I am looking into putting into my web page Paypal & Moneybookers as payment options. Paypal has the advantage that users can pay with the major credit cards. Initially I was thinking of using Authorize.net too for credit card processing. However I understand that having Paypal, Authorize.net does not make sense anymore. Are there any differences between the way Paypal & Authorize.net process Credit Cards from the client/consumer point of view? Woul you see any reason why I should add Authorize.net as a apyment option? Thanks for your input.
Authorize.net is an electronic payment gateway - you need a merchant account provider to accept credit cards in your website. Moneybookers is an IPSP (Internet Payment Service Provider). Some versions of Paypal is an IPSP and you can have your own merchant account with Paypal and the gateway Payflow.
Thanks Corey, I am looking basically at the Business account through paypal. I do not know if that is a ISPS or a gateway. Besides this & from the user side, does it make a difference for a user/customer to pay with a credit card through Paypal or through Authorize.net? or is the transaction basically the same. Thanks for your help to understand this matter.
Paying by credit card thru Authorize.Net gateway will ensure your corporate name will show up in customer's monthly statements. Your money will get deposited into your bank account in 2 or so days. You will be liable for charge backs and you will have a full control over when to charge your client. You can also use Authorize.Net API interface...
Thanks lkj, so I understand that basically & from the customer side the only difference will come afterwards, once he/she receives the card charge since all the interaction during the buying process will basically be the same, right? You mention also something about charge backs. I will be doing quite an aggresive comercial campaign of the sort "try it & if you do not like it, you will get your money back", so I think I will need to refund more than the usual merchant... How does Paypal process this... I mean If my cutomer returns the item & I want to refund the money paid. Do they charge a commission on that? How much? Thanks for the help of the more experienced sellers...
Paypal also offers an API where you can process transactions through your website. Chargebacks - a different story altogether. It depends on what the consumer tells their issuing bank and your policies and what issuing bank it is. You would be charged the discount rate as well and a transaction fee on the money returned.
Sorry I missed the other part. Paypal offers different variations. They have a Website Payments Standard, Website Payments Pro (U.S. Only), and Payflow (gateway) (which requires you to have a merchant account. Now, within Website Payments Standard it seems you can have a PayPal Business Account. Basically you need to decide if you want your own merchant account or to use Paypal. If you are in the United States and doing more than $1,000 a month - consider a merchant account. The reason being, it might be a bit more expensive, but also consider your time. With a merchant account, the money will be deposited into your checking account with a couple of days. With Paypal, you need to sign in and tell them you want your money or drive down to the ATM to get it. It's not really Authorize.net/Cybersource that decides your name is on the consumer statement, but the merchant account provider. The gateway is the virtual connectivity to the transaction processor (First Data, Nova, Paymentech). And for example, First Data can authorize / decline the transaction depending on the banks without going to the card associations. How Does a Credit Card Transaction Get Processed might help out some as well.
I liked paypal as they accept major credit cards as well as people can pay through there paypal account which most people have nowadays so it serves the purpose much better
Yea, with your own merchant account you will need to apply separate with American Express and Discover.
All over all, PayPal is supported only about 190+ countries and I do not think they can expand beyond this due to Jurisdiction factors. On the other hand Authorize.Net is available from any part of the world.