Web Hosting Talk Members,

I've been searching long and hard for an e-commerce merchant account provider tailored for international businesses!

I am a citizen of Canada, but will shortly be moving to Hong Kong to open an e-commerce business venture there. Problem is, I am finding it very difficult to find any merchant account solutions outside of North America/Europe.

I am aware that Instabill.com offers services, but have heard nightmares of their services. First Atlantic Commerce also offers merchant account services, but they require annual revenue exceeding $500,000 USD and do not allow start-up's whatsoever.

Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

There may be some solutions available to you. To an extent it depends on what you are selling. What types of products or services are you selling?

Some offshore services will approve almost any type of business, but I recommend that if you have a low risk product or service, don't go with a high risk processor. Get a merchant account with a company that takes on lower risk accounts, as the rates and terms will likely be better.

Is the business going to be registered in Hong Kong or Canada?

This business will likely be registered in Hong Kong.. Which, unfortunately, shoots down a lot of potential merchant account providers asides from the two I have found so far.

I have looked into the possibilities of Hong Kong businesses opening up a business bank account in Canada (after all, I am a citizen here) and using a Canadian merchant account, but I haven't found much information to back that route up.

May I ask what you will sell?

It'll be a variety store of import goods (mostly Japanese brand names) ranging from hair wax, fashion, to even flash memory cards, etc.

Since it is a startup business and located in Hong Kong then I assume that many processors will put it under the high risk category. A work around would be to establish a company in Canada and then do the business through this company and not with a Hong Kong company.

We've considered that, but Hong Kong has huge tax benefits for businesses and even personal income taxes compared to Canada, United States or even anywhere else.

My guess is that the additional couple 1-2% price hike from a merchant account in Hong Kong would be greater, on an annual basis versus the far higher tax rates in Canada versus Hong Kong.

Try Jettis, AsiaPay or YesYes. All based in Hing Kong or there about.

Card Expert,

Thanks for the names. Are these reputable companies? While I can't envision us generating large revenue over the first year, it will still be quite a hefty sum that will be transacted, so ideally, we are looking for companies with a solid and longstanding reputation. Have you heard of any personal experiences from other merchants that have used them?

Doing a search on them now!

I know most of them personally and they have all been in business for quite some time.

Card Expert,

In regards to Jettis.. Are you referring to Jettis.com or JettisIntl.com? I haven't done a WHOIS lookup on them, but the quality of the sites seem to differ quite vastly. JettisIntl seems more like a third-party payment processor than an actual merchant account provider.

Furthermore, do you have any ideas at what rates we may be looking at for them? I've contacted AsiaPay and is awaiting an email response, but was hoping to get an idea of charges, as we're unfortunately, probably a high-risk merchant regardless of what we sell because of our start-up status.

So I've taken an approach to look for more merchant account and payment gateway providers located in Asia and have found the following:

- Payment Asia
- WorldPay

Not too sure about impressions on these companies, as even on WHT, it seems as most users have not had much experiences with them, although they have been previously mentioned.

I know many of the folks at WorldPay. It's owned by RBS, which makes it one of the most stable solutions in the world.

I think you need to determine if you are willing to run the business out of Canada (which will probably open more doors in terms of getting an account), or if you want to operate out of Hong Kong. I'm less familiar with the market in Hong Kong, but the Canadian market I'm obviously familiar with. Without knowing exactly what you would pay in Hong Kong, I would be willing to wager you would get better merchant rates and payment terms from a Canadian based business. Then again, like I said, I'm not an expert on processing in Hong Kong, and also, there are the tax implications...

You have options, which is always a good thing. I would think you need to decide, could you effectively run your business if it was Canadian based? That will determine how viable of an option that may be for you.

It is Jettis.com
It is all about how the processors see you as a merchant. If you are extremely high-risk etc. I know these companies does high risk. In my eyes I really dont see your products as very high-risk though but then again I havent looked at your website, products in detail, shipping policies etc.

