Do u use them?Yes - if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[money]

I think Ikobo is a good alternative. It has no setup fee and monthly fees. It charges low rate per transaction. I think you can try it, because it costs you nothing to add an payment option.

[yfs1]

If you are not in the US I would stay away from any of these "Shared Merchant Accounts". I wasn't looking at the big picture in the beggining and went with myPaystems and they went belly up 6 months after I joined (they had horrible service in that time)

I decided to put up the bucks to get a merchant account through Worldpay and it is night and day. In my opinion if you are serious about your business you shouldn't be cheap about start up fees. They are an investment in your customers!

Worldpay will give you half off if you ask so in the long run it is much cheaper than the other options. I no longer have service issues or dropped sales. Because you are in France I would ask for Europeans feedback as our needs are much different than those in the US.

[expat]

Hi,
there is ahuge thread about various payment methods
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1009

If that doesent work do a search for payment worldpay and you will see it.

Because your site will attract world-wide interest you just may best be with a very broad apeal name like WP. They are expensive but always haggle.

Cheers
M

PS I agree PP signup in Europe is a nightmare but it's a great second offer.

[yfs1]

We offer Paypal as an additional payment method but the only people that use it are those that already have an account.

It was our only option for about 2 weeks two months back and sales dropped 95%...Ouch

[money]

I think Ikobo is a good alternative. It has no setup fee and monthly fees. Its coverage is in more than 170 countries. I have used it for serveral month. I am satisfied with it.

[Fishing Forum]

Hi money do you find the fact that people have to enter their bank telephone number on the payment screen put people off when using Ikobo

Iterested as I have just got there gatway and am wondering the about of people not completeing because of this - I do not know my bank tel

[yfs1]

Using a service like Ikobo will put a percentage of people off just like Paypal would but what you have to decide is is the percentage of sales lost balanced out by the low setup costs. If you are an existing business, most times you won't want to lose the percentage of sales.

If you are a startup, using something like Ikobo might be the right answer until you establish yourself.

[Weirfire]

Hi money do you find the fact that people have to enter their bank telephone number on the payment screen put people off when using Ikobo

Iterested as I have just got there gatway and am wondering the about of people not completeing because of this - I do not know my bank tel

Do you actually need to put the bank tel number to complete the transaction? That's a bit harsh!

[Fishing Forum]

Yes mate - seems strange but looking for something different than Nochex UK

Oops should have started new thread on this

[money]

I think you can offer your customers multiple payment option. Ikobo has no setup fee and monthly fees. It costs you nothing to add ikobo payment option to your website.

[angrylizard]

PayPal is as far as fees and ease of use go, one of the better services to go with. You can setup paypal to work through your site and make it so they can just pay by credit card without creating a paypal account. My programmer and I just built a shopping cart based on this practice.

For more information on how, check out the PayPal e commerce guide. It's long but worth the read!

[lorien1973]

i would never use paypal as the primary payment option. The past few days has been a great reason why - paypal was down and orders could not be processed. what if it happens again?

noteveryone has paypal. not everyone wants to create a paypal account.

plus, having users register to buy something is a major deterrent to buying online. I tend to like the most simple method of payment possible for my online sites.

[angrylizard]

Yeah, BUT for those who use paypal, they do not have to make users register to make payments. You can bypass it. It explains how in PayPal's Merchant guide

[money]

Paypal has a narrow coverage. It only runs well in USA and Canada. If you only do your business in these countries, paypal is a good choice. But if you want to do your business worldwide, paypal is not a good choice.

[mariusak]

Hi,
I'm pretty new to this, an could need some advice.
THe thing is, I have just been hired as a webmaster++ (partly volunteer) for a small Humantarian Aid organization in Norway (www.yme.no).

We have members and donors all over the world, and we would like to make it easier for private persons to make small donations to us.

In that matter, a CC paymentsystem would be perfect.

The thing is, that we cannot afford (because a non-profit organization should in theory not invest in something like that) to pay alot in "startup" charge.

We also don't know if our donors will use a CC service at all.
(Some have said they will).

Is there a okay service that I could use to get CC donations without having the donor to register?

(I have read both threads on this issue, and I know, I'm kind of asking the same question again, but I do not know how to continue my search for a solution..

Have a nice day!

-Marius

[money]

mariusak
I think Ikobo is your best choice. First, Ikobo have a wide coverage in 170 countries. So you can recieve worldwide donations. Secondly, Ikobo have no setup fee. Thirdly, Ikobo's transaction fee is relatively low in the providers. It is just my own viewpoint.

[SoniaJr]

I heard ikobo lowered their p2p transfer fee to 3%. Is it true? Money, how is your experience with ikobo ?

[Weirfire]

I've just been checking out Natwests FastPay (http://www.fastpay.com) and it looks like you need to register with them. They still only charge 9pence per transaction though which is very low.

I'm not sure what I'm going to go through with in the end but I reckon I'll offer a few services and see which ones the customers like the best.

[DarrenC]

I offer my clients various payment methods; PayPal, No chex, NatWest Fast Pay.. they choose whichever service they prefer. There is no way I am going to pay the money out for a merchant account AND then pay for something like Worldpay.. it's simply not cost effective for a small company.

[money]

I heard ikobo lowered their p2p transfer fee to 3%. Is it true? Money, how is your experience with ikobo ?
Yes. Ikobo do lowered their p2p transfer fee to 3%. That means you can save some transaction fees. ;) Generally, I am satisfied with Ikobo. Because its transaction fee is lower than that of other providers and its coverage is the widest in the providers. I have not met any problems with it. Although Ikobo has some shortcomings such as poor customer support. But they have made great improvement in these aspects. So I think Ikobo is a good choice. Anyway, It is just my own viewpoint.

