Looking for PSP recommendations

[June]

Hi,

We need to change from HSBC as PSP, we are having endless problems with the interface, to the extent that customers are now going elsewhere to place orders. We have 99% payment failures.

I have had some good advice so far and it seems SecPay is worth looking at - Worldpay seems very expensive to me with the module setup costs, etc

Before I make a final decision, I would very much appreciate any views on the subject - any positive experiences would be welcome

I know the issue has been aired on the forum before, but I am unable to find anything over the last few months

Many thanks an advance

[AdamL]

Worldpay are only expensive if you dont have a Merchant ID before signing with them. If you already have the Merchant ID, they are pretty low cost (low monthly charge with unlimited transactions).

Worldpay get a bad name in my opinion, they can be just as cheap as anyone else.

[Guy]

I signed up with Metacharge about 6 months ago. They have been very good to be honest and I have had no problems dealing with them. Tried the Worldpay route, but they wanted a £10k deposit first.....mmmh, maybe not.

[Jenny]

protx.com seem very popular.. if you have a normal merchant account already.
Jenny

[June]

I had seriously considered Protx, Jenny, but have gathered they have suffered from some bad DOSS attacks and have gone a bit over the top on the AVS checks, etc (this is the problem I have with HSBC - constant payment rejections, and multiple orders for the same transaction).

Worldpay transaction charges seem fine, but their setup and monthly charges are very high

[chris ashdown]

Protx have seemed willing to spend vast amounts of money to quickly sort out their DOS attacks and seem to be on top of it, these will continue no doubt to all PSP's in the future so I would rate protx much higher than the others on their past performance

They also send out problem reports quickly as as we found out over the last few weeks, and also subscribe to this forum with help and requests for info.

[wjcampbe]

Protx get my vote too. The quality of their support for Actinic integration is first class. I had excellent communication from them right through the setup stages.

[RuralWeb]

Several of my cients were running with SecPay when they came to me and wanted to change to HSBC because of problems - mainly not being able to contact SecPay. The stores I have running with HSBC also have problems with multiple orders and pending payments although these seem to have decreased recently. Several of my clients are setting up with Barclays but they are very slow with their admin.

You woud think that all these companies did not want our business the way they all act and give customer service.

[skysolutions]

Something to keep in mind.

We have been trying to negotiate with HSBC to get our card charges down, and have given them the spiel about having a better offer from the likes of skypay for example. Those 3rd party companies are ONLY good if you DO NOT have a merchant ID. Cause when they link to your merchant ID with your bank, the bank will still apply the charges as per normal!

So be careful you make the right decision.

[steveaich]

We've been using Secpay for a number of years, they to have had ddos problems, and at times it has been hard to contact people. However I would still give them the thumbs up. The service has been reliable, it works well with actinic, and the costs are low. They need to work on their customer service and communication, and I doubt they will be very helpful when setting up.

[ChrisL]

WorldPay has proven to work just fine for me. It does what it sets out to do and, as mentioned above, if you already have a Merchant ID, its costs are competitive. It's worth considering that although forum members are 'Internet savvy', many potential customers believe online transactions to be dangerous territory. The solid reputation (from a customer perspective) of your chosen PSP is something you should also consider.
As ever with PSP charging rates, or anything else you buy in the course of your business, it is always worth negtiating and re-negotiating: if you don't ask you don't get!

[June]

Many thanks for all your very helpful advice, - VERY MUCH APPRECIATED-
I need to make the right decision on this as in most cases you have to sign up for a year and I do not want a new set of problems to contend with!!

I just wondered if there is a reason why Worldpay is so expensive in its setup and monthly costs, compared with other providers - these apply whether you have an existing merchant account or not ??(we would use the existing merchant account with HSBC)
The costs are £200 setup and £30 monthly (6 months to pay up front = £180)
Total starting cost = £380.

Can they justify these costs - is it just that a lot of people recognise the 'Worldpay' payment facility when they are ordering, so you are paying for the name?
Any thoughts on this? -----

[ragwort]

As a contented domestic NatWest Customer I was quite happy to give them my business and contacted Steamline for a Merchant A/C and Worldpay as a PSP. Their combined charges were grotesque compared with Lloyds and Protx performing the equivalent role.

There always times when certain of the large banks' products are out of step with the competition and payment processing is not one of Natwest's stong suits at the moment.

[AdamL]

Many thanks for all your very helpful advice, - VERY MUCH APPRECIATED-
I just wondered if there is a reason why Worldpay is so expensive in its setup and monthly costs

Worldpay offer, shall we say, 'a first step up the ladder' of on-line trading, packaging everything a new ecommerce site needs to start accepting card transactions over the web. This is the scenario where they are expensive.

If on the other hand, If you are the kind of person who can do things for yourself, like get a merchant ID from your bank, and negotiate, then Worldpay are very cheap witha very big brand name - just what the doctor ordered for any site.

I firmly believe that they are not expensive. It boils down to how good a negotiatior you are. The critical factor is NOT having your PSP set up your merchant account. This is absolutely essential to your negotiating power.

Before casting judgement on Worldpay based on others experience, Id get the Merchant ID from my bank, then speak to Worldpay yourself and see where it goes. Just dont accept the first answer they give. Once you have that Merchant ID, you have the power.

[Synchro]

Mind if I ask what the name of the Lloyds account you use is?

As a contented domestic NatWest Customer I was quite happy to give them my business and contacted Steamline for a Merchant A/C and Worldpay as a PSP. Their combined charges were grotesque compared with Lloyds and Protx performing the equivalent role.

There always times when certain of the large banks' products are out of step with the competition and payment processing is not one of Natwest's stong suits at the moment.

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