3 ms·

Still can't decide on a Payment System. Please HELP

17 points by j1477 17y ago

[content removed by owner]

olalonde 17y ago
This article might help you: http://sitepoint.com/article/merchant-account-review http://sitepoint.com/article/merchant-account-review
- admn_is_traitor 17y ago
  FYI: if you ever lose your paypal password, you are for all practical purposes, gifting all the money in that account to paypal. Their password recovery scheme is intentionally designed this way. (Courier copies of your passport, credit card bill, bank statement, etc. after which they might or might not get back to you. This can take months.)
Brushfire 17y ago
The reason you fall under higher risk is because you are transferring or aggregating funds instead of just collecting. This means you could be prone to money laundering. The new paypal api (that's in beta, see x.com) allows transactions like this without you taking the holding/fraud risk. Its probably your best shot. Outside of that, you could try to get arrangements with an escrow provider (like escrow.com) to handle the payment part of your transactions.
- ankeshk 17y ago
  I am facing a similar problem. So had checked X.com - but discarded them. Because they don't work with credit card transactions yet - only PayPal. Which would mean at least half the transactions being lost...
barmstrong 17y ago
I went through this same problem a while back. The hard part was the direct deposit, most companies didn't offer it. I finally ended up using http://www.achdirect.com/ http://www.achdirect.com/ I'm not sure I would recommend them - their support was horrible, and the dinged me with a $100 "hidden fee" - but they were the only company I found who had an API for both billing and direct deposit and it did end up working eventually. BrainTree rejected my app too. I wrote a ruby active_merchant plugin to interface with ACHDirect - ping me if you want the source.
ljharb 17y ago
I'm about to implement Recurly http://www.recurly.com/ http://www.recurly.com/ on my own site, on top of PayPal Website Payments Pro. Recurly abstracts my gateway's API stuff and stores payment details so I'm not tied to my gateway - much like I wouldn't use a Comcast email address to have the freedom to change TV providers. Worth a try. Note: I'm a potential customer of theirs and have no other affiliation.
- schtono 17y ago
  Offtopic: Can I use recurly outside the US? I'd need it for a b2b website and have nothing but a German bank account and credit card. Thanks!
jacquesm 17y ago
I know of one company that can do this, I don't like advertising friends businesses (simply because you might think I promote them because they are my friends). I've used their services for several years now and they are in for the long haul and seem to be doing pretty good. Warning though: 1) they're not cheap 2) the requirements are stiff, a lot of applicants get rejected 3) you'll need a Dutch BV to even begin the acceptation process, this will cost you a bundle. Even then the application may be declined (that's not their call, but the banks / PaySquares). If all that hasn't scared you off yet drop me a line. If 'barmstrong's solution works for the amount of the deposits you are looking at then that might be an easier solution. Have you talked to your bank about this ? Have you talked to VISA ? They might be able to give you pointers about which parties can handle the functionality you are looking for, they usually keep pretty good tabs on their IPSPs and gateways so they should be able to tell you.
Edinburger 17y ago
Can you elaborate on the PayPal isuses? Have you looked at PayPal Authorization & Capture? I am launching an equipment rental site and planning to use PayPal Authorization & Capture to help me take deposits.
- j1477 17y ago
  Visit http://www.paypalsucks.com/ http://www.paypalsucks.com/
bugmenot 17y ago
We were in a similar situation, so we compared all of the options, went with iTransact, and it's working out well: http://www.itransact.com/marketing/referral/S33oOO http://www.itransact.com/marketing/referral/S33oOO
aquaphile 17y ago
You need a "card not present" specialist, that understands ecommerce/tech startups. I highly recommend talking with JetPay (jetpay.com). They are the largest CNP payment processor, and they are an engineering company (even the CEO is an alpha programmer geek). Furthermore, they can integrate directly with you so you don't need a middleman (e.g. Authorize.Net). Their API and services support is outstanding -- see http://www.jetpay.com/cc_update.php http://www.jetpay.com/cc_update.php for details. We just wish we'd found them a year earlier!

