Credit card verification for an online shop

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egukin

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#83919 24-May-2011 00:58

Hello.

I'm thinking of setting up an online shop for a small business, working in Auckland. Since I wish to be able to accept credit cards payments, as I understand, I need to register for a credit card verification service.

Which one would you recommend? Are there any local NZ verification providers worth trusting, or is better to simply use Google Checkout, which apparently works in NZ? Obviously, the cost of using those services is a major concern here, after security issues.

I'm sure there are people here with some experience of setting up a private online business, would be great to here some advice about other aspects of that as well.

Thanks a lot.

Starplay

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#473247 24-May-2011 01:19

Paypal?... Worked for me.

richms

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#473248 24-May-2011 01:34

NZ banks wont give you a merchant account for a new business, its hard to get business when people cant pay you. Thats a massive issue that a friend faced.

Trademe and paynow is great for sales of small items - fees are very reasonable once you are a top seller.

Paypal works great for other stuff, and there are plugins for most stores. just watch the currency as we were billing people in USD for about 3 weeks without realizing it and that was a mission to sort out with refunds etc.

Richard rich.ms

Ragnor

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#473357 24-May-2011 11:08

Would probably suggest starting with Google Checkout or Paypal and graduating to a merchant account and a payment gateway service when you have enough business to justify the fees.

jbard

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#473379 24-May-2011 12:04

I have never used them, but did look in to using them once and they were very helpful. Paymex: http://www.paymex.co.nz/

They are NZ based and fees very similar to paypal.

nigelj

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#473392 24-May-2011 12:30

jbard: I have never used them, but did look in to using them once and they were very helpful. Paymex: http://www.paymex.co.nz/

They are NZ based and fees very similar to paypal.

I've used Paymex to pay for goods very recently, and I'd sooner use them as a customer than Google Checkout/Paypal for local stuff. So another "Give paymex a look" vote here.

nate

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#473436 24-May-2011 13:36

Flo2cash operate a facility where the money goes into their merchant account and after 2 days it gets transferred to your account. More expensive for higher volumes, but for lower volumes it is a great option.

We use it for our payment facility (we use Paypal as well)

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robbyp

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#473476 24-May-2011 14:26

nate: Flo2cash operate a facility where the money goes into their merchant account and after 2 days it gets transferred to your account. More expensive for higher volumes, but for lower volumes it is a great option.

We use it for our payment facility (we use Paypal as well)

There is also paymate, and paymex, which dont' have any setup fees. I didn't know google checkout worked in NZ, and I pressume the fees at in US dollars. I guess it would be a very safe system.

Kyanar

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#473609 24-May-2011 19:57

Contrary to popular belief, if you've been with your bank long enough there's a good chance they will be willing to work with you on a merchant facility. Basically, if you've been with them 3 years or more and have good or mediocre history, talk to them - you might just get what you need. It is more expensive (typically $300 or so setup, plus ~$40 per month minimum) but it just looks a bit more professional. If you work with a gateway such as DPS, you even get to avoid having to deal with PCI DSS for the most part too.

richms

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#473612 24-May-2011 20:02

Problem is why would a new business have any banking history at all?

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toprob

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#473931 25-May-2011 14:03

Back when I applied for a merchant account with BNZ, I did have to push it a bit -- just because they refuse you at first doesn't mean you should give up. I don't know if five years makes a good or bad difference -- a better understanding of the need for this on the internet, but a lot more security issues these days.

I have very recently switched to Paymex, because it is a nice cheap way to get instant verification, which I need for my download store. Still early days, but I"ve been happy with Paymex, only issue is that a payment on a Friday won't appear in my account until Thursday. Since I've been used to overnight payments with the BNZ, it's a bit of a pain.

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