Online Payment Systems: PayPal and eWAY
If you’re selling goods online, or taking online payments for your service business, having a reliable online payment system is crucial. There are many around, and when I was setting up my online business, I did extensive research into this and ended up with going with two systems. There are many more available, but I found these to be the best options.
Paypal is purely a payment processor, which means it collects money from the customer and then passes it on to you.
eWAY is both a payment gateway and payment processor.
Let’s take a look at each online payment system in more detail.
PayPal
You’ve probably heard of PayPal, and you might have even used it to make purchases online before, particularly through eBay. PayPal acts as the link between your customers’ bank account and your business bank account. PayPal is based in the US, and is available in 193 countries, which makes an ideal system for accepting foreign currency.
Setting Up PayPal
Setting up your PayPal account is quick and easy, and it gives you the ability to accept payments from credit cards, debit cards, linked bank accounts and PayPal accounts on your website.
You’ll need to complete a registration form, and attach your credit card and bank account to your account. Once your card and bank account have been verified, you’re ready to start accepting payments.We recommend using a business or premium account. They’re both free to set up, and the business account is the best choice if you’re operating the facility through your business, rather than on a personal website. It does involve more documentation, but it’s worth the effort, particularly when it comes to added features and keeping your book-keeping up to date.
The Payment Process
When purchasing online with PayPal, the customer can use funds they have deposited into their Paypal account, or their credit or debit card to make a purchase. The money is transferred into your PayPal account within one business day after purchase, (often straight away) and you can withdraw this money into your bank account, which usually takes about 3 business days.
When customers pay with PayPal online, they are redirected to the secure PayPal website to make their purchase.
There’s several options available to customise the payment page. The important thing to do is make sure you setup to redirect your customers back to your website after their purchase. We recommend sending them to a tailored thankyou page. With a bit of clever coding you can even incorporate their name into the thankyou page – so it’s says something like “Thank you for your purchase Susan (their name) – your goods will be shipped ….. or you can download your ….here, etc.
Fees
There are no fees to the consumer when purchasing products in Australia using PayPal. If you’re selling to overseas customers, they may incur conversion fees.
However, when selling products, PayPal charges 2.6% plus 30c for each transaction for Australian sales, and 3.6% plus a fixed fee for international transactions.
This is a great option for tradies who would like to be paid instantly when they’ve finished a job.
eWAY
eWAY has been around for several years, primarily offering a payment gateway between your website and your merchant bank account and your business bank account (which may be with the same bank or different ones).
It has also recently launched an all-in-one service which means you don’t need to apply for a merchant bank account. This can be a blessing if you’re new to online selling as the process of getting a merchant account is quite tedious and time consuming. And the difference in fees amongst all the banks is extraordinary. It all depends on a lot of things – your time in business, your risk factor, your credit rating, your business type etc.
How to Choose Which eWay Service is Best for You
The choice off merchant account with Eway Gateway or their All In One product depends on your monthly online sales. The All-in-One plan has two options –
- Bootstrap if you’re making less than $9000 per month. Fees are 2.2% plus 30c per transaction
- Growth plan if you’re making more than $9000 per month. Fees are 2% plus 25c per transaction plus monthly fee $20.
The merchant account with eWay Gateway option gets you some free transactions per month and cheaper transaction fees when they kick in, but there is a hefty annual fee. Plus you need to pay the bank merchant fees as well.
Setting Up eWAY
The setup process does depend on which service you use – Payment Gateway or All-in-One. Both involve completing application forms and setting up an eWay account. Once approved, you or your web techie will need to integrate the eWay system onto your website with a shopping cart, and then you can accept credit card and Paypal payments through your eWay facility. This is a service which we can do for you.
The Payment Process
eWAYcollects your customer’s credit card/Paypal details securely and sends the details directly into your merchant bank account and this is then transferred into your business account. This means customers are not redirected away from your website when making payment. However you do need a secure website shopping cart page for collecting payments (eg: an https page with a security certificate). Once again this is a service we can set up for you.
Collecting Mobile Payments
Both services offer mobile payment facilities, ideal for owners of trade businesses or for taking payments at events.
PayPal Here
PayPal offers a mobile payment processor called PayPal Here. PayPal Here connects your mobile phone to a card reader that accepts MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards, and PayPal payments.
To set up a PayPal Here for your business, you will need to upgrade your account to a business account, and purchase the card reader ($139).
Fees are 1.95% for each transaction.
Mobile MYeWAY
With eWay you gain access to your online portal, where you can take credit card details over the phone or in person and enter them directly into your portal. The cc info remains encrypted after entry. The portal is fully responsive which means you can use it on any mobile device and take instant payments or give refunds. It also issues the customer with an invoice.
Subscription Payments
Both systems are suitable for setting up recurring payments (subscriptions), which is perfect if you’re selling training, membership, software or any other type of product or service that has a fixed weekly, monthly or annual feed. Once setup, you just set and forget and payments come off your customer’s credit card or out of their Paypal account automatically.
What to Do Now
When it comes to choosing the best online payment system for your business, both eWAY and PayPal are great options. Your decision will depend on the unique needs of your business. You may opt for both or just one. Both have different advantages and disadvantages.
Paypal – you can set up your account yourself and then if you need help setting up products or integrating Paypal with your website – give us a call on 1300 554 495 or send us an email.
eWay – let us help you get setup. We’ll register your details with eWay and fast track the application process for you with a dedicated account manager. We offer this service free of charge. Simply send us an email or give us a call on 1300 554 495 and we’ll be glad to help.
Once approved, if you’d like help integrating eWay into your website, let us know and we’ll give you a competitive quote to get you on your way.
If you are looking to begin selling online and would like help setting up your website, we can help with that too.
