European Merchant Account

[fiu88]

Hello, we are launching a new . EU site , would appreciate any input w/r to processing in Europe (who to use, discount rates to expect) and what differences there may be compared to US processing..

Thanks in advance

[Miklo]

There are many different options in Europe.

First of all, what kind of business do you run?
Is it a high risk business, how much sales do you expect to have.
You first have to determine if you really want a direct merchant account where your own name appears on the customers statement or if you need to go through a third party processor. (Because of your sales volume, line of business etc.)

There are many factors that you have to take into consideration.

Credit card processing in the U.S. is much more cheaper than in Europe. Expect to pay between 3-5% in Europe and between 4-6% if you will be using a third party processor. 0.30 USD-0.75 USD per transaction fee is normal in Europe.

For starters, you could search for 2CheckOut, CCNow, MultiCards, CCAvenue, ChronoPay, which are all third party processors.

[fiu88]

low risk..monthly sales , no idea..i'd say below 10k/month to start 20-40 after 6-9 months...
trying to avoid the third party processors if at all possible...

[Corey Bryant]

Check out Barclays, HSBC and see if the gateway protx.com can help you out as well

-Corey

[Miklo]

As far as I know, U.K. banks only work with U.K. merchants.
If you are not located in the U.K. you have several options for setting up a direct merchant account through a Payment Service Provider in Europe.

The following is a list of PSP's that have been in business long time and known to be trustworthy:
- WorldPay
- MultiCards
- ChronoPay
- MetaCharge

WorldPay can set you up through their WorldPay Direct system. MetaCharge works with a cross border acquiring bank, so do ChronoPay and MultiCards.

[idolw]

Click&Buy has such offer too

[jecasc]

First of all I would not rely on credit cards only to process payments in Europe. You will miss at least 60 to 70 percent (if not more) of potential sales if you do not offer the local popular payment options like bank-transfer or direct debit. Credit cards are not as popular in europe as in the US. For example in germany most people use direct debit to pay. I only sell in Europe and credit card sales are only 20 percent of all sales. So use a payment processors that offers a wide variety of payment options.

Some of the more popular payment processors are: Element 5, Bibit, Click & Buy and of course Worldpay and Paypal.

However some of them process "virtual" products only like software downloads.

[fiu88]

Jecasc...dont the debit cards go through the regualr cc terminals as well? or is there a different processor or method required?

Thanks much for the input,,,I would have never imagined wires and debit cards made up such a large chunk of sales///