[Weirfire]

I have a small problem with payment methods for 1 of my clients.

I know that a lot of you use cubecart or oscommerce for shopping basket but I have created my own shopping basket system and I'm looking for one of the payment providers to allow customers to buy multiple products at 1 time. Is there any providers that I can do this with?

[expat]

..I have created my own shopping basket system and I'm looking for one of the payment providers to allow customers to buy multiple products at 1 time. Is there any providers that I can do this with?
I do use cube basics but heavily tailored -
Both PP and WP don't know what is underlying they just process what I send them.....
Both allow tracking details to be passed through e.g. order number etc. and I just pass totals to them for processing, no order details, no problem.

pm if you need the php script

M

[Weirfire]

Thanks expat, I'll see if I can get things working with Paypal.

When I contacted them to see if multiple items was possible they gave me some crazy reply. I think they have monkeys replying to queries :confused:

Fastpay did state that this was something they were looking into for the future. Hopefully it will stay at 9p a transaction.

[SoniaJr]

Yes. Ikobo do lowered their p2p transfer fee to 3%. That means you can save some transaction fees. ;) Generally, I am satisfied with Ikobo. Because its transaction fee is lower than that of other providers and its coverage is the widest in the providers. I have not met any problems with it. Although Ikobo has some shortcomings such as poor customer support. But they have made great improvement in these aspects. So I think Ikobo is a good choice. Anyway, It is just my own viewpoint.

Viewing them from a merchant's point of view, what are their good points and also deficiencies (I used their live chat system and they seem to have a very good customer support so I think they resolved their "poor customer support" deficit)? What is their coverage? Thanks.

[expat]

....
When I contacted them to see if multiple items was possible they gave me some crazy reply. I think they have monkeys replying to queries :confused: .
just think of your complete shopping cart including P&P tax etc as one single item (The order)..... that's the item you want to process by the payment processor... thats all they see and do.
cheers
M

[Weirfire]

Thanks Expat,


Thats a lot of help thanks

[Tapanti]

Viewing them from a merchant's point of view, what are their good points and also deficiencies (I used their live chat system and they seem to have a very good customer support so I think they resolved their "poor customer support" deficit)? What is their coverage? Thanks.

Hi SoniaJr. Welcome to DP.

I’m using them, but haven’t done so for very long. From a Merchant point of view, especially from a Costa Rica merchant point of view, the main advantage is that we can process CC payments online. Period.

Being in Costa Rica has practically doomed me and many others for being able to accept credit cards online, due to the HUGE amount of sport books companies that have chosen Costa Rica to base their operations.

According to several CC processing companies that I have consulted, these companies have an enormous rate of chargebacks and complaints, thus, making the name of Costa Rica look very bad in the eyes of CC processing companies. Something really bad for online merchants. :mad:

So far, I’m satisfied with iKobo services, especially their low rates, their customer service and the affiliate program.

But I repeat: I’m still in the phase of testing it, so that I can recommend it to my Costa Rican and Latin American clients (as well as to the good guys at DP). ;)

About their coverage, I think their services cover most of the world. I've used it for clients in Costa Rica and in Argentina.

.

[money]

I have a small problem with payment methods for 1 of my clients.

I know that a lot of you use cubecart or oscommerce for shopping basket but I have created my own shopping basket system and I'm looking for one of the payment providers to allow customers to buy multiple products at 1 time. Is there any providers that I can do this with?
Ikobo support this feature. You can visit the link below to get more details.
http://www.ikobo.com/ikobo.cgi?action=info_merchant

[Weirfire]

Thanks money :)

[money]

Thanks money :)
That is my pleasure. Wish this can help you. If you have any questions, you can ask me. ;)

[daemeh]

Great thing about this ikobo/OSC module. It could prove useful indeed, do you know of people actually using this combination with success?

[SoniaJr]

Yeap. I use it and the plugin works great. I wish they could hurry to release the next version which have prepopulated address fields. :)

[daemeh]

Ok, thanks for the info. It's nice to hear that it works and people are actually using it. I may consider this as a start-up option for my second project.

[Developer]

Never ever use only PayPal. re your site: people from countries not supported from PayPal also travel, and there is no way for them to pay with PayPal.


Cheers

[Pen Tongue]

Another method is eChecks. This article discusses the benefits of online checks (http://www.secondsite.biz/Resources/Articles/echecks-checkout.php).

Frankly speaking, PayPal and Merchant accounts demand too much (2-5%) IMO. Especially if you are a service provider (i.e. an SEO) with average transactions of $250 or more. We've partnered with Electracash (http://www.secondsite.biz/Partners/Payment-Partners/Electracash/) to supply eCheck/ACH transactions through our billing tool (http://www.secondsite.biz/Services/Invoicing/). The tool itself is worth a look if invoicing is a pain for you - it's free. Electracash and eChecks are worth a look if you would like to accept payment online, but are balking at the costs.

- PT

[SoniaJr]

Never ever use only PayPal. re your site: people from countries not supported from PayPal also travel, and there is no way for them to pay with PayPal.


Cheers

I agree. I also travel but because I don't have a bank account but an iKard (ikobo debit card), I can withdraw my money from any ATM in the world. It's pretty useful.

