Accepting International Currency Payments: Bank Transfers and Credit Cards

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=catholicemporium link=topic=678.msg2505#msg2505 date=1128539347]

Very true, but it is true of buyers on all auction sites.  All of my listings clearly state that I don't accept money orders, checks, or cash...and at least a few times a month I get an email from a buyer after the auction asking "where do I send the check?"

This underscores another reason that I much prefer to sell via our websites than on eBay.  If the customer doesn't have a credit card or PP account, the cart gets abandoned and we don't get bothered.  The item(s) stay up for sale and are available to people who can pay via electronic payment.  I have made an exception a couple of times, one of which was a customer from Greece who Western Unioned $130.00 cash for some of our medals on the medals site.

I would like to know, though, about bank transfer payments.  I have European customers who email and ask if we take bank transfer payments.  I know this is VERY common in South Africa, with the B&B that we stay at preferring payment via bank transfer.  I have also been told that it is very common in Europe, thus the reson for the inquiries.

I registered our domain as a .co.uk name and plan to mirror our site with prices in Pounds Sterling.  I would conservatively estimate that 30% of our business comes from the United Kingdom.  We are going to install a virtual telephone number via Vonage so that we have a number that is local to central London and attach a "Free Phone" service to it so that our UK customers can call us for free.

Which brings up this enquiry:  BBH, you have experience with accepting international currency payments, right?  I know that you can accept PayPal in Pounds, but will the WebPro payment system allow that (you know, where it looks like you have a merchant account)?  Our Key Bank merchant account only accepts dollar-denominated payments, so I guess what I am looking for is a merchant account that will bill in Pounds (and Euros if possible0.  Can you recommend a solution.  And will it interface with osCommerce?

I am not adverse to opening a UK bank account.  The volume of business we do with the UK most certainly justifies the expense of a trip to London to set one up if need be.  Then, we can do bank transfer payments if needed.

Also, can you please move this post to a more appropriate thread if need be.  Thank you for any insight you can provide.
[/quote]

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=catholicemporium link=topic=678.msg2505#msg2505 date=1128539347]
I would like to know, though, about bank transfer payments.  I have European customers who email and ask if we take bank transfer payments.  I know this is VERY common in South Africa, with the B&B that we stay at preferring payment via bank transfer.  I have also been told that it is very common in Europe, thus the reson for the inquiries.[/quote]

Bank transfers are the preferred method of payment in many European countries (especially Germany), as well as in New Zealand, and a few other countries.  When we were selling on TradeMe in New Zealand all of our buyers wanted to do bank transfers (since we didn't have a NZ bank account they were forced to pay by credit card though.  We couldn't get them to even go near PayPal).

UK buyers prefer debit or credit cards by a huge margin over bank transfers.

You do have some options if a buyer wants to do a bank transfer.  PayPal users in some countries (Germany is one) can pay you with a bank transfer (the last one we received took about 2 weeks to go through).  Your buyers can also use Moneybookers (no chargebacks) to pay you with a bank transfer.  It has fairly wide acceptance in Europe (but US buyers won't touch it), and there are mods for many shopping carts (ZenCart,and OSCommerce both have payment modules for it).

Your other option for bank transfers is to set up a bank account in an EU country but many countries have strict regulations on businesses/individuals setting up accounts who don't have a physical presence in the country.

I registered our domain as a .co.uk name and plan to mirror our site with prices in Pounds Sterling.  I would conservatively estimate that 30% of our business comes from the United Kingdom.  We are going to install a virtual telephone number via Vonage so that we have a number that is local to central London and attach a "Free Phone" service to it so that our UK customers can call us for free.

If you just have a virtual presence in the UK you don't have anything to worry about, but if your business establishes any type of physical presence then you'll have to charge VAT and adhere to other UK business guidelines, etc.

Which brings up this enquiry:   I know that you can accept PayPal in Pounds, but will the WebPro payment system allow that (you know, where it looks like you have a merchant account)?  Our Key Bank merchant account only accepts dollar-denominated payments, so I guess what I am looking for is a merchant account that will bill in Pounds (and Euros if possible0.  Can you recommend a solution.  And will it interface with osCommerce?

I am not adverse to opening a UK bank account.  The volume of business we do with the UK most certainly justifies the expense of a trip to London to set one up if need be.  Then, we can do bank transfer payments if needed.

PayPal WebPro will let you accept payments in U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, and Yen.

World Pay's merchant accounts let you accept 144 different currencies --no idea on the monthly rates.

WorldPay Multi-Currency Processing Infosheet
WorldPay Payment processing and internet merchant account Infosheet

There is a WorldPay payment module available  for OSCommerce.

[catholicemporium]

Thanks for this information.  I looked at WorldPay and it is extremely expensive.  Do you know if the new PayPal "ProPay" or whatever is any good?  It looks like a merchant account.  Does it let you process payments in Pounds and Euros?  Any insight you can provide is much appreciate.

Thanks,

Chris

[bargainbloodhound]

The new PayPal system lets buyers pay in £ and € .  I've heard I few people say it works well.  I think the transaction fees are high compared to the average merchant account though.

[thegateways]

The payment is only one element in the total transaction process, this is important that the processor should truely gear of e-commerce financial transactions flow in a secure, 
stable and reliable environment. As per my experience among European companies chronopay.com seems one of the selected processor, they are professional, stable and highly secured and reliable one.

[thegateways]

The drawback of WP, I see you get your money after 4 to 6 weeks, though they are reputed and reliable processor.