So, you're a South African who's set up a drupal site and you want to sell stuff - and have your money put in a South African bank account. What are your payment gateway options?
Well, first off, you'll need to sign up for a merchant account at your local bank - who will want a business plan from you - and most banks charge you for the setup. Then you'll probably pay fees of around R100/month (?) for that account. The banks take between 5 and 7% per transaction ( ::sigh:: ). Then sign up with a payment gateway and you're ready to accept online transactions. The question is, which payment gateway?
I've only used Virtual Card Services (VCS) before, and the technical integration into a site is pretty simple. You'll pay R125/month for VCS privileges...and R1 + 0.5% per transaction. There's a module for ecommerce and one in the pipeline for ubercart.
I haven't used any other gateways. Some suggestions are:
- PayPal (except if you're in SA they won't let you accept money. These guys reckon they've found a workaround involving somehow linking a Master Card to a PayPal account - although you'll have to buy the $6 ebook to find out how.) PayPal will charge you $30/month and 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
- Authorize.net (who don't provide services directly to a client, but have a list of resellers who do. I referred a client to them, and after several months they were unsuccessful in getting an account - being in South Africa is apparently a problem.)
- Worldpay - one of my clients used them (on an html site) with success. 200 pounds setup, 300 pounds per month, 4.5% per transaction.
Google tells me that some other options for South Africans are:
- pricetag.co.za - R570 setup fee, R200/month, 5.7% per transaction
- MWEB - R590 setup, R350/month, R5.70 per transaction
- iVeri - couldn't find prices on their site
- Setcom - no monthly fees (HOORAY!), 4.9% + R4 per transaction. R8/withdrawal. [update: casperl says he uses it for smaller volume sites]. Here's a good breakdown.
- Paygate - [info from Max_headroom] - 4 packages. The Small package: R200 set-up (other packages free). 3 month contract. Min Monthly fee: R100. Per transaction: R1.00 + 0.5%.
- MyGate - 2 options:
- Express (no merchant account): R250 setup fee, R150 subscription fee (whatever *that* is?), you don't need to set up a merchant account, and there is no monthly fee. 6% per transaction.
- Standard - R200 setup fee, no subscription fee, no % per transaction (the only guys who do this, it seems), R1.50 per transaction.
- There's also MyGate 300 (R300/month, R1.50/transaction) and MyGate 600 (R600/month, R1.40/transaction) options.
- [added] PayFast - not yet able to accept credit card transactions, but will in the last quarter of 2008 (according to an email I got from them today).
- [added] AlertPay - someone directed me here, and they say they're compatible with SA bank accounts. No signup fee, 5% + R2.70 per transaction with no monthly fees. But users have had problems with them.
- [added] Netcash - R120/month.
- [added] Payment Express - costs are calculated on a sliding scale based on the number of monthly transactions. There's a setup fee of $50 or less, and $.50 per transaction, as well as monthly fees of at least $50. Integrates with most SA bank accounts.
- [added] 2checkout - $49 to open the account, no monthly fee, 4.5% per transaction value. $10 for the transfer to the SA Bank Account, minimum release level of $300 (source)
- [added] CCNow - $10 signup, 4.99% of gross sales plus $0.50 per transaction, monthly fees of $10 (unless you're selling more than $100/month). You *must* sell physical products.
- [added] ClickandBuy - used by iTunes. Looks really good, but I couldn't find any pricing on their site.
- [added] payment24.co.za - 2 options:
- Credit Card Verification: once-off setup fee of R299, R129 monthly subscription, 6.9% credit card transaction fee, Payout Fee – First R5000 FREE - R15 per R1000 thereafter
- Pay-As-You-Go Solution: once-off setup fee of R499, no monthly subscription, 7.5% credit card transaction fee plus R10 per order, Payout Fee R15 per R1000
[added] Workarounds:
- Open an offshore account (via Barclays, for instance, or a Swiss account like Credit Suisse or UBS, or a UK account with LloydsTSB (see instructions)) and link that into PayPal. Then wire the money into SA.
- Speak nicely to a friend overseas and get them to get a 'pay-as-you-go' credit card and link it into paypal.
- Sign up with some payment processor which accept payments and then mails you the cheque periodically. Some people get paid via Google Adsense like this.
So, who's using what and which one would you recommend to someone wanting to accept credit card payments in South Africa? One thing is clear - we need a PayPal-like company here!
[update: apparently it's illegal to have a "donate" button on your site unless you're a registered non-profit in SA]
[update: you have to declare all money you receive online if you're a South African-based business. Otherwise SARS will hunt you down.]
[added] POLi is really interesting. It's licensed by Setcom and allows anyone with a South African bank account to pay you directly, except POLi ties it all together in a neatly integrated package. In other words, it functions as a payment gateway, but with bank accounts instead of credit cards. It takes the buyer to their online internet banking account, where they log in, and POLi adds a "once off payment" page which they buyers uses to pay the seller. It then redirects back to the seller's site. Nice! Cost: 3.4% + R4 per transaction. The drawback is that you'll need to install an ActiveX control in Internet Explorer...non-doze users, sorry. ::sigh:: See this comment for more info.
Comments
hmm, ive often wondered ...
hmm, ive often wondered this myself. at our company we use www.netcash.co.za for all of our payment stuff. i know the guy who developed/develops paygate and i believe that it is very good.
I would say go for netcash as it is really simple and they offer everything that paypal offers you. netcash costs R120.00 per month.
hope this helps you.
theamoeba
espresso online
Per transaction fee
Thanks, theamoeba - do you pay a per-transaction fee with netcash?
yes u do ...
yes u do ... I do not know how much, but you can have a look at this page to find out what they do: http://www.netcash.co.za/FrontEnd/service/service_features.asp
theamoeba
espresso online
Don't use NetCash!
