what payment gateway to use

[souffle]

I need help on what payment gateway to use.

Im a UK based company so you have to keep in mind its hard to open a USA merchant account.

but came across the following which one do you recomend

WorldPay
Authorize.net -(not sure can do for UK)
Verisign
2Checkout
Protx

[edited by: lorax at 8:10 pm (utc) on July 28, 2006]
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[etechsupport]

All seems reputed and reliable IMO, but what would be your priority like price, service, coverage etc, do you have checked their charges?

[RailMan]

it all depends on what you want to sell and who you want to sell to - cost should NEVER EVER EVER be a priority - the costs are passed on to the customer just the same as any other business cost - get the system that's right for you and your customers

almost any company can use worldpay - no need for a merchant account from your bank etc - do a search and you can get discounted worldpay accounts

note that worldpay have 2 internet merchant account options - normal one is worlddirect which any company can use without the merchant account from the bank - the other is bankdirect, similar to protx / secpay etc, which you use with a merchant account from your bank

2checkout similar to worldpay - not as easy for shoppers to pay - every time i've bought something through 2checkout i've had to wait for a phone call from them to verify my card details etc - and being US based, they tend to phone late at night

be careful of using US payment providers - they may not take all UK debit cards - bear in mind the popularity of UK debit cards - they account for about 55% of my online sales

other payment providers like protx / secpay / secure trading etc require you to have a merchant account from your bank - unless you have high sales volume / income, or you already have a merchant account anyway (as in you have a bricks and mortar shop) there is often little point in looking at these options

if you sell high risk goods / services (electronics / gambling / travel etc) then you will almost certainly need a merchant account from your bank - probably need to prove status, prove turnover, provide a security or something like that - jump through a lot of hoops etc - otherwise just go for worldpay

[Corey Bryant]

Well you can use Verisign / Authorizenet.com with a US mechant account (you need at least a US bank account, address, phone number).

2CO is more of an aggregator - you use their merchant account and proprietary gateway.

Worldpay, Protx with a merchant account, and maybe Even Barclay's might be a good choice. it really depends on your exact needs / volume

-Corey

[The_Erb]

If you are UK based and have a merchant account, I'd go for PROTX.

If you need a quick solution and are looking at the US market, try PayPal ... then set up the Merchant Account