[money]

Yes. Paypal is not available in my country. I use ikobo. It has a very wide coverage and offer you an I-kard. It is a kind of visa debit card. Just as what SoniaJr mentioned, this card is very convenient. :)

[Design1]

Hello there! I just thought I would give my opinion from a few years experience in dealing with some of the companies out there..
PayPal - Has some downfalls (required signup ~although i dont know if its still that way), fraud (but where dont u get fraud?), ok support
StormPay - NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN will i use them. I used them to accept a few payments for my website with no problems. I then purchase something off ebay and they require 'stormpay' payments, sure no prob! I get the item and it was $120 worth of illegal fraudulent merchandise. Ebay says too bad contact Stormpay or bank, bank says too bad contact stormpay, stormpay says they will check into it and after several emails from me, each getting a bit more disgruntle, they never ever respond. I also find out that they did the same thing to another person that had the exact thing happen to them. Of course they 'have' all this information on the person that ripped us off but they wont do a thing about it. So, i just can't recommend a company that permits and encourages fraud. Never again will i deal with them. Never.
2CheckOut - I would have to say they have really improved from when i first started using them, especially with dealing with fraud, technical support, etc. Due to fraud i almost changed companies but am really glad i stayed!

Hope this helps! Just my personal experiences.. Just remember, there will always be fraud.

[daemeh]

Thank you very much for your input. It's a pretty good list of companies to not do business with and I'll keep it in mind. So far with Ikobo I don't have any major complaints, so at least for a while I won't be adding it to that list. :D

[money]

Ikobo will take all the money transfered to merchant as sale now. It means that Ikobo lowered the p2p money transfer fee from 3%+5 to 2.99%+0.29 for merchant now. That is a good news.

[daemeh]

Great! They did promise constant improvements to their service, but I never thought it could actually be done. Seems so far they're keeping their promises. I wonder what their next thing will be, I heard something about introducing recurring billing. It may be this, who knows... :rolleyes:

[money]

Yes. Ikobo is constantly making improvements. Wish they will not stop their steps. What is introducing recurring billing？

[daemeh]

Well, recurring billing can mainly be used to sell some sort of service, to which the customer has to pay a monthly fee or something like that. Practically, it's the possibility to charge your customer on a regular basis, depending on what service (or goods for that matter) you are selling. Some of the other companies have this, I'm sure ikobo will introduce it soon.

[money]

Thanks. yes, it is a good feature. If ikobo offers this feature, then ikobo can meet diffrient customers's need. Ikobo is constantly improving their system. I think Ikobo will provide this service in the future.

[daemeh]

Yeah well, I don't know this for or fact or anything, I'm just guessing based on the fact that the award given by ikobo for the best suggestion from a customer, was in fact about recurring billing. I just connected the dots... ;)

[money]

daemeh
Have you ever used OSCommerce? OSCommerce is open source. It is free. Ikobo has no setup fee. So It will cost me nothing to setup an e-store with OSC and Ikobo.

[daemeh]

OK, I managed to set up an online store thanks to the OSC control panel but also thanks to ikobo. Since they’ve introduced third party shopping cart support I've been meaning to do this and now I'm almost finished. So far business has been good enough and people seem to become more open-minded to paying via ikobo. I suppose they're beginning to grow in popularity or something. [;)]
You are right, they're bot free to set up (I mean ikobo and OSCommerce). :)

[money]

Which Ikobo payment module are you using? Could you recommend it to me?

[daemeh]

Well, the latest version of course. Works fine so far. You can download it here (http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2440/page,7) Hope it can serve you.

[SoniaJr]

They've just launched a new affiliate program. Place a text link on your website or on the site of one of your affiliates, and earn $10 + 5% * recurring revenue. I think someone with a high number of website hits can make some good money over this.

[daemeh]

Hmm, interesting. I don't think I have that many hits, compared to other sites, but still this could be useful. I may consider giving this a try and see where it goes from there. Of course I'll let the users know they would be using my referral id so that those who chose not to, can do so without problems. It only seems fair.
Thank you for the info, are you using this program?

[musiclover]

What do you all think of http://www.regsoft.net

[money]

Well, the latest version of course. Works fine so far. You can download it here (http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2440/page,7) Hope it can serve you.
Thanks a lot. It is what I need. I have downloaded it. I will test it. I will keep you posted, If I have any progress.

[money]

They've just launched a new affiliate program. Place a text link on your website or on the site of one of your affiliates, and earn $10 + 5% * recurring revenue. I think someone with a high number of website hits can make some good money over this.
That is a good idea. I will place the link on my website. When we are marketing our own website, we are marketing for Ikobo. ;)

[daemeh]

What do you all think of http://www.regsoft.net
Hmm, can't really say what I think because I couldn't find too much information on their site. Something about fees, policy and so on. I could only find the signup fee is $10. Looks somewhat unprofessional to me, not informing your potential customers about your fees and so on... at least not before signup.

[SoniaJr]

I never heard of regsoft.net and if you say they are unprofessional then I won't even go and check their homepage. I also don't like them because they have a signup fee.

[daemeh]

Eh well, don't take my word for it, I may be wrong. Maybe you should check it out yourself and tell us how you find it. Who knows, you may want to switch from ikobo to regsoft. :p

[money]

I have not heard of regsoft too. Maybe it is a new company. I have visited the website. I think it is like ebay.

[daemeh]

Well, the thing is that at the beginning people could have said the same thing about ikobo since it was new to the market. Right now ikobo is, in my opinion, very far from what it was when they started. What I mean by this is that they've considerably improved upon their service. Who knows, maybe regsoft will follow in its footsteps. :D

[money]

daemeh
yes. I think what you said is right. But regsoft is different from Ikobo. They offer diffrerent service. We can not use regsoft to set up an e-store.

[nvrgivup]

Hi,

We do some stuff like this, we started processing cards for local companies.

We can process visa and master card, and the rates are 3% per card everything is done via telephone for complete accuracy. In our experience even https can have comprimised cards.

If you interested to know more drop me a line at lucas.balemba@aryntel.net

[Doughty]

I am looking for the company that provides money transfer needs. And I checked regsoft.net too. Their fee is 8.9% with a $3 minimum; in addition they have a set up fee. To my mind it has to be cheap because those who want to start their first online business have very limited funds. And the company is new so not many people want to risk their money.