These are the Netcash fees for their "virtual credit card terminal" product - R136.80 per month, R1.14 per transaction and 5.7% transaction fee - these prices include VAT.
Only problem is - their product doesn't work! Every so often (7% of transactions in my case), the "call back" from their credit card processing page times out and doesn't notify your calling page that a transaction has taken place. This means that your customer is charged on their credit card without that charge being reflected on your NetCash account and without your system knowing about it! I speak from experience - after calls from irate customer's alerted me to this fault in the NetCash service I immediately canceled my account with NetCash. I followed their procedure by faxing through my 30 days notice of cancellation (which they acknowledged receiving) and guess what - they STILL processed a debit order off my account for the monthly fee! Don't use these cowboys - if there is anyone else who has had the misfortune of using NetCash and have had problems, there is an organisation called the "Payments Association of South Africa" (PASA), www.pasa.org.za - forward your complaint to Pierre Coetzee (PierreC@pasa.org.za).
The other serious flaw I see with Netcash is that they charge you the R1.14 card processing fee regardless of whether sensible card details were processed or not. It would be very easy to write a little script that submitted a test visa card number of 4242424242424242 to your account 10 000 times say, and you would be charged 10 000 X R1.14. Amazingly their system allows this!
Looking for NetCash config, Module
I'm looking at using NetCash.
Can you perhaps share how to configure Ubercart for NetCash?
Much appreciated. And thanks for being so active ; )
Processing Credit Cards using NetCash:
I spoke to them the other day - apparently they are rewriting their IF for C/Card - apparently due to Law changes...
Thus they currently only offer the Debit facility. It can apparently be used to debit a C/Card though.
Thanks, theamoeba
Emile
www.ServeLime.com
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
Emile Botha
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
I've looked at this a few times with no luck so far.
The best looking one to me so far has been DPS (a kiwi company) that pay out to saffer bank accounts. I've only seen a ubercart module so far for them again nothing past a beta. www.paymentexpress.com
I was interested in the mygate option but I have not found a modules for ubercart (or e-commerce as a last ditch effort). Has any one got a module for this one?
Paygate et al
I'm also looking into all the gateways at the moment. Just to clarify: Some monthly fees are actually minimum fees. So if your transaction fees are less than x, you have to pay x.
You have to ask Paygate for price list. They also have different scenes: Basic, small, medium, high. The Small package are as follows: R200 set-up (other packages free). 3 month contract. Min Monthly fee: R100. Authorisation: R1.00 Settlement: 0.5% (for CC on web page).
PM me and I'll email you the complete price list.
Who to choose? I haven't registered for anything yet. Looks like a lot of the gateways are affiliated to the banks. Mygate with FNB, Paygate with Standard, VCS with Nedbank (I think). But I'm sure they'll do other banks.
I've made a module for Paygate on Ubercart. Paygate have a nice test site where you can test your setup first. I'm planning on making a Mygate module as well. If somebody wants to play with the Paygate module, you are welcome to it, but if you want to use it for a live site, let me first load it up through the Drupal system.
I also wondered what's up with Paypal? What's the reason they not doing payments in SA? Probably security. Thanks for the headsup on Netcash, I'll check it out.
Quentin
Quentin
Paypal
Paypal not in South Africa is due to the tax man not being able to track payments into/out of the country. So they just don't allow it, funny that one of the Paypal founders is a South African.
Here is a nice overview of the issue http://imod.co.za/2008/02/13/i-called-paypalcom-today-from-south-africa-...
Where can one get their hands on these modules you are talking about?
thanks, Lathan.
Jucallme Design Studio
MyGate payment module
@Max_Headroom: have you developed the MyGate payment module yet? If not, I'll do it this week - just didn't want to duplicate work if it's already done! ;)
Go for it
Go for it. Let me know if you need help.
I'm going to make a Payfast module next.
Quentin
www.webnthings.co.za
Quentin
Telamenta has sponsored the
Telamenta has sponsored the creation of the Ubercart MyGate Enterprise module, you can find it here: http://drupal.org/project/uc_mygate. Its still in Dev as there are a few options provided by MyGate that we haven't coded in, but you could post an issue and I will include the needed functionality. It works perfectly however on several of our sites, one can be seen at http://thrifty.co.za
Setcom
I have a couple of Drupal sites selling a limited range of products or memberships and have found Setcom to be the best option for my current needs.
I am not using a shopping cart but make use of "buy now" buttons that either lead directly to Setcom payments or to a Setcom shopping cart offering a range of products available on that particular website.
There is an existing Setcom interface for Drupal 4.7 for the Drupal Ecommerce module. It should not be too difficult to upgrade to Drupal 5/6.
The charges levied by Setcom are higher than other other E-commerce gateways. This makes Setcom unsuitable for a site with many low-value transactions or a site with a high volume of individual transactions. However with a site processing a limited amount of transactions a month above R200 in value, Setcom is a valid option despite what the "experts" may say.
My best tip: Prepare a thorough business plan/operation document called an "E-Commerce Implementation Manual" for your website. Document your product(s), your organisation, your procedure, your delivery procedures, your return policies, your website, your directors / owners etc. Presenting this document to Merchant Gateway companies, banks, FICA regulations and the authorities opens doors and avenues that might otherwise be closed to you. This document allows you to do your homework without paying your school fees in actual money.
The above is especially applicable if you are selling non-tangible goods such as membership fees, advertising space or internet services. Doors close in your face when you are not selling physical goods such as books for example and the E-Commerce Implementation manual plays a part in overcoming the skepticism.
Don't neglect the facility of a "Direct deposit" option into a bank account for South African buyers as a payment system. I find the at 80% of my South African purchases are via the Direct deposit option and not Setcom/Credit card transactions. Also bear in mind that in SA there are (many) people that will pay by sending a cheque in the post, no matter what technology exists - so allow for their payments as well.
