Paypal as only payment option ?

[newshopbloke]

Hi all,

Its been a while since posting on this excellent forum and im back for some tip top advice.

I used to have an hsbc merchant account with a phone line keypad for processing and it was great but unfortunately I was told that we could no longer use it for online payments and it was replaced with the online cpi hash system. Well the online system was a huge letdown as it was taking ages to process each payment and eventually we got rid of the whole thing.

We have used a paypal account for years on ebay without a single hitch and customer phone support has been great, so we are thinking about offering this as our only payment option with our revised actinic store.

What is the general opinion these days :

Puts non paypal account holders off ?

Paypals t.o.s is full of holes ?

Merchant account can be frozen for months with no explanation ?

And lastly, is it generally unwise to only have paypal and no other option.

Cheers

Mick

[RuralWeb]

You can use the HSBC "cpi hash thing" with Actinic to process credit cards directly into your HSBC account. I have several site using it and it works well.

PayPal is OK as an alternative but it lack a little in online credibility and it also depends on your prospective customers ie are they young and used to paypal or older and like the security of a well known bank such as HSBC.

Having said that I am currently building a site where the owner will only use PayPal.

[newshopbloke]

Im shocked you can process cpi hash directly, we couldn't and were told many times that we definitely could not do this. Maybe things have changed but I just wish we were allowed to keep the old keypad unit, super fast and simple.

Your comments about the older generation and having a 'name' like hsbc is my main worry but I think im going to try and convince them otherwise, with regards to security I cant see much difference as there is a risk in any form of online payment.

I will soon know if its a mistake when I receive no orders !

Thanks

Mick

[RuralWeb]

Well the online system was a huge letdown as it was taking ages to process each payment and eventually we got rid of the whole thing.

I have a client who has today returned his card machine and now only uses Actinic to pass payments to HSBC and his virtual terminal to process offline payments.

I think the thing that has improved the virtual terminal is broadband.

[newshopbloke]

protx for main option

Just checked out the protx site and noticed the starter rate of £20.00 pm + absolutely no other charges whatsoever for upto 1000 sales per quarter, so wheres the catch ?

Hsbc was £20.00 pm plus fees + 3.5% per trans + 10 minutes fiddling about with a rubbish gui each time. Protx also appears to be miles cheaper than worldpay.

Are my eyes deceiving me ?

Mick

[wjcampbe]

There is VAT to pay, but of course you can offset that if you are VAT registered. The other requirement is the actual acquirer who does the cash movement - Streamline et al, who charges separately. (Streamline minimum charge is now GBP15.00 per month + VAT), plus the negotiable initial setup fee.

[newshopbloke]

Thanks,

Now I know where the catch is. Vat is no problem as im vat registered and after reading your comments yesterday about hsbc im about to ring them and ask why I wasn't offered the 'auto processing' when I complained about the online interface.

[RuralWeb]

hsbc im about to ring them

Make sure that you mention you are using Actinic.

[newshopbloke]

Just had a long chat with hsbc secure epayments and they have agreed to reopen my account with a new cpi hash and have told me that unless a payment hits a fraud rule I shouldnt have to do any processing whatsoever, I hope they have their facts right.

Mick

[RuralWeb]

Sounds right to me. The fraud shield can be a problem to start with as it is set at the default ie it rejects any transaction that is the slightest incorrect eg postcode in the wrong format or invoice and delivery with different address.

Once you have it all set-up I suggest that this is the area you look at first. The level you set it at will depend on the value of your transactions - most of my clients have small value items and have almost turned off the fraud shield completely. If you have high value items then you may want it set higher.

[jamescheema]

I'm also considering paypal as an only method of payment for now. The prospect of opening a merchant account looks pretty daunting. Has anyone actually came accross a scenario where someone has had their funds frozen in paypal without warning?

[RuralWeb]

I had a client the other day who had thier account frozen because a customer asked his credit card company to investigate a payment he did not recognise. payPal immediately froze the account without telling my client who only found out when they tried to take some money out.

[newshopbloke]

Malcolm,

I will probably run the fraud rule at defaults and just issue a warning page that states "please enter details exactly as billing address" and pray they dont get frustrated by it. I can never enter my full address on any ecommerce site bcause my full address will trip the fraud rules, so I have to make sure that any shop I buy from has an "extra delivery details" box.

I have never had a single problem with paypal but if I ever suffer the dreaded account freeze without explanation or help I will ditch them in a heartbeat.

Nice webs btw

[jamescheema]

I see, yeah thats the kind of unpredictability i don't want. I'm considering using worldpay for an IMA and payment gateway, currently waiting on a quote(and dreading it). Whats everyones experiences with worldpay fees?

[newshopbloke]

I'm also considering paypal as an only method of payment for now. The prospect of opening a merchant account looks pretty daunting. Has anyone actually came accross a scenario where someone has had their funds frozen in paypal without warning?

I dont personally know anyone who has suffered it but the general advice is to eventually have a proper bank merchant account along with any other options you decide on.

Start off with paypal only and see what happens.