[money]

Doughty
Yes. You are right. To be on the safe side, I will still use ikobo. Because I am satisfied with it. Maybe someday when regsoft grown up, I will consider it.

[szy]

Doughty
Yes. You are right. To be on the safe side, I will still use ikobo. Because I am satisfied with it. Maybe someday when regsoft grown up, I will consider it.

You are from Ikobo, aren't you? :)

I've read this thread and... almost every good word about Ikobo comes from you... :)

Szy.

[money]

szy
I am just an ikobo user. I have used ikobo for a long time. I am very satisfied with Ikobo. So I just share my experiences with everybody here. :)

[SoniaJr]

@szy: you might be right ... he kinda sounds like someone who is going to give us his referral link ;)

Anyway, here the thread is about payment methods and I consider ikobo a good one. Also 2co is not bad at all but I really like that ikard Visa electron thingy ? I am the only one here who doesn't have a real bank account ? ;)

[Pen Tongue]

- Doughty -

For money transfer, I know a company you can use.

PM me if you are interested. If others are interested I'll post it.

[swaz]

post it?

i'm interested.

[Pen Tongue]

OK. But first...

Disclaimer
The following company is a parter of ours at 2ndSite. If you cannot bear that, please stop reading now. Thank you.

Post
The company is Electracash (www.electracash.com). They do direct desposit into US chequing accounts which you can manage yourself. Their website is thin right now, but they have been around since 1999. We like them becuase their solution is fast and their transactions inexpensive (i.e. $0-5/transaction, not 2-8%). PM me if you want a contact.

[swaz]

hmm

its not available outside US and Canada?

[Pen Tongue]

pretty confident that that is correct. I think that with written permission (i.e. a fax) from the recipient (i.e. if you have staff in forign locations) then you can use it.

[cdx]

Wow, it turn out to be a very long thread... I am proud at myself... ;)

[money]

SoniaJr:
I have not a real bank account too.
cdx:
yes. there are many guys who interested in online payment.

[daemeh]

hmm

its not available outside US and Canada?
Hmm, now that's not very good, now is it? I don't dispute the fact that this may be a really good service, but since it's limited to US and Canada it's of no use to me... or anyone living outside of these 2 countries. Eh well... I guess it's still ikobo for me (not that I'd mind). :D

[real]

Accepting credit card is good idea. Adding visa/master/discover/amex images makes your site look more prestigious. There seem to be cheap options. We chose the most expensive one, and never used it (yet). Worldpay: setup:500, annual:200: activate: 100 or 200, monthly: 50+, and ) and maximum of 4 % (?) and 0.45 per transaction
And they don't make any refunds.
It was very painful to find a cc processing company. I searched internet and cardservice international seemed to be the only reliable option. And later I learned that they only refer customers to worldpay and do nothing else.

[daemeh]

Wow, worldpay sure has some big fees, now don't they. I'm not disputing they aren't good or anything, but the setup fee alone is way way, out of my league. I suppose I'll have to stick to cheaper, yet not all that bad alternatives such as ikobo for now.

[Doughty]

Hmm, now that's not very good, now is it? I don't dispute the fact that this may be a really good service, but since it's limited to US and Canada it's of no use to me... or anyone living outside of these 2 countries. Eh well... I guess it's still ikobo for me (not that I'd mind). :D
Yes, I totally agree that the coverage is very important. Many people are looking for the company that covers as many countries as possible. As we all have customers not only in the USA and/or Canada, and in addition many of us live in Europe.

[SoniaJr]

Worldpay: setup:500, annual:200: activate: 100 or 200, monthly: 50+, and ) and maximum of 4 % (?) and 0.45 per transaction
And they don't make any refunds.


I don't hink this is a good service too startup your business with. It's too expensive. Maybe, if they prove themselves to be a good alternative to paypal or ikobo, thus by lowering their fees and enalrging their coverage, people would turn their attention to them. Time will tell, right ?

[yfs1]

I got Worldpay to slash their fees just by asking (you never know) and if you have more than a hobby site, you will have to have something better than ikobo or paypal. I think I paid them around £90 one time setup with no monthly - just a per transaction which I also negotiated down.

I offer Paypal as a payment option but very few people in Europe use it.

Sonia - Do you work for Ikibo? You seem to only respond to payment threads touting them

[SoniaJr]

yfs1, it would be a really nice thing to work for them but unfortunately I am only interested in online payments and since this service covers my country, it's normal to be interested in it. ikobo works mainly for US and Canada. for Europe you might try 2Checkout. They have higher fees but they are pretty reliable.

[daemeh]

Hmm, don't get me wrong, I'm not defending anyone here but i think i understand sonia's situation. For me it's pretty much the same, what i mean is that ikobo is so far the only service which works without any hassle for my country, so i think it's normal to want to discuss about it... and possible alternatives. about that, are you saying 2checkout is such an option? i'll look into this matter, never hurts to have more payment options available, right?

[money]

daemeh
Yes. I like Ikobo. Because It has wide coverage and low transaction fee. But I would like to add Paypal to my websit as an option. Although Its coverage is limited, it has no setup fee. So it costs me nothing. ;)

[SoniaJr]

You could add Paypal but I guess you didn't read the horror stories about this service. I would stay away from it for now. There are too many people with paypal emptied accounts. Choose another second payment gtw. This one is much too dangerous.

[daemeh]

like, not like, it's my only choice for now since i can't withdraw money from a paypal account. i am however considering 2checkout as a possibility but that's a little complicated since they don't send something similar to ikobo's card

[money]

daemeh
Ttransaction fee of 2checkout is very high. So I think 2checkout is not a good choice.