For now, Setcom works for me. I don't have a "store" with hundreds of products and therefore don't need a shopping cart. Their per transaction fees are higher than other options, but I have a low-volume, high value product that negates that objection. They process their payments on Tuesdays and the money is in my account on Wednesday. Setcom converts funds from US dollars / Euro / Sterling to SA rand at my request which saves me a further R120 fee for depositing foreign currency into a SA bank and allows me to hold funds in a foreign currency in order to benefit from the exchange rate. Setcom does not charge a monthly fee while most e-commerce gateway providers in SA do, and this does compensate for their higher transaction fees. This may seem incidental, but it allows you to monetize many smaller websites which may sell a low-volume product or membership.
Be aware that there is a substantial list of products, goods and services that Setcom and other Merchant gateways do not handle. Also be aware that it is illegal to receive donations (the Paypal donate style button) in South Africa, unless you are a registered non-profit organisation with a NPO number. In the past I have had to refund contributors in order to avoid criminal prosecution for having had a "Donate" button on a SA website.
FWIW, avoid non South African ecommerce gateways since you don't have recourse to South African law. Especially avoid Moneybookers in the UK, as you will not receive your money from them now matter what you do and how much you correspond with them. And since you are not resident in the UK, you cannot appeal to the UK banking ombudsman and you will be faced with prohibitively expensive UK civil legislation. Even then Moneybookers will simply use the UK version of the FICA regulations to motivate their non-payment.
Substantial school fees IRO e-commerce in South Africa have been paid by me and no doubt by many others. Distrust the experts with abundant advice unless they have done it themselves, and bear in mind that very few experts have.
In many respects PayPal would have been perfect for me, but I happen to live on the wrong side of the planet.
Not relevant to this discussion, but I do sell goods on eBay and since I cannot utilise Paypal to receive payments, I have used a Setcom Buy-Now link to receive payment for those products.
I hope this helps.
Casper
http://intermark.co.za
Getting interesting
@Lathan: Thanks for the link, the comments there make for an interesting discussion.
@Casper: Thanks for the tips!
To be honest, I had some doubts starting up a business idea because of all the hassles with on line payments in SA, but I feel a lot better now.
Quentin
Quentin
payment24
I found another one: http://www.payment24.co.za/
Also a gateway. You don't need to apply for a merchant account with the bank. They have al kinds of packages from selling you a store package to DIY.
I'm also a bit confused with two of the packages:
Credit Card Verification
If you have access to technical resources and have your own database driven shopping cart, then you can integrate to Payment24 directly. The user would select which product(s) to purchase on your website. Once the user is ready to pay for the selected products, you would redirect the user to Payment24, supply us with the relevant transaction information (amount and user information) and we will take care of the credit card transaction. On completion, the user would be redirected back to your website. All the ASP/PHP pages that you require to communicate with Payment24 will be provided to you
[Once off setup fee of R299, R129 monthly subscription, 6.9% credit card transaction fee, Payout Fee – First R5000 FREE - R15 per R1000 thereafter]
Pay-As-You-Go Solution
For the tech-savvy vendor, we also have a Pay-As-You-Go solution available. Basically, it works the same as the Credit Card Verification option; however there are no monthly charges and the commission percentage is slightly higher. It also requires the Vendor to maintain his/her own shopping cart.
[Once off setup fee of R499, no monthly subscription, 7.5% credit card transaction fee plus R10 per order, Payout Fee R15 per R1000]
Something else to note. Payfast (mentioned above) might not do CC, but they have a nice system called Instant EFT. I can well believe Casper that most people in SA would rather pay by EFT or COD than CC as CC is not so big here in SA. Basically works like this: buyer orders from seller site, he gets directed to Payfast gateway as normal. while there he gets instructed to do EFT with internet banking. Payfast get instant notification and buyer is send back to seller site. Both buyer and seller gets instant confirmation of transaction, just like CC transaction. Transaction cost is 2% for under R25K. Anybody had some dealings with them? I'm going to investigate them a bit more.
Quentin
Quentin
Setcom
Hi,
I would just like to clarify Setcom's three Payment options. Setcom does have a PayPal like solution that does not require a Merchant account and is able to trade in USD...
~ Person-to-person account
No Merchant account needed
No monthly fee and no Set-up fee - pay only as you transact
Trade in USD and ZAR
~ Merchant Direct account
Merchant account required with either ABSA, Standard or FNB (remember, the banks will charge monthly fees and between 3 - 5% per transaction for a merchant account)
Setup, Monthly and per transaction fees with Setcom
~ POLi - Instant Bank Transfers
No Merchant account needed
A fantastic new solution that allows you to accept online payments without the risk of credit card transactions
Bronwyn
Excellent!
Setcom looks like a really good option. Definitely in the top 2 that I'm looking into. Bronwyn, do you have a drupal module which plugs into ecommerce.module to use setcome as a payment gateway?
I checked out POLi earlier today - it's really good! It essentially allows buyers to do an online transfer from their account to your account (so no credit card authorisation fees) securely (POLi facilitates the transfer and doesn't have any internet banking access details passing through it) and then redirects back to the shopping cart, in much the same way a credit card payment gateway would. It's an excellent idea for the South African market - the only (deal-breaking) drawback is that it only supports Internet Explorer 6 onwards (you need to install an ActiveX control for POLi to work). But if they develop something that is browser-independent then it would actually be used...
So there's the gauntlet, Setcom! Thrown down and everything! :)
Drupal Module
sigh and we do SOOO love a challenge ;) Watch this space... never know what might happen in the next couple of months...
We found this on the net
http://www.jumpingbean.co.za/gpl/setcom_drupal_module not 100% sure how reliable it is - we have sent an email to the developers to see if they have a new module and we are awaiting a response from them... Will let you know when we have feedback
Bronwyn If I plan to use
Bronwyn
If I plan to use Setcom, and it looks very likely, I can/will make a module. I use Ubercart for my cart. Do you have any technical documents and also a test site where I can link to for testing while developing?
