Ecommerce Payment Types

Hi All,

I've been looking into payment providers lately, and have come across two general types:

a: redirect - during the payment process the customer is redirected to a payment page hosted by the payment company, which is usually not customisable design, but has secure images all over it.

b: custom - you use ssl to connect to the payment processor services, and can customise your own forms, achieving a look similair to amazon.com or the bigger websites.

Now, Im split on opinions here, I think option A's good points are that the hosted page e.g. worldpay, may reasure the customer and make them feel secure, what with all the images and messages of being secure.

but B, im sure would look more professional. But customers may not trust it as much?

Whats your opinions on this please?

Thanks,

Matt.

I see where you're coming from... I used to work for Visa/MasterCard (on the merchant side), and speaking from experience, most people would go with the first solution...

Mind you, that most of the merchants I spoke to knew nothing about e-commerce, and weren't concerned with the "non-custom" look of the hosted page.

I would suggest looking into a merchant provider that will allow some level of customization; otherwise, you're better off going with the second. Seeing as how you're in the "know", you could go with a non-hosted solution.

The fact is that e-commerce is becoming more mainstream, so to speak, and more people are choosing it as their preferred method of shopping. So they know the signs of a secure site. It's not as "taboo" as it was in the past few years.... I wouldn't be too concerned about scaring shoppers from your site because it's not hosted.

Thanks alot FrankieShakes, you made some good points there.

Anytime... If you have any merchant-type questions, don't hestitate to ask...