Alternative payment acceptance solutions.

"- debit card/ ATM card is so easy as credit card and let customers to deduct funds for purchases from their bank account – checking account. Accurate debit cards need a PIN number to be entered before an obtain can be complete".

- PayPal would make a great additional payment acceptance method for your business or if you sell items via an auction website such as eBay. While we don't suggest you use it as your primary payment acceptance method, however with over 8 million registered users making PayPal a payment option would certainly cater well to its faithful users. PayPal services are open to both US and Non-US based businesses.Personal PayPal accounts are free, while Business and Premier accounts include just a discount rate and per transaction fee charge for each transaction completed. Transaction limits do apply, see their site for details. Business and Premier account holders can also use the PayPal shopping cart service free of charge to allow their customers to make one payment for multiple items.

- Interactive Voice Response Terminals, also referred to simply as IVR, are a relatively new method of being able to process credit cards, check cards (debit cards with Visa or MasterCard logo on them), and checks (ACH - Automatic Check Handling) via any touch-tone telephone

- Checks by Phone, Fax & E-mail software. This is one type of payment solution you may not be familiar with. It's commonly referred to by some as e-check or i-check. It's been around for quite some time and makes a perfect alternative payment solution to credit cards for those people who would rather not give their credit card information over the Internet. It allows you to collect payment via check over the phone, by fax, and even off your order form on your web site. This type of solution is cheaper then credit card acceptance, but should not be the sole method for payment acceptance. This is a very simple process. First you collect the customers check information off the bottom of the check, then enter the information into a special checks by phone/fax/e-mail program. After you enter in the information you simply print out the check on either regular paper or special check paper that is usually pretty cheap to obtain. You can then take the check to your local bank for deposit.

- Micropayments are used to process small transaction amounts (from a few cents to $10 USD) that would otherwise severely limit profit or even cost more than the actual product cost if processed the same as credit cards. The processing of micropayments is a lot like the processing of credit cards. With the exception that the transaction costs for micropayments is substanstially less. Some micropayment companies add the charges to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) bill. Micropayments acceptance has been around several years, but is still in its infancy. It'll be several years before micropayments will become a more widely used payment acceptance method. Right now many Internet users just aren't ready to spend a few cents or dollars to view content, download music, etc. Experts believe by 2005 micropayments will show up more on e-commerce enabled websites.

- Digital Cash is basically an encrypted serial number (online e-currency) that simply represents money and is placed into an account. The customer then can spend the money at different merchants that support the digital cash provider the customer signed up with. A customer can add more money to their digital cash account by using their credit card or even their checking account. Digital Cash gives added security and peace of mind to customers as they are not actually using their credit card directly to make purchases. This eliminates most all threats of fraud. One downside of digital cash is the fact that only a small number of online merchants may accept digital cash payments. It's not nearly as widely used as regular credit card acceptance is, however, the future looks bright for digital cash acceptance to expand.

- Check Guarantee - What It Is, How It Works and Fees Involved. Check Guarantee is a program in which you are guaranteed to be paid on your checks. It is a type of insurance provided to merchants. A fee is charged to the merchant in exchange for the service of paying the merchant on any checks that are returned. There's no need to worry about accepting checks or collection on returned checks. Usually, the cost for this solution is about the same as credit card acceptance, however, some may offer it for a lower price. Check with your Merchant Account Provider for further details. How Check Guarantee works is each check that you accept is verified. The check guarantee company lets you know whether the check writer has any outstanding unpaid bad checks. This is completed by running the check through a check reader or keying the check information and/or check writer into a terminal. If it shows that there are no outstanding checks in the system, the check guarantee company issues approval or an authorization number which means you are guaranteed payment for that particular check. You are also responsible for getting certain information about the check writer such as driver's license number and phone numbers. Check Guarantee has been around for a while and it's nothing new; the Guarantee Processor charges the merchant a Discount Fee (percentage) on ALL checks they accept, usually around 2%, and agrees to cover all returned checks, provided that the merchant has followed the Processor's Check Acceptance Rules. The fee scale varies by merchant type and the associated risk, but is rarely lower than 1.79%. A per item Transaction fee of around $0.15 to $0.25 is also charged. There IS usually a Monthly Minimum fee and Statement Fee, but not all processors charge these. There may be a sign up/application fee, and also a programming fee to put the service on the merchant's Point of Sale Terminal. A point of sale terminal is required, but a check reader is optional.