Quentin
Quentin
Test accounts for Setcom
It would be great if you made a module. The implementation guide can be found in our help section and you can always mail support@setcom.com with any questions.
For the seller:
Merchant Identifier: 1234567893
Username: testseller3@setcom.com
Password: testseller
To buy, use the below test buyer details:
Username: testbuyer@setcom.com
Password: testbuyer
Bronwyn
More news on this front.
The e-commerce VCS module turned 1.0 today. How ever support on the module is a bit bad, got a reply to a question I asked 7 months ago.
"Haven't had any issues or bug reports, I guess that makes this module ready for 1.0 release." out of the release notes. I guess no one has used ur module :P
Jucallme Design Studio
Its great this discussion is finally happening.
At last... a discussion on this elusive subject thats look like its going to result in some good stuff...
An updated Setcom Ubercart Payment Gateway module would be amazing... setcom has a good system and it would be great to get it talking effectively to Drupal.
I believe there is a module being developed for Netcash at current that I will post more about when I know more.
Thanks to everyone above for their suggestions and ideas.
Gregg
Payfast
Just stumbled upon this, http://www.payfast.co.za/c/std/v/instant-eft
Also from their FAQs page:
Q: Can I receive money from international buyers?
A: No, currently you cannot receive money from international buyers, but when credit card payments are implemented later in 2008, you should be able to.
Looks promising. Let's hope the Beta goes well.
Was just doing a bit of
Was just doing a bit of reading over at imod with the comments there
ooo this is scary - can setcom really do this? "Not one of these systems have all the functions, except perhaps setcom.co.za - but they harass my clients. If the bill is over a certain amount they phone the client and demand a fax of the front and back of the credit card before they release the funds. Clearly a security issue!"
http://imod.co.za/2008/02/13/i-called-paypalcom-today-from-south-africa-...
Jucallme Design Studio
Setcom Security
We take security and credit card fraud very seriously at Setcom! We will only ever ask a card holder (buyer) to fax a through card statements if we suspect fraudulent use of the card (we no longer accept copies of cards as now days it is very easy to get copies of cards fraudulently). You must understand that in the P2P system we are the one's accountable to the bank for any chargebacks, therefore we can if necessary ask the card holder to fax through proof to us that they are authorised to make use of the card in question. We now have a new verification system in place which basically eliminates the need for buyers to fax us anything. Its a very fine balance to try and create, protecting the Seller (and authorised card holder) from fraud, and still creating an easy to use payment system. But we have had less that 0.04% fraud on the P2P system in the last 8 months... so it must be working!
Bronwyn
Thanks Bronwyn, Nice to get
Thanks Bronwyn,
Nice to get some feed back from the horses mouth and not just something from a "broken telephone".
Jucallme Design Studio
Losing Customers
I've chatted to 2 people doing business online who moved OFF Setcom, because they got fed-up with losing Business through Setcom's "harassment" of their Customers - apparently demanding, not customer-friendly and demanding all kinds of identity verification (ID, address, etc).
I suspect Setcom's Fraud-detection rules fire incorrectly for eTrading vendors (incorrect/inappropriate fraud-profile or something).
I've read + heard that online definitely has a different behavior-pattern to Bricks-n-Mortar. My friend told me even PayPal implements a physical address verification process once your trading exceeds a certain limit (he went through that process).
Side topic: (Not SetCom)
The one guy had funds withheld by the Gateway Co and had to fight for months to get them to release his money. They had him jumping through all kinds of hoops to prove it wasn't money laundering / fraudulent transactions.
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
ServeLime.com
Emile Botha
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
Info on Fraud Rules + Interaction with Customers
It would me much much appreciated if you can (arrange) comment on the comments I made previously:
1. Threshold Rules for checking for Fraud.
2. Process required to be followed (so we can at least ward Customers/educate them re this process and why it's "good" for them)
Thanks for all your input, Bronwyn ;))
Emile Botha
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
Emile Botha
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
Emile Maybe you should
Emile
Maybe you should forward your query to support@setcom.com and then report to us here. I don't think they read this group much.
Quentin
www.webnthings.co.za
Quentin
Hey Emile! Sorry I missed
Hey Emile!
Sorry I missed this one, got a bit busy in the office. Not sure if you sent your question to us directly but I thought I would answer it here anyway...
It always disturbing to hear that customers are not happy. We have a saying in Setcom, the customer is not always RIGHT (because honestly, they really aren't...) BUT they are ALWAYS kings (or queens). Being rude is not acceptable, I would like more info on who your friends are that were treated in a bad way if possible please.
Our system is really very simple to use, I will address this as if you are the seller/buyer :
Let me focus on Sellers first:
Firstly, let me just say that we have two credit card payment options, the Merchant Direct account and the Person-to-person account.
On the Merchant Direct account, you have your own merchant account so really, you can do whatever you want. The risk of the account is carried by you, and if the bank has approved your merchant account then we are happy. We don't require any documentation from you other than our signed subscription agreement. If a transaction is charged back, your account is debited.
With the Person-to-person account you do not have a merchant account and process through Setcoms account. Here the risk is all on us. If a transaction is charged back OUR account is debited and we have to recover the funds from you. So, as you would with the bank when you open a merchant account, you need to provide us with FICA documents. We require proof of residence, ID and Bank account. All these requirements are presented to the seller when they sign up, and in various mails we send to them once they have signed up. We use this info to verify your account, this is required by the banks. We will not allow clients to withdrawal funds from their Setcom account until they have verified all their details. We need to be sure we are paying the correct person, and to be sure we are not dealing with a dodgy person! We have a list of products you are not allowed to sell on the P2P account (again you are welcome to use the Merchant Direct account if you do not qualify), so we will require details of your website to evaluate it.