[Francisco Aloy]

Hi, :mad:

Just make sure you investigate the processor before signing up.

I signed up with one of the processor gateways mentioned in this
subject and I've never been able to do my first CC transaction.

The reviews are 50/50. The folks that have never had any problems
with the gateway say it's great. Folks that have had problems (like me)
say it's got the most dismal support dept. they've ever seen.

They got my $50.00 for signing up, owe me a credit for money charged
to my CC while testing in "Demo" mode and have not contacted me about
my problems in 2 months.

Before exposing your visitors to such a terrible ordeal just because they
want to check out...consider the above.

[daemeh]

daemeh
Ttransaction fee of 2checkout is very high. So I think 2checkout is not a good choice.
that's also true, compared to what i'm paying to ikobo now, 2checkout has almost double the fees as well as a $50 setup fee which i personally am not to keen on paying... there's some mention about something called yowcow, anyone knows? is it good?

[money]

daemeh
I do not know yowcow. Is it also an online payment provider?

[daemeh]

i've just looked at it... it's not so bad, except for the fees part, which, like i many cases are a killer. Except for wire transfers, everything else has at least a 2.5% fee, topping it for international wire transfer which will set you back 2.5% + USD$30.00 (that's even worse than western union, right?). guess i'll have to pass on this one as well :(

[SoniaJr]

Well, the fees part is THE MOST important thing for me. Why bother starting an online small business if you are going to give to yowcow all your money or at least a good % of them. I'll pass this yowcow too. They have also a very primitice interface which tells something: they are professionals.

[money]

Yes. The fee is so high. I think there is no other online payment providers charge lower than paypal and Ikobo.

[SoniaJr]

Oh, I can't say that, because there are many payments processing companies in this world. Maybe you are talking about the ones form the top: paypal, ikobo, 2co, moneybookers. In this case, you are right. :)

[subseo]

i am however considering 2checkout as a possibility but that's a little complicated since they don't send something similar to ikobo's card

Too bad 2checkout is missing the card, like Ikobo has. I am using both. IKobo is unfortunately more suitable to occasional transfers, 2checkout is more suitable for shopping purposes than Ikobo - all just IMHO.

[SoniaJr]

I've studied ikobo's features as merchant account provider and they have lots of features that are indispensable to a real merchant.

ArticleFactory: what are 2co merchant features? You seem to be very familiar with this service.

[subseo]

SoniaJr: I am not sure what you mean by 2co merchant features. I think they were easy to setup, and are easy to purchase from for buyers. On a short test, it seemed to me that Ikobo requires my buyers either to subscribe, or it appears as if subscribing, and I was afraid it would scare some of my customers. So at the moment I am using Ikobo mostly for Ebay sales and similar stuff, and 2co for my eshop. I am aware of relatively high fees but I prefer to have happy customers and little problems.

[daemeh]

I can't say that I don't agree with you, but the thing is I'm using ikobo for my e-shop, mainly because of the fact that the work best for my country, and of course for the fees. It is my only payment option and until now I can't say I can complain about customers getting scared and so on (at least not that I know of).

[subseo]

Hmm... perhaps I shall try it on one of my items first? I would only go with that if I will be 100% sure no sale is lost. Eventhough the atm card feature and thus the almost immediate accessibility of money could make up for it.

Unfortunately, not sure if it is back but it was impossible to pay via Mastercard to IKobo, which is also a big disadvantage.

[daemeh]

wouldn't hurt, now would it? :)
the MC problem still persists, but they're apologizing for it every time I log into my account and say they're working on it. They also said on livehelp there are some major improvements :rolleyes: to take place by the end of this month so maybe this is one of them... I wouldn't know.
Anyway, if you decide to give it a try, don't forget to let us know how it goes. Good luck! :)

[SoniaJr]

Yeah, I agree daemeh. Let's hope they will solve this pretty soon.
ArticleFactory: you could try ... who knows ... ikobo seems to be growing with every month (at least that's what I think, based on my monthly sales statistics), so you could even increase your sales. I also think that the ikard is a very cool thing :)
Daemeh: I think I read about these major improvements ... maybe they will change their current MC processor

[money]

I think Ikobo will solve the problem of Mastercard soon. Because ikobo is constantly improving their service.

[SoniaJr]

@money: why are saying that? Do you know something that we don’t? I see that you are so sure of yourself as well as ikobo's services. I am glad you are doing so well. Tell me please, what is your monthly sales volume and what geographical area predominates regarding your buyer's provenience? Thank you.

[daemeh]

I don't know why money is so sure of this... I mean, i also think they'll probably fix this sometime, they did it before, but I think we'll just have to wait and see. for now visa will have to do...
ArticleFactory, any updates on your "ikobo test"? :)

[subseo]

ArticleFactory, any updates on your "ikobo test"? :)

Not before they will restart accepting MasterCard. Accepting only Visa would mean lost business to me, some of my customers use only MasterCard.

[money]

SoniaJr
Just as what daemeh mentioned, Ikobo had ever fixed the problem before, so I think they can solve it soon. Anyway it is my own opinion.

[Doughty]

Well, ikobo has made a habbit of releasing new updates and features almost every month. Let's hope they'll keep this up and fix the problems with Master Card as many customers just don't have Visa.
And we all would like to hear about ArticleFactory experience with ikobo ;)
In my opinion it's very helpful to share your experience with those who haven't yet decided what payment method to choose.

[subseo]

Experience so far:

Everything works almost perfectly, apart from the fact that once I launched IKobo payments on one of my pages, IKobo had what seemed to be a temporary service outage. Coincidentally my 2nd payment provider, 2checkout, had problems in same time span, so that was rather bad experience for me and my client :(.

