Streamline

[PatchworkRabbit]

I'm looking at including Streamline/AP as a payment option (having first taken out an FSB membership). I've just had a call from Streamline and am a little confused.

I mentioned that I would want to do recurring payments and the guy said he can't quote for that and that I need a local representative (another few days to wait). He can quote for e-commerce and moto, but not recurring payments.

Now, what I need is to just be able to bill for something in several parts. For example, some designers will release a series of patterns, over a few months, that form an entire project and customers will be billed when each new segment ships.

Is that something I can do just as a "customer not present" and how is that different from "recurring payments"?

Thanks!

[chris ashdown]

Streamline gives you the merchant account which is a route from the PSP to the bank, They take a small cut on the way

The PSP is the company you deal with like actinic or sagepay they are the company to which your customers are directed to by actinic to make a payment to you and then they forward to streamline and then onward to the bank a couple of days latter

I think you will find it hard to get re-occuring payments and will be forced to manually take them every month

When I left sagepay you could only do this with the card details known but with actinic payments you can do it without knowing the card details once they have ordered once

[pinbrook]

Take a look at Worldpay, they have a service called future pay. This is for recurring payments.

[PatchworkRabbit]

Sorry, I'm not making myself clear (again!).

What's the difference between "recurring payments" and just doing a "customer not present" to bill for a second installment?

Is a recurring payment something like an automatic payment or something?

[PatchworkRabbit]

When I left sagepay you could only do this with the card details known but with actinic payments you can do it without knowing the card details once they have ordered once

I think you need version 10 for that, no?

[fleetwood]

A recurring payment is where the customer gives their card details once, but you are able to charge it on subsequent occasions.

This is not the same as a partial payment, where the customer places an order for a set amount, and you take the payment in several chunks. This can be done without a recurring payment account.
When the customer places an order with a card, the funds are reserved for usually 7-10 days, waiting for you to finalise the transaction.
You can still finalise all or part after this time, but then it will be dependant on the customer having enough funds in their account to cover the late payment (whereas initially, those funds are held for you).

A customer not present transaction is one where you do not have sight of the card (the card is taken over the internet, or over the phone). Where you can see the card (and customer) this is called a face to face transaction.

A merchant account is the account where you receive your funds, and will be provided by someone like Streamline.
Many banks require you to have a seperate merchant account for each type of transaction your do:

type 1 face to face (like in a B&M shop)

type 2 MOTO - mail order transaction over the phone, or via the post

many banks will allow type 1 & 2 on the same merchant account

type 3 internet sale (the customer places the order on your website, and is usually then redirected to a third party payment provider, to collect payment)

type 4 recurring payment (eg for a magazine subscription, where the customer only gives the card details once, but you have 'authority' to charge them again and again).

There are quite stringent controls and extra rules for type 4.

For type 3 & 4 transactions, you also need a third party to capture the card details eg Actinic Payments. I'm not 100% sure if the AP interface can handle recurring payments.

Without a recurring transactions agreement/account, you should only be taking further payments from the customer, as part payments against the one order, not any subsequent orders. As far as I understand it, the customer should have placed an order for the total amount you intend to charge ie I don't think that you can legimately have a customer place an order for £100 as a deposit, and then continue to charge them over and above this amount. I am happy to corrected if this isn't the case.

Whilst I don't use them myself, I believe paypal now offer a recurring payments account, if you are having difficult getting your bank to approve it.

Hope that helps

[PatchworkRabbit]

Thanks very much, that has made it all clear.

I don't need a recurring payment account then, which is great news


I've heard from streamline and had a great quote, though they've said the monthly minimum is £10 per account, but I thought it was free with FSB?


And I filled in the contact form for FSB early last week. How long does it normally take to hear back from them? And why on earth can you not just join online??

[Goz]

The setup of an IMA account with Streamline is free (usually cost £200/£250-ish).

[Duncan Rounding]

Mobile terminals are also cheaper if you're an FSB member.

[PatchworkRabbit]

So, Streamline have quoted me as no setup fee, but a minimum of £10 on both the e-commerce and MOTO accounts. I thought there were also no monthly fees through FSB?

[chris ashdown]

Bit optimistic I think something for nothing

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

It isn't a monthly fee as such, but you you are obviously charged a fee for every transaction processed, either a percentage for credit cards or a fixed amount for debit cards and if this total exceeds £10 on each account you will not pay anything extra.
They never used to have any minimum monthly charges but I think they have started introducing them, although when I received a letter a few months back stating I would be charged a minimum of £20per account I queried the minimum charge and got it waived (as an existing customer and FSB member), but as a new customer perhaps they will insist on it.
See this thread - http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=49503

The e-commerce account is not usually a problem as £10 is easy to exceed but for the MOTO account £10 is less likely to be met unless you process a lot of MOTO orders.

[PatchworkRabbit]

Bit optimistic I think something for nothing

I'm hoping it's just the lack of punctuation giving that sentence an insulting inference.

[PatchworkRabbit]

It isn't a monthly fee as such, but you you are obviously charged a fee for every transaction processed, either a percentage for credit cards or a fixed amount for debit cards and if this total exceeds £10 on each account you will not pay anything extra.
They never used to have any minimum monthly charges but I think they have started introducing them, although when I received a letter a few months back stating I would be charged a minimum of £20per account I queried the minimum charge and got it waived (as an existing customer and FSB member), but as a new customer perhaps they will insist on it.
See this thread - http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=49503

The e-commerce account is not usually a problem as £10 is easy to exceed but for the MOTO account £10 is less likely to be met unless you process a lot of MOTO orders.

Ah, I see. One of the reasons for going through all this was to get a MOTO account for the occasional customer who refuses to pay via the internet. But, if it's going to cost me £10 a month, I'll have to think twice...

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

It may be worth asking the FSB rep about the £10 charge when he calls, he might be able to get it dropped particularly if he thinks he might lose a sale.

I filled in the contact form for FSB early last week. How long does it normally take to hear back from them? And why on earth can you not just join online??

No idea why they insist on sending someone round in person to discuss everything when many would be happy to sign up online, seems old fashioned, an expensive waste of money and annoying.
I seem to remember waiting around 1 week but don't remember clearly exactly how long I had to wait.