accepting checks without requring credit card

site is losing business because of paypal policies

[amznVibe]

I didn't understand a complaint I was getting from one site where some people didn't have credit cards. I was under the impression that if I didn't tell PayPal to reject echecks that they could be used for checkout payments easily.

So after investigating in detail, it turns out that PayPal REQUIRES a credit card to use a check! DOH! I realize there are risk factors without that kind of verification, but you wait for the check to clear anyway, sheesh.

I need to make sure the site doesn't lose any (more) business to people who are turned off by the first line in paypal's checkout that requests them to enter a credit card.

Any "easy" solutions out there? Two merchant services is gonna make things more complicated but I guess its needed.

[amznVibe]

Ironically, I just looked into BillPoint which ebay is phasing out (because they bought PayPal)
and Billpoint will take checks without a credit card, argh!
(their fees seemed decent too, 35cents + 1.5%)

Does anyone have any suggestions for known/stable echeck services?
I'd like to get a solution in place as soon as possible...

[Crazy_Fool]

i've never understood the logic behind echecks ...

something you might want to look at is vodaphone's MPay system which allows vodaphone users to make online payments through their mobile phone bill without a credit card. see the vodaphone website for more info.

[amznVibe]

I've never understood the logic behind echecks

well if you are selling to an older crowd (elderly / senior citizens)
or first time internet users, many of them either don't have
credit cards or hesitate to use them online. I'm not gonna
lecture them on why a credit card is safer (I used to try),
I just want the sale while they are still interested
or they go somewhere locally to solve their hesitation.

Thanks for the mobile phone idea, but that's way more complex
than I wanted. Billpoint had the perfect service for checks,
just give SS#, driver's license like if you were at a local store
and they clear the check in 3-4 days for you. 35cents + 1.5%
would have been worth it but ebay is shutting them down at end of January. :-(

[Brett_Tabke]

They don't have to have a credit card if they are a verified paypal user. To become a paypal user they either have to have a cc, or they have to have confirmed the checking account. That second option is very attractive to college kids...hint hint.

[amznVibe]

To become a paypal user they either have to have a cc, or they have to have confirmed the checking account

Correct, but it means you lose the momentum of the sale.
A huge issue if they go away and never come back
because they are left with the impression they
cannot pay easily.

I would think it was no big deal, until I discovered
that there are other successful companies accepting
checks without credit cards. Billpoint and Yahoo Direct
for example. They just don't have the back-end interface
like paypal does.

I am tinkering with Yahoo Direct's web interface to
see if I can generate emails on the fly with the entire invoice
if they leave the site and don't actually check out
via PayPal for some reason, to give them a
"second chance" with a true eCheck service.