However, no other problem so far, and the above was a seemingly rare and short-time occurrence. The card works perfectly, just as any other Visa card.

What I would call a problem is the fact that if my payment gateway was IKobo only, I would lose at least 50% of clients just because they do not accept Mastercard - an estimate based on my stats.

[anusha]

paypal is easier to try I guess, I haven't tried Ikobo

__________________

Online Directory (http://chdn.info/) | Advertising (http://chdn.info/advertising.htm) | Business (http://chdn.info/business.htm) | Computing (http://chdn.info/computing.htm) | Healthcare (http://chdn.info/healthcare.htm) | Human Resources (http://chdn.info/human-resources.htm) | Industry (http://chdn.info/industry.htm) | Money (http://chdn.info/money.htm) |Shipping and Transportation (http://chdn.info/shipping-transportation.htm) |Telecommunications (http://chdn.info/telecommunications.htm)

[daemeh]

Experience so far:

Everything works almost perfectly, apart from the fact that once I launched IKobo payments on one of my pages, IKobo had what seemed to be a temporary service outage. Coincidentally my 2nd payment provider, 2checkout, had problems in same time span, so that was rather bad experience for me and my client :(.

However, no other problem so far, and the above was a seemingly rare and short-time occurrence. The card works perfectly, just as any other Visa card.

What I would call a problem is the fact that if my payment gateway was IKobo only, I would lose at least 50% of clients just because they do not accept Mastercard - an estimate based on my stats.

I'm glad you find ikobo to be working fine for you as well. I suppose we boh agree on tis matter. You're right about MC as well, it is quite a problem not being able to accept mastercard. Hopefully this will get fixed, as I understand the problem is with their bank partner, not with ikobo itself. Regardless of who's fault is, it's impacting on business... better fix it real soon.

[SoniaJr]

Experience so far:

Everything works almost perfectly, apart from the fact that once I launched IKobo payments on one of my pages, IKobo had what seemed to be a temporary service outage. Coincidentally my 2nd payment provider, 2checkout, had problems in same time span, so that was rather bad experience for me and my client :(.

However, no other problem so far, and the above was a seemingly rare and short-time occurrence. The card works perfectly, just as any other Visa card.

What I would call a problem is the fact that if my payment gateway was IKobo only, I would lose at least 50% of clients just because they do not accept Mastercard - an estimate based on my stats.

Nice signature you got there :)
Anyway ... I can only use ikobo and as I already said, it works perfectly. I can't wait to see that MC problem solved cause then ikobo (beeing cheaper and faster) will become a very good alternative to paypal and 2co. Not that 2co and paypal is not good ;)

[daemeh]

I think it's pretty obvious ikobo will fix this mastercard problem, and we should e-mail them to request a quick resolution of this problem. Anyway, as long as such alternatives to Paypal exist, I can't be anything but happy. I wouldn't know what I would to do if it weren't for ikobo.

[henryq]

Yes, some people do hate signing up for paypal. But using a merchant account will cost you a lot of money. Other copy sites of paypal are just as inconvenient. So I would still use paypal. As long as you explain the procedure on how to sign up with paypal, the real interested customers will still buy from you. I have an online store, and everyday people sign up for paypal just to buy from me.

[SoniaJr]

My webstore has more clients since ikobo removed the verification procedure for all the customers. I think paypal did the same thing not long ago, I am right ?

[benf]

I nwould suggest either secpay or epdq from barkleys. It is the safest, you hardly leave your site.

it does cost to have secpay though, but you get the money within a few days not 30 days with epdq.

[SoniaJr]

I never heard of them and besides that, I didn't understand what you said. :(

[yfs1]

You've never heard of Barclays? Its a major bank.
Remember this is a payments thread in General, not just an Ikibo one (you already have two of those you are keeping alive)

All info is welcome and should be explored

[daemeh]

Yes, some people do hate signing up for paypal. But using a merchant account will cost you a lot of money. Other copy sites of paypal are just as inconvenient. So I would still use paypal. As long as you explain the procedure on how to sign up with paypal, the real interested customers will still buy from you. I have an online store, and everyday people sign up for paypal just to buy from me.
I suppose the same thing goes for each service of this kind... As I've already said, unfortunately I can't use paypal so I'm limited to alternatives such as ikobo and now I'm considering 2checkout as an added payment method. Hope this will work out because it's always better to have one more available.

[SoniaJr]

You've never heard of Barclays? Its a major bank.
Remember this is a payments thread in General, not just an Ikibo one (you already have two of those you are keeping alive)

All info is welcome and should be explored

I welcome every new info regarding payments processing but I never heard of Barclays. I am sorry. I hope it's not a crime.
ikobo doesn't have to be the main topic here but "unfortunately" some of us use it :) and it's normal to talk about it.
You are right, if anyone wants to talk about ikobo, he or she should post in the ikobo thread.
So, that being said, what is secpay's coverage?

[daemeh]

As far as I know Barclays is only good in the UK so for the rest of us it's not an option.
Of course we can discuss anything about payment processor, not just about ikobo, but apparently whoever claims they have an alternative won't back it up with information and facts... at least this is how I see it.

[yfs1]

As far as I know Barclays is only good in the UK so for the rest of us it's not an option.
Of course we can discuss anything about payment processor, not just about ikobo, but apparently whoever claims they have an alternative won't back it up with information and facts... at least this is how I see it.

Ikobo went bust (merchant services anyway) so its not an option for payment processing anymore ! Didn't they cover that at the last meeting.

[Weirfire]

I'll tell you who not to go with and that's HSBC. I've been trying to integrate their epayments system for the last 2-3 months and I'm only finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[yfs1]

I'll tell you who not to go with and that's HSBC. I've been trying to integrate their epayments system for the last 2-3 months and I'm only finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Holy cow! I remember your original post when you were having problems. How much longer until you think its resolved?

