International Internet Merchant Accounts - Help Please

[jeremymgp]

Hi,

I'm discovering that while credit cards are an international commodity, the internet merchant accounts needed to accept them are less so. I'm from the U.K., I live in South Korea, and I need to accept credit cards on my site and get my funds to an average bank account. Should I try applying for a Korean merchant account, is there a U.S. bank that offers an internatioanl merchant account, or can you recommend a completely online solution?

Also for Paypal I need a U.S. bank account to withdraw funds to. I opened a Citibank account in Korea, but my account doesn't have a routing number so I still can't get my money. Any tips for getting a simple U.S. bank account as well?

Finally, can sites like Worldpay.com and Authorize.net solve my problems?

Thanks loads for your help,

Regards,

Jeremy

[ThomasB]

I'm also interrested in that.

[moneymancn]

2CO accepts allcomers

MM

[pedwards]

Go on www.ikobo.com and check what they offer:
I use them as a merchant for a few months now and their rules are awesome, I didn't had problems with them yet. It's easy for setup and use. They offer most inespensive method I have found. The most important thing is that you get your money instantly (when you get your first payment they send you i-Kard to withdraw your money on any ATM machine)

[Morocco]

I wouldn't recommend iKobo, but it depends on what type of operation you are planning on getting into

[gazza]

I have the same problem as you - I am in Taiwan - paypal can't withdraw to Taiwanese accounts so I just lied said I am in Hong Kong and registered my HK bank account (we are all officially part of China anyhow).
I then use my ATM to take the money out. Paypal can't use the AVS check on asian credit cards so your Korean credit card can be used to verify Paypal membership. You could just catch the ferry to Japan and open an account there and do the same as I do.

Paysystems is more open than 2checkout costs the same for signup and does 3 currencies as well. Problem there is as usual getting the money out of the US. They will send a cheque but that takes a week over and at least 3 weeks to cash or you can opt for the expensive SWIFT transfers. Only in this regard does paypal come up trumps for me.

[Auteuil]

There is also Yaskifo, a French company that has been around since 1998, and does multi-lingual, multi-currency transactions. Their site is in French and English and they say that there are no fees for chargebacks, that there is 100% protection against stolen or lost credit cards, and that there are no set-up or monthly fees. They do have a rigorous vendor verification process, however. When I was searching for a payment processor a few months ago I looked on french language forums and no-one had been critical of them, in fact just the opposite. Their name "Yaskifo" is a made up word that sounds like in french, "We've got what is needed" in english (rough translation). The only reason that I didn't sign up with them was that the individual payments that I would have been receiving were of a few US$ each, and Yaskifo charges 10% + €1.50 per transaction. If one's individual payments were for reasonably large amounts, then Yaskifo might be a reasonable option for some international merchants IMHO.