E-biz 101 - Payment Processor

From: http://moneyblog.comyr.com/2009/04/e-biz-101-do-not-forget-the-payment-processor.html

Payment Processor

How could I start an Online business if I don’t have a payment processor? The answer is: I couldn’t. Payment processor is the most important thing in online business, yet nowadays people just take it for granted. It’s like Paypal have been there for ages, and people from US or Canada just use it like it’s already part of their life. But that is not the case for many people in Asia or Africa where Credit cards or Debit Cards is something luxurious. Other payment processor are MoneyBooker and AlertPay, which, in my opinion, are PayPal look-a-like. They all require you to “verify” your account by adding a credit card (or debit card) and charge you a small amount of money through it.

In my country, Indonesia, only the upper middle-class worker owns Credit cards, and to make things worse, most of (if not all) our banks Debit cards are not verifiable on PayPal. I just want to point out my own experience, that PayPal have denied my account from being verified for 8 years, just because I have no Credit cards and I was reluctant to switch bank.

So, if you happened to face the same problem, worry not, there are some ways to workaround this problem. One option is to get yourself a VCC, a virtual credit card. Another option is to get a debit card issued by a financial institution that is recognized by PayPal.

Now, I know an online Debit Card issuer that could give send you a debit card right into your mailbox for free. The good news is, It’s verifiable almost anywhere, Moneybooker, AlertPay, even Amazon and E-bay. The process of getting that free-debit-card is a rather delicate process, because the institution is affiliated to another online business, but, I gurantee you, It’s free and they DO deliver. So If anyone wants to know more about the how-to in getting this freebie, post a comment, I’d be glad to help.

Conclusion? Be prepared. Before you start, be sure that payment processor is in your checklist. Don’t make the same mistake I did.