It is actually a good thing that you dont find much about them. People usually only post when they have something bad to say :-)

David,

I can definitely say that operating in Hong Kong is probably the best way to go, as it is notorious for not only it's multilingual mix of residents, but it is also a haven for low tax rates.

Hong Kong's tax system is strictly based on profit. Sole-proprietorships pay 16.5% profit taxes, while incorporated businesses cap at only 17%. Furthermore, as an owner of a business, one does not need to pay personal income taxes. To my knowledge, they perform an assessment of your business and personal income (salaries tax) combined and offer a very satisfactory overall rate. There is basically no taxes whatsoever in Hong Kong. Even as a standard employee in Hong Kong, personal income taxes are only 2%, 8% and 15% and 20%.

So if we take into account the far more simpler accounting principles of Hong Kong, the lower average salary of an accountant versus Canada, and all the tax perks we'd save annually, the advantage of operating in Hong Kong far outweighs Canada.

Furthermore, the shipping prices in comparison to Canada are phenomenal. To ship a 65g product to Canada (or anywhere around the world for that matter), it costs about $2.00-$2.50 CAD through Regular Air Mail from Hong Kong. Comparatively, in Canada, even shipping from cities in close proximity such as Ottawa to Toronto would exceed that price if we take into account, even before taxes. Canada's small packet sizes are extremely small, and practically no products can fit under this class, whereas in Hong Kong, small packets can go as far as parcel sizes practically.

So in turn, we'd see profit from shipping, handling, and even packing suppliers are far more cheaper. In addition to the hourly wages, the perk perks, etc., etc. All in all, the extra 2% we might incur from an international merchant account provider versus one in North America may not be so bad, but nonetheless, we need to know we're in safe hands as this is a foundation to build an e-commerce business upon.

I will take a look at Jettis.com.

Seems like WorldPay is quite recommended.

Worldpay is ok. 2checkout is another option.

I know AsiaPay are also very good.

I've contacted AsiaPay as well.. Just awaiting clients. Isn't 2checkout a third-party payment processor and nothing more?

Yes they are but so are WorldPay.

If you need your own account with your HK company as base you need to look at the processors I mentioned as they work with banks in that region.

WorldPay isn't a third-party payment processor. They actually offer merchant accounts and also a payment gateway system together. 2checkout however, clearly states they are an alternative.

Just wanted to update. I've gotten a reply from Payment Asia and there rates are quite satisfactory.. I'm not sure if this is because they deemed us low-risk or not, but their merchant account + payment gateway solution totals up to about 3.6%. Setup fee is about $150 USD and monthly fee's come to about $35 USD (collected annually).

Quite a low rate, and they also allow sales in USD, which is all I essentially need!

worldpay fee is high for international users, it's like 500$ start, 50$ monthly and etc...

I'm looking for some US merchants which doesn't need SSN, i'm nonus resident, and having US company with bank account, most of them ask for SSN that is just impossible >.<

I think it's best to get WorldPay/PayPal. It's a good "combo"

not 100% sure how it works for Hong Kong - but what about WORLDPAY bank of Scotland -

being from canada in web hosting no canadian bank wanted to give us a merchant account 4 years ago and worldpay was the only one we found

being from canada in web hosting no canadian bank wanted to give us a merchant account 4 years ago and worldpay was the only one we found

As a start-up web hosting company 4 years ago, it may have been difficult for you but now that you have processing history, you may have better luck second time around.
As always, it also depends on how you submit your applications to the banks.

Try PayPal Pro. It has a monthly subscription, but it's a great merchant.

You can accept PayPal payments, and also you get a virtual terminal + api for credit card payments (no need for visitors to be sent to the PayPal site or have a PayPal account, works just like a normal merchant as it is a real merchant account).

I don't think that you can you PayPal Pro from Hong Kong. You should be able to use the standard one though. I know that I xan only use the standard one from Singapore.

I wouldn't recommend anyone specifically, as most companies cater to individual needs of clients as well. Your priority should be not just low tax rates but safe transaction modes as well, such as offshore merchant accounts. Their offshore processing is faster and allows various credit and debit card payments as well.