hi, Im about to start reselling web hosting, and the biggest challenge for me now is how to accept online payments.
Ive decided against using a third party gateway/merchant such as paypal or paymate, as i believe it doesnt look professional--
Since im starting out I dont think the cost of both a paymentgateway/merchant account (real time payment processing) is justified. Although, for *bank statement* purposes, I will need a merchant account. Id like to get one with an australian bank, so does anyone know which one offers the cheapest fees/best service.
My plan, was to get customers to fill in their credit details via an online form, run some fraud prevention scripts, then using mcrypt the data is stored in a mysql table, which will be downloaded via SSH each day I make some sales and then deleted, and once a week manually process the credit cards at the bank.
Im not sure how secure this system is, but it was the most tightarse way I could think of for processing payments, that at the same time projects a proffesional image.
Any ideas on how to improve this system?

Originally posted by grumble2
. . . Id like to get one with an australian bank, so does anyone know which one offers the cheapest fees/best service.
I use St George Bank, with eWay.com.au gateway and ModernBill. They work well together, and I haven't had any issues so far. :)
. . . My plan, was to get customers to fill in their credit details via an online form, run some fraud prevention scripts, then using mcrypt the data is stored in a mysql table, which will be downloaded via SSH each day I make some sales and then deleted, and once a week manually process the credit cards at the bank.

Im not sure how secure this system is, but it was the most tightarse way I could think of for processing payments, that at the same time projects a proffesional image.
Any ideas on how to improve this system?
Have you thought of using some billing/order software like ModernBill (http://modernbill.com)?

Are you planning on accepting in $US? If not, there are a great number options for Australian citizens, with St George and Eway being one of the more common choices(as mentioned). NAB is also quite common, although I have heard mixed reviews. $US transactions are a different story, and it can be quite difficult to gain access to US transactions for Aussie Merchants.

Why not take a look at webhostingtalk.com.au (note the .au) , which generally provide a lot more aussie specific information.

I would definately look into using something like ModernBill, clientExec or phpCoin to help in this. Also, don't be so quick about not using PayPal. I think you would be surprised at how much business you will loose simply by not offering it. Paypal is not really thought of as unprofessional anymore. I can say first hand that we do a great deal of business through them.

We use http://e-path.com.au. If you have a merchant account its a total breeze and we don't pay any transaction costs, just a once a year fee.

We've been with them for two years, very tight and secure, we're happy.

And yes, they are Australian too.

Cheers

Jumbuck

Hiya,

Looks like eWay with Modernbill or any other software with compatibility would work for you. In addition, I agree with Mike - accepting Paypal has become part of the hosting world, and you may lose business by not offering it.