Secure Online Payment Options
Sunday, December 06, 2009
There are many options available for setting up the payment area
for an online product store. Here are the pros and cons of
three popular options available for New Zealand-based
businesses:
1. Manually process bank transactions and update
membership details.
Pros: There are no set up costs.
Cons: Many customers do not like the delays of email-based
transactions.
This option is only suitable if you have a low number of
transactions and a loyal customer base. It could work if you
offer a niche product, or are dealing in a small number of
transactions. This method would become cumbersome as higher
membership numbers are reached. It is easy to upgrade to a credit
card based solution later if required.
2. PayPal Hosted
Pros: No set up fees and a security certificate is not
required. An invoicing module is built-in.
Cons: Customers are taken to the PayPal site to complete
the transaction.
Cost: For monthly transactions less than $5,000 the rate
is 3.4% + $0.45 per transaction. E.g. you'll pay $3.85 NZD on a
$100.00 NZD transaction.
This option uses the PayPal website to process payments.
The user is taken away from the product store to PayPal to complete
the payment. It is a low cost option for online payment
processing, but not as elegant as having the payment integrated
into the host website.
Demo: https://www.paypal.com/en_US/m/demo/demo_wps/demo_WPS.html
3. PayPal Integrated Payments
Pros: All online credit card payments are processed
directly on the host website. Users are not redirected from
your website giving a better user experience. An invoicing
module is built-in.
Cons: There is an additional monthly charge.
Cost: For monthly transactions less than $5,000 the rate is 3.4%
+ $0.45 per transaction. In addition there is a monthly charge of
US$30.00.
Security Certificate: will be required @ NZ$200 per annum.
Demo: https://www.paypal.com/en_US/m/paypal_demo_load.htm
4. Payment Express
Pros: Payment Express is a New
Zealand-based payment provider. This solution can be integrated so
payments are processed directly on your site. Payment Express
does not charge per transaction, so is a good option if high
transaction numbers are anticipated.
Cons: Has a set up fee plus a monthly charge.
Invoicing is not built-in, which will require additional
development cost at start up.
Cost: Setup Fee: NZ$150.00. Monthly Fee: NZ$50.00 (up to
100 transactions per month) or NZ$150.00 (up to 500 transactions
per month).
Security Certificate: will be required @ NZ$200 per annum.
Demo: http://www.paymentexpress.com/knowledge_base/transaction_pricing.html
There are also other payment providers such as Google checkout.
