by Tomas K.

Created on: June 01, 2009   Last Updated: June 03, 2009

Global Money

In an age where online transactions account for a large chunk of business, it's important for both the customer and the business to be protected. John Taylor, editor of Website Creator, takes a look at a number of secure payment mechanisms and payment gateways that will help you take payments from your customers.

Whichever way you look at it, when a customer pays for a product online they are placing a lot of trust in the online business. As with any commercial transaction, there's a chance that the item may simply not appear; or that a fraudulent payment is made.

Crucial to your cash flow are payment gateways. These work in two ways: first by creating a virtual currency that can be used without the customer exposing their credit card or bank details to non-secure servers or traders, and second by adding an extra level of confidence to the buying and selling process.

The ultimate purpose of a gateway is that the user can assume the money's as good as in the bank, whereas, in reality, that's only true until something goes wrong.

So how do some of the main gateways compare when it comes to security, compensation and dealing with complaints? Let's take a quick look at six possible alternatives, and what they have to offer.

PayPal
www.paypal.co.uk
PayPal now has a user base of over five million, although it remains free for buyers and free to set up for sellers. It does, however, have surprisingly few commercial partners outside eBay. PayPal's Buyer Protection Scheme seems to be better organised than most, and provided all the necessary emails are sent within 45 days, it offers users protection on deals that go bad for up to 500.

Nochex
www.nochex.co.uk
Nochex had the early advantage of being one of the few gateways that accepted UK debit cards, back in the days when credit cards were rarer and PayPal US-only. Since then, Nochex has become a niche supplier to 'adult' markets, something many gateways try to avoid. This means that fewer people are aware of its superior fraud cover, which includes no charge back fees and an admirable guarantee to underwrite all money deposited in your account, regardless of whether it is subsequently retracted. Its advantage to sellers lies within its fee structure.

To accept payments through Nochex, considering the level of protection offered, is extremely cost effective. It's used in many cases as an alternative to PayPal.

Amazon Payments
www.amazon.co.uk
Arguably, the most secure gateway, as no person-to-person transaction

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