Forum Moderators: buckworks
I am about to take my first stab at E-commerce with a site that I am trying to get set-up for taking donations. The problem is they are in Africa with no bank account (that I know of) and I am in the US where I'll be hosting the site.
I would like an inexpensive solution and from reading the posts, it seems that Worldpay and PayPal win out in these situations.
My only concern with PayPal is I am not sure how the client is going to feel about visitors having to sign up for an account when they want to donate money. It seems as though this site doesn't have any problems like that, is that correct?
My other question is about bank accounts. Can these systems be used without using direct deposit and instead have a check mailed to you on a periodic basis?
If anybody has experience with donations I would greatly appreciate any advise. I have looked at so many sites and they all seem a bit to complicated and expensive for what I am trying to do.
i think you'll have some trouble getting them donation facilities unless you apply in your own name using your own bank account etc. where in africa are they?
I do have my own business bank account, I am just concerned that this could get messy. I have also found that you need to have a business account for 2 years with some banks before they will work with you on credit cards.
i'd say mail every 3rd party processing company you can find asking if they can provide e-commerce solutions for a site belonging to a company in tanzania and what the requirements are. you may find they'll need to get a business bank account with a recognised bank in their country. go back through older messages in this forum to find loads of card processing companies.
as an example, tanzania is not on the worldpay list of prohibited countries so they might be able to do it. however, they don't have any tanzanian banks on their sign up forms, so .....
another alternative might be a service provided by netbanx whereby people pay through a telephone number - i'm not sure if it's a dialler that has to be downloaded on the computer, or whether it's a physical phone number that has to be phoned - either way, it's a micro payments solution that may work. see [netinvest.co.uk...]
another possible solution due later this year (maybe september) is a "pay by mobile phone" solution called M-Pay by Vodaphone and worldpay. trials are due to begin in june. not got any more details than that right now.
Would it be right to say that something like WorldPay would be the next step. Since the visitor doesn't have to sign up for an account.
Again thanks for the advice.
However, note that Merchant Accounts can only be SETTLED in about a dozen of the major currencies. If you want to see the list in detail, a search for "worldpay currencies" should do the trick
Not sure what you mean here? If you are referring to the Euro, that is on the list for both acquisition and settlement
I thought that poeple from various countries could could donate money to the site through PayPal. That money would be deposited into the a US bank account in us dollars? I think I need an e-commerce 101 course.
yep. however, some people prefer to make payments in their own currencies as they understand the value of their own currency <whisper>especially americans it seems!!</whisper>. therefore, if you are targetting sales or donations from certain countries, it could make sense to use a different payment provider that allows transactions in other currencies.
>>I think I need an e-commerce 101 course.
LOL - there are so many options, so much to learn. even those who know everything are still trying to keep up!!
I am about to take my first stab at E-commerce with a site that I am trying to get set-up for taking donations. The problem is they are in Africa with no bank account (that I know of) and I am in the US where I'll be hosting the site.I would like an inexpensive solution and from reading the posts, it seems that Worldpay and PayPal win out in these situations.
Im from Africa :) Regarding Paypal, when filling out your details you are prompted to select your country via the drop down. A number of countries arent listed which results in you not being able to complete the transaction.
Anyone else experiencing this? Try it by hitting the donate button on the top right of the WMW screen.
With WorldPay it seems that you can only accept 3 cuurencies. Is that correct?
worldpay have a prohibited countries list - neither south africa nor tanzania are on that list (as of feb 2002). i cant tell you specifically about other providers.
the worldpay application forms list banks in south africa, but not in tanzania - are the main banks in tanzania tanzanian banks or banks from other countries?
Kevin, not sure about world pays limitation on currencies. I know that they have a number of plans and possibly that the base plan has this restriction.
If so, you could always add a currency converter as an aid to help the buyer when purchasing.