For the Buyers - on the P2P account only
We have a very successful fraud engine we have developed in-house, that scans every transaction processed. We grade all our P2P accounts manually according to risk. i.e. computer hardware, iPOD etc are very often victims of fraud, so we will add these sellers to a watchlist. We have a list of rules that are applied to each transaction i.e BIN mismatch, name mismatch, free email address, (there are over 50 rules) some have a 0 score and just alert us (we manually check every alert we get), some have a score of 3 and the transaction is stopped. If a transaction is stopped the card holder is required to verify that card. Again, this is an easy three step processes, we debit their account with a random amount between 1.01 - 1.99, they need to check their accounts for this amount and log into their Setcom accounts and provide it back to us. This proves that they have access to the account and should be authorised to use it. Easy peesy. If anyone has any problem with the verification process, our friendly and efficient staff :))) will be more than willing to treat them like kings and queens and sort it out.
Hope this answers your question.
Kind regards
Bronwyn
ccnow
a collegue of mine has just created a Drupal ecommerce plugin for CCNOW that's one of the listed gateways on your list.
I was helping to test it earlier and I notice it does accept ZAR - South African Rand and the following other currencies: USD - U.S. Dollars, EUR - Euros, AUD - Australian Dollars, CAD - Canadian Dollars, GBP - Pounds Sterling, CHF - Switzerland Francs, DKK - Danish Kroner, HKD - Hong Kong Dollar, INR - Indian Rupees, JPY - Japanese Yen, NOK - Norwegian Kroner, NZD - New Zealand Dollar, SEK - Swedish Krona
It pays by cheque or wire bank transfer into the shop owners bank account.
The only downside of ccnow, that I can see, is that they don't offer Instant Payment Notification...you know, like the way your Drupal site knows when a paypal or worldpay payment has been made automatically. CCnow requires you to login to your drupal site and mark a transaction as paid. That said, you have to login to ccnow anyway to mark products as shipped, so, I supposed it's not a big deal for a shop doing a medium amount of sales each day. It's also a physical only payment option. you can't sell downloads (or services, I think).
The ccnow.module is in beta at the moment and should be released soon on drupal.org, if anyone is interested.
The project that requires the ccnow.module is a music project and CCNOW automatically reports sales to Soundscan (for the charts) which is important for the client.
DON'T USE PRICETAG.CO.ZA - 1.5 man show and they suck
Hi,
I came across this page, very useful info. Thanks. I used Pricetag.co.za for a while then reliazed that they never respond after 9-5 during week days.. did some digging around and found out that 1 chick runs this from the back of her house. The guy who developed it works only part time or whatever, doesn't even work for it. has some other job. that made me really uncomfortable.
From technical and service delivery point of view, there service really sucks. very rude chicks sends you threatning mails about charge backs and gives no reasons whatsoever. I will never trust them with my money.
Worldpay is a good option. stick to that.
PayFast, the South African alternative to PayPal
Hey everybody,
I followed the link to the imod post and then to http://www.payfast.co.za
Now how to create a module to work with my eCommerce module so that I can sell via the online shop instead of "Buy Now" buttons.
Anyone know how?
Haroun
PayGate module for Ubercart
Hi All
PayGate module for Ubercart:
http://drupal.org/project/uc_paygate
Thanks to theamoeba for the D6 port. :)
Quentin
www.webnthings.co.za
Quentin
I'm posting this here as ref
I'm posting this here as ref to a Drupal issue re the Ubercart port of PayGate for Drupal 6.x
(Apologies for the error post here, but thoughty it an important ref to put here for the eCommerce boffins/newbies to know about)
I'm getting the following error on processing the Checkout (Test Mode; Drupal 6.10; UC2-RC3)...
I notice it to be an already open issue on Drupal: http://drupal.org/node/546002?mode=2&sort=2
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong / need to fix it?
Hi We're on it. Can somebody
Hi
We're on it.
Can somebody please tell me what happened with the subscribe button/page on Drupal.org?
Quentin
www.maxheadroom.co.za
Quentin
Setcom module for Ubercart
Development was sponsored by Setcom.
Support (Elsbé) was also great in helping and testing this module.
http://drupal.org/project/uc_setcom
demo: http://ubercart.webnthings.co.za
Quentin
www.webnthings.co.za
Quentin
New Pricing and Product for Setcom
Hi everybody,
I am from Europe but currently living in CPT and actually helping a friend to set up his e-commerce (low volume-medium value). Came along yr forum in order to find a SA alternative for PP. Might also go for Setcom now, but writing them y-day I learnt the following:
The very active Bronwyn is not with them anymore :-( Got my answer from Grant
From April 01., 2009 they will have a new Product: SID, (Secure Instant Deposit) which will replace their POLi in terms of direct money transfer via Internet Banking
The have a new pricing structure: Introducing monthly fees!!! :-((( but lower transaction fees:
CC Payment: Setup R 350,00, Monthly R 100,00, per Transaction R 1 + 0,5%
SID: Setup R 350,00, Monthly R 220,00, per Transaction 1% (on monthly basis)
CC+SID Package: Setup R 350,00, Monthly R 250,00, per Transaction R 1 + 0,5% ( CC) and 1% (on monthly basis)( SID)
So you still gonna save the bank fees for a CC Merchant account, but it looks like there is no more a "free" gateway on the SA now!?
Spoke to ABSA now and they have Setcom and VCS on their "preferred list".
