Five Online Payment Processing Sites for Your Online Business

Article Contributed by Ashyia Hill

After the necessary marketing hype and hoopla you decide you are ready to unleash a barrage of products that your customers have been salivating after. If you don’t have a payment gateway set up however, your customers may lose interest in your product, because they can’t get what they want by paying online.

Sending a check through snail mail these days is just too slow for those who want their product yesterday. Set up an online payment processing for quick cash and secure handling. Use one of these five processing services to keep your business in the black.

PayPal

A subsidiary of Ebay.com, Paypal provides financial services for more than 200 million accounts in 22 different currencies worldwide. As just a 10 year-old company, it has grown leaps and bounds to provide customers with a variety of different services. Online companies can process credit cards through three different payment methods.

• Website Payments Standard –Through the standard payment method, a business can accept all major credit cards; avoid monthly fees and application processes. A payment button, which is easy to install, allows users to process payments through a third-party or customized shopping cart. The cost is per transaction, between 2.2 and 2.9 percent that is deducted from a registered bank account.

• Website Payments Pro –This option is the full blown process, where buyers can enter their shipping and payment options with a chance to review and confirm before actually purchasing a product. The Payments Pro also accepts all major credit and debit cards and rolls the processing and the internet merchant account into one service. There is a monthly fee of $30 for the use of this service.

• Payflow Payment Gateway –Using this option, businesses can still have the benefits of Paypal while holding on to their own third-party merchant account. When buyers go to purchase something on your site, they are taken to Paypal’s secure webpage to enter credit or debit card information. There is a one-time setup fee of $179 along with a monthly service fee of $20 for this service.

Amazon Payments

Originally as an online bookstore, Amazon.com now sells everything from books to groceries. Founded in 1995, Amazon.com has expanded their online presence to include Amazon Payments, a service that processes payments, subscriptions and donations. Check out their payments processing services:

• Simple Pay Standard –A basic processing service that takes buyers to the secure Amazon site to pay with any major credit card which is easy to implement through cut-and-paste html code. Pricing ranges between 1.9 and 2.9 percent for each transaction done.

• Simple Pay Subscriptions and Donations –An authorized button which allows buyers to purchase and confirm a subscription through Amazon’s main site. Pricing ranges between 1.9 and 2.9 percent per transaction.

• Simple Pay Marketplace –Another installable button that allows a business to charge a commission for products sold by various merchants. This also ranges between 1.9 and 2.9 percent per transaction.

Pay Simple

Younger than Paypal, Pay Simple is a processing service that specifically targets online businesses. Founded in 2005, this company offers a variety of online financial solutions including:

• Credit card processing
• Email invoicing
• Payment and fraud security
• ACH direct deposit
• Training and Support Services

They offer two different plans:

Invoice Simply –an online invoicing system that allows businesses to send electronic invoices. This service costs $11 per month.
Pay Simple Pro – A full service that processes credit, debit and check transactions. They provide this service for $35 a month.

Authorize.Net

Slightly younger than Amazon.com, Authorize.Net founded in 1996 provides online businesses with a scalable service that can be customized to a company’s needs. This gateway processes all major credit and debit cards, provides fraud protection and also provides additional services based on transaction and monthly fees. The basic setup cost is $99, with a monthly service fee of $20.

AlertPay

A Canadian based company created in 2004, Alert Pay works to create a simple solution for online payment. Their business service accepts Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit and debit cards in 22 different currencies. As with Paysimple, they also provide invoicing services as well as fraud protection and customer support. Signing up for an account is free, however, transactions can cost up to 4.5 percent per transaction.

Do Comparisons

Do your research to find out which service will work the best for your business. Contact each site’s customer support and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Jot down the answers and compare them with each site to compare the benefits.

About the Author
Ashyia Hill blogs at CreditDonkey, a site that provides small business owners with credit card research for entrepreneurs.