Recurring Credit Card Billing

Need some pointers...

[johnser]

One of our UK clients is planning on providing an online service for which they will charge £20 per month every month.

As they're only expecting a small number of clients initially, they would like customers to go to their site, enter their cc details into a secure page (run by an appropriate partner) and then have that partner charge all the cards £20 monthly and deliver the cash to our client.

(Our client does not have or want a merchant account yet)

Are there any companies that provide an outsourced recurrent billing service in multiple currencies?

TIA
J

[curlykarl]

(Our client does not have or want a merchant account yet)

Can I ask why he doesn't want one, seems a little strange.

If you go with Barclays EPDQ they do allow recurring billing.

Karl

[sugarkane]

I think Worldpay offer this.

[johnser]

They're a new company Karl meaning serious grief re getting merchant account.

[amznVibe]

PayPal subscriptions is something to consider as it does this super easy and the rates can't be beat (especially for them now in the UK)

Once the customer does a subscription, PayPal does all the billing, re-billing if it bounces, etc. and the financials are kept completely isolated from your site, no SSL certificate needed, etc. (I'm kinda surprised Brett doesn't use it here since he already uses PayPal)

[Receptional]

Worldpay do do this and also have a thing designed for new companies, where they hold your cash for a month or two, to make sure there is no fraud.

I hated it, but would probably suit you.

[johnser]

Just been on to worldpay - They have a thing called "futurepay" which is what our guy needs I think.

Hadn't thought about the PayPal option. Could your granny be bothered though to go through the registration process for paypal as well as entering the codes from your cc statements for verification? I found it a complete pain about a year ago but maybe I just a bit thick!

J

[BillGray]

They're a new company Karl meaning serious grief re getting merchant account.

This is quite a serious statement, if they are have trouble getting an e-merchant account there is a reason for it. We have set up 2 accounts and world pay was active on both within weeks, dont get you fingers burnt here.

You cannot get a rolls royce for the price of a moped

[Receptional]

Ah... It dawns on me what you are asking... for someone ELSE with a merchant account to process the cards on your behalf.

I am afraid that is technically money laundering - however dressed up - and the merchants don't allow it.

So... gotta go through the grief of getting a merchant account if you want to get cash by credit card. (Unless you use the Paypal route)

Dixon.

[Receptional]

Could your granny be bothered though to go through the registration process for paypal

No. Techie literates only on Paypal. (PAINpal when it comes to registering).

[johnser]

Thanks all. Maybe I've confused you?

"Someone ELSE with a merchant account to process the cards on your behalf"

Nope. Not really into the money laundering game (if only!) but WorldPay's "worlddirect" service takes the risk on your behalf which is why their transaction fees are 4.5% if they approve you.

If you get a merchant account with your bank (not the easiest) then you need 2 years trading a/cts to get your Worldpay "bankdirect" account with fees of 1.5%

http*://www.worldpay.co.uk/shopping/

I'll tell him to go with Worldpay unless anyone has other ideas?

Thx again
John

[amznVibe]

I never understand the anti-PayPal people. For smaller sites they cannot be beat. 2.9% rate and if you happen to sell stuff on ebay you effectively get a 1.5% rate using their Mastercard debit card to get your funds out.

PayPal's registration for a new user on your cart checkout is a simple one page, asking for name, address, credit card, billing info, and password. How is that any different than any other merchant system?

Here is a slideshow demo [paypal.com] of their subscription system.

Explain to me what is so difficult or so different on these screens [paypal.com]

In fact PayPal's method is a good demo of a 100% cross-browser compatible, super clean checkout system.
Amazon's checkout for new users is about 3 times as long!

(other PayPal manuals and demos [paypal.com])

[curlykarl]

amznVibe, do you work for PayPal? :)

I think the reason why a lot of people don’t like it is down to snobbery.

A lot of people who have merchant accounts do look down there noses at it a tad, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, but a lot of people I know think the whole PayPal concept is cheap unprofessional.

Just my thoughts :)

Karl