BF Internet - Established 1996

Taking Payments Online: The Options

February 24th, 2009, by Chris Ward

For many years BF Internet have offered clients the option of taking credit card payments via through PGP encrypted emails. This allowed shoppers to submit their credit card details through a secure form to be processed in-store and offered reduced operating costs, whilst not requiring an internet merchant account.

The card payment industry has changed massively over the last few years, with greater focus on online security and fraud prevention through the introduction of CV2 numbers, 3D-secure authentication and extra layers of fraud checking. These advances have meant that other payment processing options (e.g. PayPal, Protx..) have become superior to PGP, offering improved PCI-compliant fraud protection for the merchant whilst widespread implementation has minimised costs.

This article looks at 3 options available to you to as an alternative to upgrade/replace the PGP service:

1. Protx

   Protx (a subsidiary of Sage) provides secure online credit and debit card payment solutions for thousands of online and mail order businesses across the UK. When Protx has been implemented on a website, the merchant no longer has to manually process credit card details and the secure disposal & storage of credit card details is no longer a worry.

   With Protx, taking payments is as simple as it can be. A customer can get instant feedback as to whether their payment has been successful, whilst the merchant knows straight away that the payment has been take, the fraud checking been passed and shipping address confirmed. Protx has also integrated with PayPal Express Checkout (a 3-click checkout for your customers) giving you the opportunity to add PayPal as an option on your payment pages.

   Protx Small Business Service is available from £20/month*, with no addition costs for up to 1000 transactions per quarter.

   More details can be found at: www.protx.com and you can sign up to use Protx on your website at: www.bfinternet.co.uk/protx

2. PayPal – Website Payments Standard

   Established as the number 1 payment network for auction websites, PayPal is now rapidly growing in use amongst e-commerce businesses. PayPal Website Payments Standard is simple to set up and does not require an internet merchant account. PayPal allows you to accept credit and debit cards, bank transfer and PayPal balance payments in minutes.  Your customers do not need to have a PayPal account to pay you.

   Charges for using PayPal Website Payments Standard are made on a per-transaction basis and there are no monthly or annual fees. Fees range from 1.4% – 3.4% + £0.20*, more details can be found at:
   www.paypal.com

3. PayPal – Website Payments Pro

   Website Payments Pro offers all the benefits of a merchant account and gateway with PayPal. You can accept credit and debit cards, bank transfer and PayPal balance payments via Express Checkout (a 3-click checkout for your customers), via an unbranded direct credit/debit card checkout, or via phone/fax and mail. Your customers do not need to have a PayPal account to pay you.

   Charges for using PayPal Website Payments Pro can be made on a per-transaction basis ranging from 1.4% – 3.4% + £0.20*. Alternatively, an unlimited amount of transaction can be made for a set fee of £20/month. More details can be found at: www.paypal.com

* Prices correct at time of publication (2/2009)

Tags: credit card, online, payment, pgp, secure
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