A Brief Overview of Internet Payment Options

What do you use to take online payments? This is a question asked by our clients a lot.

Foregoing the discussions of planning (why, who, for what purpose, the cost and ROI, how to implement, when to upgrade, and most importantly, will your purchaser be comfortable with the system you select), I thought it might be time for a quick review of some of the most currently used payment systems.

Paypal

This is the first and most well-known. It has its detractors and supporters. Our advice is always to include Paypal, just because everyone knows it and feels safe with it. Why miss a sale because your purchaser is not familiar with your merchant bank? If you are selling a lot of low-cost items, the transaction fee at Paypal may be too high.

Spare Change
The first and largest micropayments solution for social networks users allowing buyers and sellers to make small payments. Similar services include Bee-Tokens and Tipjoy. Tipjoy differs a bit as it is one click and encourages your customers to share your content with their friends, through feeds to social networks like Twitter and FriendFeed, RSS feeds, and emails.

Twitpay
This is a micropayment service for microbloggers.

Generically, there are

Digital Cash - a form of electronic currency that functions similarly to a debit card.

Electronic Checks - as straightforward as it sounds: small business allows customers to pay for e-commerce purchases by accepting personal or business checks online.

Internet Cash - for those businesses whose customers traditionally pay cash. It’s great for gifts and to set spending limits for teens. Or to provide purchase opportunities for those without credit cards.

eCharge Phone - allows customers to bill purchases to their local phone bills.

Tradenable acts as an escrow agent between auction buyers and sellers. The buyer and seller set terms online. After both parties agree to the terms, and successful payment and receipt of goods is made, Tradenable then pays the seller. There is a method for returning goods, in addition.

Posted from Broadside: Taking Aim at the Social Revolution