[Weirfire]

Well i was saying on another post to TOPS that I was nearly there and then I found that I couldn't run executables on my server to generate the orderhash (HSBC failed to mention the server requirements before my client went ahead with them) so after another few days I found there was a workaround to generate the orderhash using mcrypt and mhash of which only mcrypt is installed on the server. So now Im waiting my server hosts decision on whether they can install mhash to the server.

The only support that I can get for the integration is from the oscommerce HSBC MOD forums because HSBC dont give support for PHP.

Here is the link (http://forums.oscommerce.com/index.php?showtopic=76967) for the thread which has over 400 posts of problems for this integration. There are a few other forums with threads but this is the only substantial one. I've had to take the MODS apart and try and figure out which parts I can use and which parts I can't.

We'll see what happens once mhash is installed.

[yfs1]

What did your client do in the meantime as most don't have that much patience no matter who is at fault. Did they have another payment proccessor as a back up?

[Weirfire]

I installed paypal within about 4 hours and we are also using cheques and postal orders. I have a maintenance contract with them and a good relationship so they've been fairly patient. They haven't fully stocked the website out yet with all the products either as there are about 10,000 products which they sell so while it is still top priority to get HSBC installed there is a bit of leverage.

[akeeldin]

I'm a half-decent programmer but integrating a payment processing system into a webstore? -Nearly sent me to the nuthouse!

So unless you're on a zero budget or something, I'd pay someone to do that for me.

[Weirfire]

Well as TOPS was saying to me, now that I've spent all that time on it, I can offer my services to integrate the system that causes so many people a lot of pain. On the other hand I don't like intentionally inflicting pain on myself ;)

[Weirfire]

Well that's all folks!! In just under 4 months I have managed to integrate the HSBC ePayments system. If anyone else wants to try this in PHP and you start tugging at your hair then let me know and I'll help you for a fee :)

My advice to you if you are thinking about using HSBC is to use something else.

I have to admit though that the customer entry page for HSBC looks quite nice and is very user friendly.

[daemeh]

Hehe, I suppose congratulations are in order here, right! :D
It's good to know HSBC can also be integrated... eventually. This information may prove useful once I decide to add something else besides ikobo. Thanks!

[yfs1]

once I decide to add something else besides ikobo. Thanks!

Better decide soon as they went out of business! (For payment processing anyway)

[Corey Bryant]

What gateways does HSBC support? Most gateways will give you coding actually to easily integrate into a website. If HSBC supported LinkPoint, Verisign, or Authorizenet.com - it would be pretty simple

[yfs1]

What gateways does HSBC support? Most gateways will give you coding actually to easily integrate into a website. If HSBC supported LinkPoint, Verisign, or Authorizenet.com - it would be pretty simple

Correct me if I'm wrong Corey but isn't HSBC (or at least the product Weirfire mentioned) both a Gateway AND a payment processor?

I say that because I had thought technically it was the gateway part he was having the trouble integrating.

This is opposed to someone like Worldpay (which I use) which is classified just as a payment processor and requires an additional gateway.

Again correct me if I'm not understanding you correctly.

[Weirfire]

First of all the main problem with HSBC ePayments API is that you can't sign up for it unless you have held a merchant account with them for over a year. This means that it is limited to the number of people that can use it.

Secondly it costs something like £200 start up and then £50 a month + 2.39% of each transaction. Don't quote me on that because it was 4 months since I last was told the cost. It's different for each person who wants to sign up as well.

I know osCommerce is one supported gateway but if you have a look at the oscommerce forums you'll see that the thread regarding HSBC epayments runs for over 400 posts full of problems and severely stressed out people. There are 2 oscommerce MODS and people still find problems with both of them. i think the main problem is that their system isn't fully compatible with every server and you need to have SSL certificates installed.

If you want to have a look at how it works go to www.thepresentshop.co.uk and make a purchase by credit card. You can go to cancel the order once you're inside the hsbc pages.

If some pages don't load up this afternoon it's probably because I'm working on them.

[Corey Bryant]

Actually HSBC it seems outsources it processing to Global Payments who actually also might use Authorizenet.com it seems from their website. Sometimes, some of these smaller processors like to push their own proprietary gateway which has not been built up as needed. But as long as it is CISP-compliant, that should be fine

[articlesandcontent]

Ok, my two cents on this. I live in Portugal and recently paypal added the option to withdraw funds to a Portuguese bank account. Great...but, I have tried to do this several times and the process is always suspended. Now, I have a lot of cash stuck inside paypal and they say they cannot do anything to get it out ....yeah....
As to ikobo, is it really out of business? I do not think they are, I just signed up for an account and they really seem the best choice for us, Europeans. I like the ikard option but I will have to try to raise that sending/receiving limit; I think it is pathetically low.

[yfs1]

As to ikobo, is it really out of business? I do not think they are, I just signed up for an account and they really seem the best choice for us, Europeans. I like the ikard option but I will have to try to raise that sending/receiving limit; I think it is pathetically low.
We aren't talking about their Paypal type service....The shut down their merchant services.

[Weirfire]

Ok, my two cents on this. I live in Portugal and recently paypal added the option to withdraw funds to a Portuguese bank account. Great...but, I have tried to do this several times and the process is always suspended. Now, I have a lot of cash stuck inside paypal and they say they cannot do anything to get it out ....yeah....
As to ikobo, is it really out of business? I do not think they are, I just signed up for an account and they really seem the best choice for us, Europeans. I like the ikard option but I will have to try to raise that sending/receiving limit; I think it is pathetically low.