- Escrow services act as a middleman for a payment transaction. They ensure the buyer is happy with the product they've received and that the seller gets paid accordingly. This solution provides good security and trust that are an essential for high ticket items (i.e. domain names, company buy-outs, etc.) and auction-type websites.

Here's a step-by-step explanation of how Escrow services work:
Step 1: The Buyer pays for the order to the Escrow service with a credit card, money order, check (business, personal, certified), wire transfer, or direct deposit.
Step 2: Once the Escrow service receives the Buyer's payment, they will then notify the Seller to go ahead and ship the merchandise to the Buyer.
Step 3: After the Buyer receives the merchandise, he/she then notifies the Escrow service that they are happy with the purchase.
Step 4: The Escrow service then pays the Seller accordingly by either check or wire transfer into your bank account. If the Buyer is not satisfied with the merchandise, he/she can notify the Escrow service that the item(s) has been returned to the Seller. Once the Seller receives the merchandise back, they are given a period of time (about a week) for inspection of returned item(s). The inspection period allows the Seller time to ensure the merchandise was returned in the same condition as it was shipped. After which, the Escrow service will refund the Buyer for the amount paid, less the Escrow service fee.

- EFT is a method for transferring money automatically by using the facilities of the Automated Clearing House (ACH), an entity associated with the Federal Reserve Banks. EFT is the only system by which a merchant can initiate a transaction to collect money from the bank account of a customer located anywhere in the USA. In addition, it can be used to transfer money outwardly to pay bills. One of the most important features of EFT collection is that the money is automatically transferred on the DUE DATE as CASH, not uncollected funds. The cost of collection via EFT is less than the cost of conventional methods of bill collecting, using statements, mail, postage, employee costs, etc. EFT costs are based on the number of transactions, regardless of the dollar size, and this cost with very large volume is negotiable. In conjunction with lower per transaction costs, there are lower charges for a bounced check.

- Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network - What It Is The ACH Network is a highly reliable and efficient nationwide batch-oriented electronic funds transfer system governed by the NACHA OPERATING RULES which provide for the interbank clearing of electronic payments for participating depository financial institutions. The American Clearing House Association, Federal Reserve ("FED ACH"), Electronic Payments Network, and Visa act as ACH Operators, central clearing facilities through which financial institutions transmit or receive ACH entries. The ACHA (American Clearing House Association) is one of the three private sector ACH operators in the United States. The FED ACH is the only public sector processor and currently handles approximately 85 percent of ACH transactions between financial institutions. The FED ACH is an electronic payment delivery system owned by the Federal Reserve Bank. It is most often used to process low-dollar repetitive retail payments. Financial Institutions that are members of the FED ACH System send batches of credits and/or debits into the system, and the system sorts the items from all batches submitted, and routes them to the appropriate receiving financial institution. The system is used primarily for pre-authorized recurring payments such as payroll, corporate payments to vendors, Social Security payments, insurance premium payments and utility payments.

- Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT). Grocery shopping is one of the most widely performed activities around the world. If you are food merchant, you probably know that not everyone pays for their food with cash or credit cards, but many use food stamps as well. Now that paper is becoming a less and less common form of the food stamp, many purchases are made with the use of a single card called Electronic Benefits Transfer card. The EBT card works much like a credit card. You can even use the same terminal through which you scan your credit cards, but a specific program is required for this kind of transaction to work efficiently. Check with your Merchant Account Provider for more information."