Last week, we started the conversation on payment gateways for your business. We learned there are more than three options for you to use and the basic knowledge of how it works for your business. Today, we are going to focus on the direct payment options that most small businesses do not even realize are out there.
To be honest, I knew I could have a pay direct option on my site, but didn’t know how to incorporate that. We all shop online and let’s be honest, big companies didn’t start integrating Paypal as an option for customers until 2010. That begs to question, what were the big companies using prior to this date? They were using direct pay.
What is Direct Payment Option for the e-commerce System?
Direct payment offers business owners the option to allow their e-commerce to accept credit cards and e-checks right from their customer rather than being processed by a third party payment gateway system. Your customer will input their information in your shopping cart portal versus being directed to another third party website and then redirected back to your site when done.
If you have an order from big retailers such as Macy’s, Nordstrom, or Target, and you might have been using this system with their website for years, you will see they are also integrating third party gateways to their shopping cart portals.
Most small businesses are not familiar with this option when it comes to their e-commerce sites.
You will need to set up an account with a direct payment gateway company. The most popular company is Authorize.net.
All direct payment gateways have fees tied to their programs: setup fees, monthly company fees, and per transaction fees are determined by the company you use.
Why Do I Need a Merchant Account for Direct Payment?
The merchant account is set up so individuals will receive monetary funds when their orders are processed. This is needed for facilitation purposes. The bank or company you use will have its own regulations you must adhere to if you want to accept credit cards or e-checks through your direct payment.
This payment option with a majority of companies is based on credit. This is how they base their per transaction rate they charge you per each transaction. In addition, some of these companies charge more if your customer uses American Express or Discover card.
Your funds from your transaction to be transferred into your bank account depends on the transfer schedule that is set up.
Direct Payment is a great option to have for your small business if you are bringing in more than $5,000 dollars of revenue in a month; mainly because of the fees you will be paying to have the system integrated into your site. Some sites charge a flat fee per month and some base it on your company’s sales.
Pros
- Seamless Checkout
- Works with most popular shopping carts
- Earning are deposited into your account quickly
- Able to accept a variety of payments including ACH Payments
- Fraud protection included in most
Cons
- Monthly fees varying on income
- Fees for customer using certain credit cards
- Expensive set up fees
- Tech support depends on account level with some companies
- Based on credit score
- Requires merchant account
Popular Direct Payment Sites
- Authorize.net
- Beamstorm
- Braintree
- eWay
- Stripe