I know it's not the best option but could you not buy some items with your Paypal account and then sell them on? If you're totally stuck with trying to get your money out of Paypal then this could be 1 way of quickly getting it out. Not a great long term option though.

[yfs1]

I accept Paypal on all my sites but since only about 2-4% of people use it, I just spend that money for necesary expenses. In all my years I have never requested a check.

[Weirfire]

I accept Paypal on all my sites but since only about 2-4% of people use it, I just spend that money for necesary expenses. In all my years I have never requested a check.

I try to offer as many different methods of payment as possible as it isn't that much extra effort in the long run if it means more sales. I've even got postal orders stuck in there just in case although most orders have come by cheque or Paypal so far.

[articlesandcontent]

Weirfire, yes that could be an option, I will give it a try!Anyway, I am closing my paypal account as soon as they even allow me to !

[Weirfire]

Weirfire, yes that could be an option, I will give it a try!Anyway, I am closing my paypal account as soon as they even allow me to !

You could always pay for your web hosting with Paypal although I dont know which web hosting providers accept Paypal.

[yfs1]

You could always pay for your web hosting with Paypal although I dont know which web hosting providers accept Paypal.

GoDaddy does if you're into that kind of thing.

[articlesandcontent]

I do not pay for web hosting. I barter for my services ;)
I have been reading the ikobo post, man! Now that I have found someone who would operate in Portugal they go down! I guess I will have to keep looking. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
Thank you

[Weirfire]

You should be able to use Worldpay or 2checkout. They're a little more expensive but you can use them for any country in the World. I think Worldpay is the most popular out of those 2 though.

What hosting do you use that's free? I'm paying next to nothing for my hosting but I'm very happy with the service that they give me! :)

[articlesandcontent]

Oh, my wehbosting provider is not free, he only does not charge me because I provide him with 3 free articles a month. We made a deal ;)

Will check on worldpay and 2checkout. Thank you so much!

[Weirfire]

Oh, my wehbosting provider is not free, he only does not charge me because I provide him with 3 free articles a month. We made a deal ;)

Will check on worldpay and 2checkout. Thank you so much!

You're welcome :)

There are plenty of others mentioned on the other payment methods thread which is longer than this 1.

[yfs1]

If you are going to think about Worldpay...be sure to ask for a better price no matter what they quote you. They cut most of my fees in half just for asking!

They are probably one of the better ones but you pay for that!

(It also depends on your volume)

[SoniaJr]

Weirfire, yes that could be an option, I will give it a try!Anyway, I am closing my paypal account as soon as they even allow me to !

As far as I know, the new ikobo investors changed their strategy and stopped offering merchant services. If you just want to use their send/receive money transfer service then you won't have any problems. I still use it and it works exactly the same ...

[Weirfire]

That's a good bit of information Sonia. What's the reason for your wee red square? :confused: You seem like a normal person :)

[subseo]

I thought the Ikobo removal of merchant services was because of new requirements of card associations. And I think that's also why they don't take Mastercards. For example, take 2checkout - they had what I believe was the same problem, yet they solved it by clearly pronouncing being just a reseller of their customers goods and services, and changing the visual appearance and legal texts to not to misguide anyone to think otherwise.

Though this is just my thinking along the topic, no facts or insider info to backup.

[yfs1]

This is one of the dangers of these type of companies though. You all share the same "merchant account". This is also why myPaysystems went bust. They had just a few customers that got a load of chargebacks and that meant "everybody" had a load of chargebacks. There is a reason the major processors using this only accept certain countries. They are hedging their bets that their merchant account won't be closed.

Ikobo it seems could no longer mantain the balancing act.

There is a huge difference between their two divisions and merchant accoutns is by far the more difficult and risky one.

[SoniaJr]

That's a good bit of information Sonia. What's the reason for your wee red square? :confused: You seem like a normal person :)

Maybe because posting or answering questions about a specific service is nowadays considered spamming. I don't really know the reason ... Anyway, I am always happy to help so I won't stop posting just because someone gave me a red flag ...

[SoniaJr]

I thought the Ikobo removal of merchant services was because of new requirements of card associations. And I think that's also why they don't take Mastercards. For example, take 2checkout - they had what I believe was the same problem, yet they solved it by clearly pronouncing being just a reseller of their customers goods and services, and changing the visual appearance and legal texts to not to misguide anyone to think otherwise.

Though this is just my thinking along the topic, no facts or insider info to backup.

You could be right ... I always try to be informed about ikobo because it's my only way of withdrawing my funds and I have to mention that my postings are also based on rumors or my own thoughts and I don't have any info to backup.

[Weirfire]

Just though I'd bring this thread up again to ask for some advice.

One of my clients sells products of which he can sell 2-6 items a month. The value of these products can range from £20($40) to £3000($6000). We haven't installed an ecommerce system yet which is what I would like to request information for.

Which ecommerce system would you recommend my client uses? Below are some of the attributes of his selling procedures;

- Will distribute Globally
- Looking for minimal renewal/monthly costs
- Needs transactions to allow for larger amounts
- Business is based in the UK
- A system which won't take me 4 months to install ;)

Any advice you can give me would be very much appreciated.

[Corey Bryant]

You might check out the gateway www.protx.com and some of the merchant accounts that support that. HSBC might work for you as well as Barclay's. Worldpay might also be an option as well.

[markkk]

well aside from paypal I use 2checkout / stormpay / egold

[yfs1]

well aside from paypal I use 2checkout / stormpay / egold

Somehow I don't see Weirs client using eGold ;)

[Weirfire]

Thanks Corey.

Protx looks perfect. I've heard other people that have used it and have been pleased with it.

Has anyone had any experience setting this up?

I used the price calculator on their site and found that secpay2 was even cheaper. Has anyone had any experience using them?