17 points by j1477 17y ago

[content removed by owner]

This article might help you: http://sitepoint.com/article/merchant-account-review http://sitepoint.com/article/merchant-account-review

admn_is_traitor 17y ago
FYI: if you ever lose your paypal password, you are for all practical purposes, gifting all the money in that account to paypal. Their password recovery scheme is intentionally designed this way. (Courier copies of your passport, credit card bill, bank statement, etc. after which they might or might not get back to you. This can take months.)

Brushfire 17y ago

The reason you fall under higher risk is because you are transferring or aggregating funds instead of just collecting. This means you could be prone to money laundering. The new paypal api (that's in beta, see x.com) allows transactions like this without you taking the holding/fraud risk. Its probably your best shot. Outside of that, you could try to get arrangements with an escrow provider (like escrow.com) to handle the payment part of your transactions.

ankeshk 17y ago
I am facing a similar problem. So had checked X.com - but discarded them. Because they don't work with credit card transactions yet - only PayPal. Which would mean at least half the transactions being lost...

barmstrong 17y ago

I went through this same problem a while back. The hard part was the direct deposit, most companies didn't offer it. I finally ended up using http://www.achdirect.com/ http://www.achdirect.com/ I'm not sure I would recommend them - their support was horrible, and the dinged me with a $100 "hidden fee" - but they were the only company I found who had an API for both billing and direct deposit and it did end up working eventually. BrainTree rejected my app too. I wrote a ruby active_merchant plugin to interface with ACHDirect - ping me if you want the source.

ljharb 17y ago

I'm about to implement Recurly http://www.recurly.com/ http://www.recurly.com/ on my own site, on top of PayPal Website Payments Pro. Recurly abstracts my gateway's API stuff and stores payment details so I'm not tied to my gateway - much like I wouldn't use a Comcast email address to have the freedom to change TV providers. Worth a try. Note: I'm a potential customer of theirs and have no other affiliation.

schtono 17y ago
Offtopic: Can I use recurly outside the US? I'd need it for a b2b website and have nothing but a German bank account and credit card. Thanks!

jacquesm 17y ago

I know of one company that can do this, I don't like advertising friends businesses (simply because you might think I promote them because they are my friends). I've used their services for several years now and they are in for the long haul and seem to be doing pretty good. Warning though: 1) they're not cheap 2) the requirements are stiff, a lot of applicants get rejected 3) you'll need a Dutch BV to even begin the acceptation process, this will cost you a bundle. Even then the application may be declined (that's not their call, but the banks / PaySquares). If all that hasn't scared you off yet drop me a line. If 'barmstrong's solution works for the amount of the deposits you are looking at then that might be an easier solution. Have you talked to your bank about this ? Have you talked to VISA ? They might be able to give you pointers about which parties can handle the functionality you are looking for, they usually keep pretty good tabs on their IPSPs and gateways so they should be able to tell you.

Edinburger 17y ago

Can you elaborate on the PayPal isuses? Have you looked at PayPal Authorization & Capture? I am launching an equipment rental site and planning to use PayPal Authorization & Capture to help me take deposits.

j1477 17y ago
Visit http://www.paypalsucks.com/ http://www.paypalsucks.com/

bugmenot 17y ago

We were in a similar situation, so we compared all of the options, went with iTransact, and it's working out well: http://www.itransact.com/marketing/referral/S33oOO http://www.itransact.com/marketing/referral/S33oOO

aquaphile 17y ago

You need a "card not present" specialist, that understands ecommerce/tech startups. I highly recommend talking with JetPay (jetpay.com). They are the largest CNP payment processor, and they are an engineering company (even the CEO is an alpha programmer geek). Furthermore, they can integrate directly with you so you don't need a middleman (e.g. Authorize.Net). Their API and services support is outstanding -- see http://www.jetpay.com/cc_update.php http://www.jetpay.com/cc_update.php for details. We just wish we'd found them a year earlier!