RAZ
Good to know
Thanks for the update raz :-)
Correction to new pricing and product for Setcom
Hi All
We still offer a Person-to-Person account like Paypal which is free of monthly and set-up fees. Let me list all the different products below:
~ Person-to-Person account
No Merchant account needed
Trade in USD and ZAR (more to come)
Accept credit card, SID (Instant EFT), Direct Deposit and Setcom Balance
No monthly fee
No Set-up fee
Transaction fee: 2.9% to 4.9% + R2.50 (no additional bank merchant fee, see www.setcom.com for details)
~ Merchant Direct (Credit Card Payment)
Merchant account required with either ABSA, Standard or FNB
Setup: R 350,00
Monthly: R 100,00
Transaction fee: R 1 + 0,5% (remember, the banks will charge additional monthly fees and between 3 - 5% per transaction for a merchant account)
~ SID (Instant EFT)
No merchant account needed. Just a bank account.
Setup: R 350,00
Monthly: R 220,00
Transaction fee: 1% (no additional bank merchant fee)
SID is a web-based payment service that allows customers to pay an online merchant directly from their bank account via their Internet banking facility. A credit card is not required!
~ Merchant Direct and SID Combo
Setup: R 350,00
Monthly: R 250,00
CC Transaction fee: R 1 + 0,5% (remember, the banks will charge additional monthly fees and between 3 - 5% per transaction for a merchant account)
SID Transaction fee: 1% (no additional bank merchant fee)
Feel free to email sales@setcom.com for more info.
Dave
Dave
Setcom module for Drupal, VirtueMart, Oscommerce and ZenCart
I know that this is a Drupal group but for developers who also work with other carts, here's a list of pre-integrated carts – so you'll be up and running quickly.
Drupal with the UberCart shopping cart - available for download from the URL below:
http://drupal.org/project/uc_setcom
Joomla VirtueMart - available for download from the URL below:
http://www.setcom.com/www/downloads/SetcomVirtuemartPaymentModule.zip
This module only works with Joomla 1.5 and VirtueMart 1.1.2.
Oscommerce - available for download from the URL below:
http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/4387
ZenCart - available for download from the URL below:
http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&cPath=4...
Dave
Dave
Filing Tax Access
Thanks for sharing that very helpful information! Paying taxes is becoming complicated these days but worry not because a post office locator can come in handy in a pinch. If you have a package you really need to get in the mail, or if you waited to the last minute to do your taxes on the 15th of April, and haven't joined the 21st century yet and E-Filed (you Luddites, you), take heart. You won't need personal loans to air mail it, because some post offices will be open until midnight on April 15th. It isn't all of them, so you need to find out if it applies to your nearest one. You don't want to need debt consolidation for fines from the IRS because you couldn't use the post office locator.
http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/04/15/post-office-locator-h...
2Checkout offering FREE signup for South Africans 'til 08/30/09
2Checkout.com is an excellent e-commerce option for South African businesses and utilized by hundreds of companies within the country. There's been quite a bit of talk about PayPal alternatives for South African businesses lately and the "best" and most reliable e-commerce solutions for businesses within the country. In response, 2CO developed a landing page specifically addressing a number of questions that have been posted on South African blogs and message boards, to clarify our offering. Plus, we are waiving our signup fee ($49 USD) for new South African signups through August 30th, 2009 so businesses can try our service with no risk. Here's the link : www.2checkout.com/campaigns/sa . Thanks!
Funding an exchange account!
Hi
I would like to know the most efficient and cost-effective way to fund a USD wallet with Webmoney, Liberty Reserve or Perfect Money with preference in that order...how do i find a suitable exchanger and what are your recommendations...this is of great interest to me and would like to know if this is possible and at what price....thanx guys
Integrating Authorize.Net or CyberSource for South Africa
Hi there,
I'm going to be using the services of a US company. They will be hosting an Business School Alumni Portal, which will need credit card transactions.
They say that I will need to use a South African gateway/company that can work with either Authorize.net or CyberSource.
Any hints on what I should be looking for?
Nir
Webcash.co.za the way forward..
Hi
For any online merchants wondering how to accept payments online - take a look at webcash.co.za.
Seems it processes payments by immediate clearing of internet transfers from 5 of SA's banks (Absa, Fnb, Standard bank, Nedbank and Investec) and they also include integrated credit card processing so if your customer isn't with one of the 5 banks they can still pay by credit card in the usual way.
Really well priced too - bearing in mind you do not need a merchant account from a bank, they charge about 2% for an internet banking payment from one of the 5 banks. If the transaction is a credit card payment then it's around 7%. No set-up fees, monthly fees or min volume fees - just a per transaction fee. Site looks nice and easy to use too.
Looking for a reliable Debit Order Service
Hi all.
I'm looking for a reliable Debit Order service, to set up recurring monthly debiting of Customers - any good services you can recommend?
Criteria:
1. Reliable/Prompt processing & response
2. Willing to process smalller transaction batches
3. Have an web-based management interface available for tracking (and preferrably for submission)
4. Not charge excessive processing fees (i.e. cheap)
5. Not require a Merchant Account
6. Not require a Setup Fee (?)
Thanks
Emile Botha
Entrepreneurship is a journey to a fulfilled life - make it so.
Bank transfer
Hi all,
Can you tell me whether authorize.net provide the facility of the bank transfer.
SetCom Prices
I have been researching SA payment gateways for a few days. Have a few clients with low volume sales who want webshops. A monthly fee structure will just not work. Are there any other alternatives without a monthly? The only one I could find is Setcom's Monsterpay...
Payment Gateways
Hi there
I've used Setcom (which is now monsterpay) - it worked great for South African buyers, but it stopped working with US clients. Something wrong happened in the verification process.
Just a heads up. I don't know if this has been fixed though.
Currently, I've been using NetCash (.co.za) - however they only take higher turn over clients, and there is a monthly fee (so this doesn't answer your question). They offer quite a lot of other services too, such as debit orders (not from Drupal - but from their netcash site's control panel. etc) (they are still working on the Netcash EFT integration part of their Drupal UC Netcash module - that will be very cool.).
