Moneybookers: Worldwide direct payments made easy

October 13, 2008

At the Small Business 2.0 show Moneybookers presented a compelling argument as to why online sellers should consider using their services.

PayPal options

PayPal options

At the start of their talk I was wondering what they could offer that PayPal couldn’t. For sellers on eBay, PayPal is the payment system of choice (or at least the only real option) and PayPal can also be used on sellers own ecommerce sites along with a merchant card facility. Moneybookers however have a lot going for them, not least of which a promotional rate of just 0.99% until the end of March 2009.
 
The biggest advantage that I see Moneybookers having over PayPal isn’t simply their rates (and for larger merchants they will negotiate a custom package), but in the flexibility of payment options for buyers. Although they offer an eWallet option buyers don’t need to explicitly register for a Moneybookers account to transact, with sellers offering direct payments they can use simply use their payment method of choice.
 
Moneybookers options

Moneybookers options

It’s often been said that the more payment options you offer a buyer the less the likelyhood of an abandoned shopping cart, and Moneybookers accept considerably more payment options than their competitors. In the UK that’s not really an issue as Visa and Mastercard are the defacto payment standards but as sellers expand into Europe and the rest of the world it becomes increasingly important to offer local payment options.
 
Whether it be Carte Bleue in France, Laser in Ireland, or one of the 24 versions of direct debit in Poland, Moneybookers will allow your buyers to pay you using their payment method of choice. Buyers can choose domestic bank transfer, credit/debit card or cheque and being able to pay with their customary payment option it’s one more reason for them to purchase from your site. Moneybookers enable payments from 200 countries in 34 currencies, using 50 payment options but with just 1 connection.
 
If you sell on your own website and want to make it easy for buyers worldwide to pay Moneybookers are well worth considering. Many sellers already offer a choice of PayPal or Google Checkout alongside a card facility with a merchant provider. Moneybookers replace a merchant banking facility enabling payments in multiple currencies and multiple payment methods in a single solution. Moneybookers can also be accepted on eBay and is approved under the accepted payment policy.
 
It’s all about making it easy for the buyer - if you accept their currency and their local banking facilities it can make the difference between them completing checkout or losing the sale.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 6 Comments 

PayPal refuse risk leaving no buyer protection

July 30, 2008

When attempting to make a payment via PayPal earlier today, this message appeared stating the seller can’t currently accept payments through PayPal.

I’m guessing that either their account isn’t fully verified, or PayPal have put them on hold due to a security risk. I suppose I should be thankful to PayPal for protecting my money but I’m not - in reality they’re only protecting their own money leaving me to shoulder all of the risk.

None of the alternative payment options offered (credit card, cheque or postal order) qualify for buyer protection, buyers are only covered if they pay via PayPal. Buyer protection sounds great when bidding with a nice logo explaining you’re protected up to £500.00. It’s not quite so good when it comes to paying and you find that if you pay you won’t be covered at all.

I phoned PayPal and they definitely advised against giving out card details over the phone - their entire raison d’être is to keep my card details safe. Cheques and postal orders once cashed are pretty much impossible to reverse should the goods not arrive.

Faced with this situation what would you do? More importantly what kind of impression would this situation make on a new buyer who has been told countless times by eBay that PayPal is the safest way to pay online? Other forms of payment might be safe for the seller but with no buyer protection they sure don’t feel very safe as a buyer.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Paypal | 11 Comments