Accepting Credit Cards, Some Alternative Methods
by Melisa McCurley
First Alternative The first alternative we will look at is something called an Email Payments Network. Probably the two most well known are PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) and PayPlace (http://www.payplace.com/). These services allow customers to pay you with their credit card, and the funds will be instantly transferred into your PayPal or PayPlace account. You will then receive a notification email with the name of the person who sent you money, the amount, and instructions on how to collect it. You may opt to have the network send you a check, or with PayPal you can have it automatically deposited into your bank account. You can also leave it in your account and use it to make payments yourself.
PayPal is the original, so we'll start with them. PayPal accepts MasterCard and Visa. They offer Personal and Business accounts. Personal accounts are free and have a $500 spending limit. Once you verify your bank account, you may charge up to $2000 in each six month period. Businesses must now use a Business account. Business account will be charged a 1.9% per transaction fee when receiving money. Sending money is always free.
Business Accounts have no limit on credit card funds received. Buyers who have reached their PayPal $2,000 credit card spending limit can still charge their card when sending a payment Business account.
The Business account offers a lot of extra services, like auto-sweep , a 24/7 customer service call center, Batch Pay, Web Accept, and downloadable transaction logs. Auto-sweep (optional, carries a 0.6% fee) will automatically sweep all your funds into your bank account at the end of each day. Web Accept (optional, 1.9% on payments received) Lets buyers click a button on your website, pay you, and then be returned to your website while your payment is sent directly to your account. Batch Pay (optional, cost 2% or $0.25 per payment, whichever is less) lets you send payment to multiple people at once. This is good for paying employees or for paying your customers if you run your own affiliate
program. They also plan to offer debit cards, interest, and checking accounts in the future.
PayPal is currently available through email, Palm organizers and Internet-enabled mobile phones in the U.S. The PayPal platform will soon be extended to other wireless devices, such as Web-enabled pagers.
PayPlace is very similar to PayPal's personal account. PayPlace accepts MasterCard and Visa as well as American Express. Sending and receiving money is free. The maximum you can charge on PayPlace with your credit card in a 30-day period is $500. PayPlace is only available through email.
To use either service, customers must also have an account. Signing up is quick and easy, and PayPal is currently offering a $5 incentive for signing up and $5 for each person you refer whom signs up and verifies their bank account. PayPlace is no longer offering sign-up incentives, but both companies say they will have ongoing bonuses for members in the future. PayPal and PayPlace are currently only available to US residents, but PayPal plans to expand to international users soon.
Both services are easy to use and you can have accounts with both at the same time. They offer an easy, inexpensive alternative to merchant accounts, but be wary of copycat services. Some are not legitimate. About the Author Melisa McCurley is the owner of Virtually Designed Affordable website design for small and home businesses - http://virtuallydesigned.com
And editor of Biz Bytes - free ezine designed to help you start, run, and prosper at your small business - bizbytes-subscribe@egroups.com | DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Online Business Help Articles
More By Developer Shed  developerWorks - FREE Tools!
|
The IBM DB2 Deep Compression ROI tool is designed for DBA’s and IT management personnel to perform a clinical analysis of the cost savings gained from the Storage Optimization feature of DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX and Windows. The feature, also known as Deep Compression, compresses data that lies within a database by up to 80% at times.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
David Barnes, Lead Evangelist for IBM Emerging Internet Technologies will discuss aspects of Web 2.0 that bring value to corporations, academia, and government. He'll also discuss IBM's vision around Web 2.0, including the importance of remixability and consumability. The discussion will culminate with examples of various IBM Software Group solutions you can use to get ahead of the Web 2.0 adoption curve.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
CakePHP is a stable production-ready, rapid-development aid for building Web sites in PHP. This "Cook up Web sites fast with CakePHP" series shows you how to build an online product catalog using CakePHP.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial version of WebSphere Business Modeler Advanced V6.1.1, IBM’s premier business process modeling and analysis tool for business users that offers process modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities. IBM WebSphere Business Modeler helps you visualize, understand, and document business processes for continuous improvement.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial of the Rational Host Access Transformation Services (HATS) Toolkit. The HATS toolkit provides a set of plug-ins for the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform to help you easily extend your legacy applications. HATS makes your 3270 and 5250 applications available as HTML through the most popular Web browsers, while converting your host screens to a Web look and feel and it also enables you to develop new Web, portal, and rich-client applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Secure your Web applications with IBM Rational AppScan Standard Edition V7.7, previously known as Watchfire AppScan. This Web application security testing tool automates vulnerability assessments and scans and tests for common Web application vulnerabilities. Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial of IBM Rational AppScan Standard Edition V7.7.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Learn how Rational Build Forge can extend a simple compile and package build process by adding customization and deployment capability. Go from a manual method to automating: checking for code changes; getting the latest source; compiling and packaging; customizing; copying to and restarting a deployment server; and sending e-mail notification that a new version is available.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Join this webcast to discover the key requirements for successful change and release management. Learn how to extend your .NET environment to improve productivity and collaboration, and address core problems afflicting team development. In this webcast, we’ll review typical challenges faced by customers and how to resolve them with the IBM Rational Change and Release Management solution, including Rational ClearCase, Rational ClearQuest and Rational Build Forge. Replay is available for 9 months.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Get a free trial download of the latest version of IBM Rational Functional Tester V7.0.1. Rational Functional Tester is an automated functional and regression testing solution for QA teams concerned with the quality of their Java, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, and Web-based applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
In this webcast, IBM Rational will discuss the importance of Web application security and will share techniques and best practices to introduce application security testing into current QA processes including: understanding common security vulnerabilities and techniques to integrate security testing with defect tracking and remediation systems in an effort to safeguard sensitive online information.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
| |