I've heard good things about 2checkout. You even get a 2checkout credit card. You can select what amount and when you want them to process the money, sending it to your card or bank account at scheduled intervals. Liliplanet uses this on her film site.
If you can't find a credit card processing system, so long, you could also try the "UC Bank Transfer" module. It doesn't actually process the payment / EFT, but it does give them your bank details on screen, and in the invoice (via tokens - you need to edit the order / bank transfer template). (There is a COD payment option) - The store owner will then need to check their bank account though, so this rules out any automation etc.
Just some thoughts, not very helpful to answer your question - sorry.
I'll be following this post, as I am always looking around for a good local payment gateway.
Payment Gateways
Thanks sideswitch... it looks like mosterpay is the best solution for SA clients for now.
payfast
I also found http://www.payfast.co.za They don't have a monthly charge but there is no ubercart module. If I get more clients looking for the same solution I might whip up a module. Their integration documentation does not seem too complicated.
Webcash works
Try webcash.co.za - very cheap and works great for me...
Webcash Module?
Just a quick one: Is there a WebCash UberCart Module? Don't see anything specific online
What about Paypal?
What about paypal?
Is anyone using it now that we are able to use it in SA?
The problem with PayPal
From what I can see PayPal is fine if you want to sell biltong to Americans, but selling to other South Africans it's not the way to go.
The reason is it seems you can't sell in ZAR. So if you sell in USD a South African is going to take a hit when their bank converts their credit card payment to USD (the bank somehow always gives you a terrible rate) and then you as the merchant take a hit again when you convert your USD back to ZAR (again at a rate that will favour FNB). As a merchant, you have 30 days to convert back to ZAR and if you don't it's done automatically for you. On top of this the PayPal fees are around 3.4% plus FNB adds 1.5% (not sure if that is VAT exclusive) so in the end its about the same cost as just applying for a merchant account and signing up with one of the credit card gateway guys (like VCS).. Seems to me the market targeted is freelancers wanting to get paid by overseas clients or online merchants whose main clients are overseas people (eg B&B's for the world cup).
paypal is the last option
For the majority of SA clients its the last option. The SA Banking Oligopoly and exchange control. arg! arg! I wish there was a payment gateway that completely sidesteps the banking industry. This all makes me just wanna barter.
Paypal in SA 2010
Hi, I was very stoked about Paypal and see its potential.
I set up a FNB smart account, and linked it to my PayPal. Unfortunately, I had a "newbie" unexpected experience with it. I have clients in the UK. One of them wanted to pay the invoice via Paypal's Send/Request Money Feature.
They asked me to request money. I tried to work out the current exchange rate. Big mistake was charging them in Pounds. It went from Pounds to Dollars to Rands, and I lost about R400 on about R3900. (About 10% and then the PayPal Commission and FNB fees R53. Bummer). I did however get R153 back unexpectadly from somewhere called "Forex Feds" at the end of the month?
Another issue was the 5-7 day delay to clear the payment. So make sure to build in enough time if you need the money on time.
I enjoyed being able to "preload" my Paypal directly from my FNB account, however that also took a few days to clear and show in my PayPal account balance.
I'd say PayPal currently isn't a good option for internal South African immediate payment options.
pls removing me from mailing list
I don't want to get updates about this.....
Use the link in the last line
Use the link in the last line of your email to un subscribe.
Quentin
Thanks
I got it unsubscribed.... thanks...:)
PayPal
If you think about it, PayPal is not really in South Africa. FNB only give you the means of transfering funds between your FNB account and PayPal. I guess that would explain a lot of the above posts.
I have also been bitten with the waiting the first time. 8 days is a long time to wait for money if you are used to overnight transfers.
I haven't looked at any of the local payments gateways lately so I can't recommend any. But if you want to have a gateway developed for Ubercart, talk to me :)
I have just released an API module for the PayPal adaptive payments system. Adaptive payments has some nice features such as direct payments (one to one), chained payments (one to one to many) , parallel payments (one to many) and pre-approved payments. See http://drupal.org/project/adaptive_payments. It is still dev, and needs testing, please help :)
Quentin
That looks great,
That looks great, Max_Headroom - any plans to integrate it with e-commerce and ubercart?
Thanks
That's why I made an API, so that other people can do it, hehe.
Next I want to make a rules and CA module.
There is another module for Ubercart Market place that use AP, and I contacted the guy for possible integration with the API for futher expansion.
I already used the pre approval with Ubercart for a client, but the code is site specific.
Quentin
Roger Saner
Hi Roger
Which payment system would you recommend for auction sites. The problem I see is that the owner of such a site gets a percentage of the total deal, but total amount will also be charged by a payment gateway. Any suggestions.
Thanks
Lourens
Ubercart without Payment Gateway
Is there a way to setup ubercart without a payment gateway. In this scenario the user will be given banking details for an EFT and a webform to email proof of payment to. This is then verified manually?
Try
Try http://drupal.org/project/uc_bank_transfer
Thank you Lili
Thank you! Not having a good google day today.
Good Online Merchant Account
Hi！I’m Alexandra, works in Guangzhou ShuangQian net S&T CO. LTD. Do you like shopping online? I guess most young people are keen on online shopping, because it’s convenient for us to buy what we love, But do you know what kind of payment method is good and secure for both sellers and buyers. Let me tell you now.
Guangzhou ShuangQian net S&T CO.LTD is the third party payment gateway which specializes in providing multi-currency global online payment service. The company has built up friendly relationships with banks all over the world. Therefore, we could provide our global clients with multi-currency online payment and settlement service.
Our Success ratio is 90%. The difference and advantage of our gateway between paypal is that any buyers who has Visacard ofr Mastercard could pay through us, they don’t have to need a credit card account. Moreover, we don’t freeze clients’ bank account and no lock. So it’s quite reliable and secured for both buyers and sellers.
