We were contacted one afternoon by Des from Contrast to make the decision on the payment solution for MyProjectTracker. Payment Server Provider or Payment Bureau.
Myself and Barney sat down one afternoon to trash out the pro’s and con’s of using a Payment Server Provider (RealEx) or a Payment Bureau (PayPal). To be honest, Barney favoured PayPal and I favoured RealEx.
A well formulated guide that helped us make sense of the online payment choices was www.webpayments.ie. This should really be the first port of call for anyone creating a website that will be required to take payments.
Here is a summary based on our discussion that day and our discussion of this topic with others who have setup website that require payment:
Payment Server Providers: (RealEx)
- Higher quality system
- Better user experience
- No need for customers to visit other website for Credit Card verification
- No additional accounts required for customers
- Better system in the long term
- Tougher to set up with banking in the short term
- It may take a number of weeks to acquire a Merchant ID from the bank
- A Setup fee may be required with the Payment Service Provider
Payment Bureau: (PayPal)
- Messy user experience
- Customers must visit third party website to for Credit Card verification
- Messy administration of account
- Easier to set up in the short term
A number website designers we spoke to seem to seriously regret choosing PayPal as a solution, but their decision was made at the time due to time or financial constraints.
We plan to provide the best customer experience possible for MyProjectTracker customers, and this begins at the door. It’s all about first impressions, and we want a smooth credit transaction to be the start of a long customer relationship.
As we were not under anytime constraint with regards applying for a Merchant ID, we decided to go with the Payment Server Provider solution.
The fact that we had heard good things regarding RealEx’s customer support, we then decided to choose RealEx as our Payment Service Provider.
Did you decide to go down the Payment Service Provider or the Payment Bureau route?
What were the reasons for you decision?
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Hi Guys,
Also, consider the possibility of using both a payment bureau and a provider, in your case making RealEx the default. See this forum discussion on that topic: http://webpayments.ie/index.php?option=com_ccboard&view=postlist&forum=2&topic=5&post=0
Nice post
Regards,
O’Searcaigh
Hi. Thanks for the comment and the link. We won’t rule using both out – but starting with Realex and see how we go.
Why not use both?
Why not use both?
Found this post really useful – thanks guys. I am just checking out which route to go down myself for the next phase of my online development and your post made me think I should do some more research before jumping in. Interesting stuff.
Found this post really useful – thanks guys. I am just checking out which route to go down myself for the next phase of my online development and your post made me think I should do some more research before jumping in. Interesting stuff.
Hi Michele.
A good question and one we researched. Essentially, the reason we went with Realex in the end was the user experience question i.e. if you don’t have a paypal account it’s more of a hassle for our customer. This does not preclude us providing the capability in the future if we discover it’s a barrier to a sale.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Michele.
A good question and one we researched. Essentially, the reason we went with Realex in the end was the user experience question i.e. if you don’t have a paypal account it’s more of a hassle for our customer. This does not preclude us providing the capability in the future if we discover it’s a barrier to a sale.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Ali. Glad you enjoyed it – and that it made you have a think before jumping one way or the other. Thanks for the comment.
Hi Ali. Glad you enjoyed it – and that it made you have a think before jumping one way or the other. Thanks for the comment.
Just like with anything else, what you use depends on what you're using it for. It sounds like you guys did your homework though, which is great.
-Micah
Just like with anything else, what you use depends on what you're using it for. It sounds like you guys did your homework though, which is great.
-Micah
Hi Micah. We did indeed do our homework on this one and decided this would be the right approach for us. As you say though, everyone's needs are different – this was our experience which may not be correct for all. Thanks for reading.
Hi Micah. We did indeed do our homework on this one and decided this would be the right approach for us. As you say though, everyone's needs are different – this was our experience which may not be correct for all. Thanks for reading.