And we enjoys decent reputation and high success ratio in and abroad. Believe us, believe ShuangQian net S&T CO.LTD, we promise we surely would offer you excellent and professional payment service.
If you need a online merchant account and interested in our payment service, please feel free to contact us. You are always welcome.
Tel: +86-13602451574
E-mail odalexandra@95epay.com
MSN odalexandra1988@hotmail.com
Skype odalexandra88
Website：http://www.95epay.com
Which gateway integrates best with Ubercart?
Which gateway plugin integrates the best with Ubercart? Price is not important, must just be South African.
MyGate
We've been doing quite a bit of work on the MyGate module. The newest code hasn't been released yet, I'm still testing some nooks and crannies of the 3DSecure integration. If you'd like to beta-test with me, contact me via my contact page on drupal.com or our website telamenta.com.
I've found them quite jacked with the range of services they offer (right now the module is just for once off payments, but I'm keen to extend it) and the banks they integrate with (all the major ones in SA).
2011 payment gateways
Hi,
After going through the list of gateways mentioned over the last couple years and the advent of FNB bringing PayPal into the country, what current payment gateways are you using/would recommend?
It seems like PayPal has low transaction fee's through FNB, and you only pay per transaction, omitting any monthly and setup fees. It seems like their charges are 1.5% from FNB, but then still 3.4% + $0.30 USD from PayPal?
Use Mygate
They seem to be the best and their charges very low. You need to get a quote from them. The module from asciikewl is pretty good, but we need a support community of people using the module as it still needs some debugging. I am currently using the Mygate Virtual and asciikewl's module (only the myvirtual part) with success. I don't think the project page on Drupal.com is up to date or even the same project. It could be emailed to you.
Drupal Commerce?
Has anyone in SA started using Drupal Commerce yet? Any recommended gateways that integrate with D7?
Hi! Absolutely loving the new
Hi! Absolutely loving the new commerce.module, but so far have only paypal installed. Please let me know if there is any development with payfast.co.za :)
Hi. I was also investigating
Hi.
I was also investigating this but didn't find any stable releases for South African payment gateways yet.
I see there is a new D7 dev release for uc_paygate and 2checkout. http://drupal.org/project/uc_paygate
http://drupal.org/project/commerce_2checkout
- but haven't used them with commerce.
FYI: The only ones I HAVE used mostly successfully for South Africa (but on D6 & Ubercart) have been monsterpay and paygate.
This might also be useful for others... http://www.drupalcommerce.org/contrib/payment
Paygate and Payfast
Hi Stew
First, is the uc_paygate module working properly for D7? Do you use it for live payments?If so, I can then release it as a full version. I did not have many testers.
I've been out of the e-commerce side of Drupal for a while. So I have not looked at Drupal Commerce yet. Can you use Ubercart modules for it?
As for Payfast. I have a Drupal API that will give you full functionality. I might be doing an UC D7 addon for a client and speak to Jonathan about releasing it on d.o. As it is an API, I might also be able to look at doing an add on for Commerce as well.
The API also make it possible to plug in other functions beside UC and Commerce, like buy buttons, etc...
(ps, sponsorship always helps getting these things out quicker ;))
Quentin
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I haven't user Commerce at all.
I haven't used Drupal 7's Ubercart 7.x-3.1 release either. So I haven't tested any modules on Drupal 7 for Ubercart payments.
I have only worked with Drupal 6 and Ubercart with paygate and monsterpay.
But, I see there is a 2checkout module for Commerce on D7 and I think that works in SA? (even though internationally based. I think they send you a 2checkout credit card?).
Quentin, what is a strong
Quentin, what is a strong request for the commerce module is chained (adaptive) payments as you did with your paypal http://drupal.org/project/adaptive_payments
Any chance of commerce development?
Love to see you, let me know when in town :)
2Checkout
Yes, you are correct.
Quentin
Gateway for CiviCRM
On the topic of Drupal gateways is anyone aware of anything that works locally with the CiviCRM module?
civicrm south-africa
hi yes i also really want to kow how this can be done without having to write a custom module
myAltoCash - SA's New Payment Gateway
Burningdog, great page this. I have used it for ages as a source of data for who is in the "game" so to speak. We've just launched our business in SA. We've also used some of the competitor gateways on this page and I must say, it's been great to work with customer focused people like these. myAltocash is aiming to provide an instant payment and settlement alternative. We will soon provide a linked MasterCard debit card that one can move funds to at will, this will be available early January 2012 we hope.
If anyone is keen to know more about our:
-no fee to transfer money to another person
-no fee to pay on an ecommerce merchant site (for customer and merchant)
-no fee to swipe the myALtoCash debit card at any retail Point of Sale
- web and smartphone access
- SSL encrypted
- optional Insured transactions means cutting out chargeback risk
- some of the lowest set up costs ever for merchants
All comments welcome on our Fb page at www.facebook.com/myaltocash. We will try to take criticism well ;) and hope to be able to provide a brilliant experience. If we don't we will fix it. Help us shape this great product with your input.
We'll wave setup fees for Burningdog and selected referrals if you try us out!
:)
Graeme
There are quite a few good options these days
It obviously depends on which e-commerce system you're using (Drupal commerce, Ubercart, or other), and whether you're using D8, D7, or older.
For Drupal 7 using Drupal Commerce, I've found the Payfast module + platform to be great; they accept all kinds of cards, and have various other payment methods.
Paypal is great for international purchases of course.
And I've developed a SnapScan payment module that also works well - I think I'll release it as a module soon.
Dane Rossenrode
Designer and Web Developer @ Touchdreams
Geat new conent for the
Great new content for the thread Dane.
Just to note, I suspect albertnew's post is spam. It links to a PayDay loan site that doesn't at first glance appear to be geographically related and the link is even poorly constructed. The account is also just over an hour old. I've marked the post and the account as spam.