This is what moving into web-to-print (W2P) can feel like for a printer. After all the hard work of setting up the web portal and the shopping cart, the bit they thought would be easiest – as it always seemed so easy when they were the customer – hits them in the gut: setting up online payment facilities can be the hardest part of any W2P transition.  

"If I was starting from scratch from no knowledge base, I think it would be a massively challenging area," admits Tangent Communications executive director Nick Green, whose company recently added online payments to its Printed.com portal. "There are loads of providers, loads of things to think about and there probably aren’t enough help guides and enough easy starting points out there for companies to get a handle on the processes."

The complexities range from trying to be compliant with the online Payment Cards Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – a costly and incredibly intricate process – to trying to find and be accepted for an internet merchant account. Both are prerequisites of being able to trade online. In addition, there are myriad stumbling blocks to setting up a payment system.

Many of these complexities can be taken off the printer’s hands, however, through the employment of a third-party payment specialist, such as Sage Pay or WorldPay. These companies integrate into the W2P software provided by the likes of VPress, ROI 360 and RedTie to give the printer the online payment functionality. Having to involve another company in the process after you’ve already found a W2P supplier may sound unnecessarily fiddly, but RedTie managing director Jamie Thomson says this is the best solution for everyone.

"Security is obviously a huge part of any online payment system. RedTie has taken the approach of letting the experts in online payment security take responsibility for confidential information in this regard," he explains. "For customers, it means they can offer recognised payment methods to their customers in the knowledge that they are offering the most up to date security techniques available."

With these specialist suppliers, when the customer comes to pay, they hit the pay button and are taken to a payment page that is hosted on the payment solution supplier’s secure server. The details are entered and then transferred to the printer’s merchant bank. The money is then transferred. At no point does the sensitive data touch the W2P software or the printer’s server, so all the security is handled by the payment solution provider, who deals with all associated costs.

The trouble for the printer, of course, is that generally they have no idea which third-party company is best, what to look for or how to compare and contrast the options. They need to ask how long the money will take to arrive, how long the contract will be for, what the charges are and whether it is possible to brand the external payment pages with the printer’s colours and logo.

Hence, to lend a helping hand and help carry the stricken printer over the finishing line, what follows is a quick guide to the leading suppliers, what they offer and why they believe they stand out from the rest. As an added boost, several printers have offered their own experiences in this area as an additional steadying hand.

ONLINE PAYMENT SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS

BARCLAYS SMARTPAY
Barclaycard head of e-commerce Ed Black says the company’s SmartPay system is perfect for companies wishing to process transactions from both the UK and abroad. "It enables our customers to accept both local and international payment methods such as Visa, MasterCard and European bank transfers," he explains.

The SmartPay system offers data and reconciliation reporting to show how the business is performing. It is compliant with payment security standards such as PCI DSS.

Black says simplicity is key to the system, with customers having a "flexible and easy-to-use service". This includes integration with W2P software, with a support team there to help customers understand how they can make the system work for them and assistance available to web developers so they can link to SmartPay and set up the software.

Cost Costs are bespoke to each customer based on the volume of transactions
Contract conditions No fixed contract terms
Branding Printers can personalise the payment pages with their branding
Time for money to be processed There will be an agreed settlement period for payment processing 

DATACASH
DataCash offers a fully outsourced hosted-pages payment solution and functionality includes multi card-type acceptance, PCI DSS-compliance, fraud prevention tools and access to the management reporting system.

"DataCash’s global presence also enables printers to open up their businesses to new demographics and geographical market segments through the acceptance of international credit cards, e-wallets, direct bank transfer and cash alternatives," says DataCash head of business development and publishing Andrew Scarrott.

He adds that the solution is easily integrated into the merchant’s website with the flexibility to integrate the payments solutions through a pop-up window, a redirect or through an ‘iframe’, a window within the website itself. He also reveals that DataCash has securely processed £45bn worth of transactions for over 30,000 active merchants in the past year alone.

Cost DataCash’s pricing is tailored to each customer’s needs and would depend on independent factors of the solution, such as additional payment methods, transaction volumes, etc
Contract conditions No fixed contract
Branding DataCash does not provide a DataCash-branded hosted payments pages solutions, so all customers are free to customise their payments pages to fit in with their company’s branding
Time for money to be processed The transfer period will depend on the merchant bank chosen

PAYPAL
Probably the best-known online payment provider on the web – used everywhere from eBay to Amazon – PayPal is a major player in the sector. There are several packages available, ranging from the basic payment conduits most will be familiar with to the Pro account many businesses opt for. Like the others, it accepts all major debit and credit cards and is fully PCI DSS-compliant, but with the added bonus that PayPal acts as the merchant account as well as the payments provider, so there is no need to find one separately.

The company says it is simple to get set up and companies can start accepting payments in minutes. "PayPal is pre-integrated into a wide range of e-commerce providers, meaning you can go live without needing any technical skills. Most of PayPal’s business solutions require no approval process – you can simply sign up and get started. A user can upgrade from a personal account to a business account with the click of a button, and can also receive payments whilst having a personal account," explains PayPal UK head of PR Rob Skinner.

PayPal has a customer services team and integration support and it also provides a number of guides to help a business start and grow their online presence.

Cost Transaction charges are 1.4% - 3.4% plus 20p, depending on sales volume
Contract conditions No contract or minimum term
Branding Full branding customisation available
Time for money to be processed Two to five working days

SAGE PAY
Sage Pay is, in business quarters at least, just as well-known as PayPal and has the added benefit of being part of the wider Sage product range of accounting software. This means, says Sage Pay product marketing manager Moeen Curmoula, that online payments can feed directly into existing Sage accounting software. It also enables the company to provide ‘Pay It Now’ buttons on electronic invoices so business customers can pay online as soon as they are invoiced.

There are multiple options available, but all are PCI DSS-compliant and accept multiple debit and payment methods, both domestic and global. Curmoula adds that Sage has partnerships with merchant banks, so printers would benefit from not having to search separately for a merchant account. He also stresses the extensive customer services that are available.

"We have 24/7 customer service because we realise that many of our clients are 24/7 operations and if they need assistance at 2am, they don’t want to have to wait until 8am to talk to someone," he says. "We assist with technical issues, fraud and merchant queries. So it is multi-disciplinary."

Cost Set monthly fee of £20 for up to 1,000 transactions per quarter. Volumes between 1,000 and 5,000 transactions per quarter will carry a charge of 10p each, while those above 5,000 carry bespoke charges per transaction, each with a minimum cost of 0.1p

Contract conditions No contract or minimum term
Branding Full white label branding, as well as iframe options available
Time for money to be processed Average period is three to four working days, depending on the merchant bank chosen

SECURETRADING
Like PayPal, SecureTrading offers an all-in-one solution, offering an inclusive merchant account. Pre-integrated with more than 50 shopping carts, it is PCI DSS-compliant and offers direct line UK customer services support operating from 6.30am until 11pm.

"Account management system is clear and easy-to-use, with step by step guides available on YouTube," adds  marketing executive Michael Gwynne. "SecureTrading offers three hosted options that eliminate the major responsibility of PCI Compliance."

The company plans to introduce a ‘Pay It Now’ function for invoices in the first half of 2012.

Cost Tailored pricing, but packages can start from £15 a month
Contract conditions 12-month contract
Branding Fully customisable payment page
Time for money to be processed Dependant on the arrangements with the merchant bank chosen

WORLDPAY
WorldPay describes its system as a "single portal from which you can manage a transaction throughout its lifecycle".

Vice-president of e-commerce product proposition Lefras Coetzee adds: "This means the printer can perform and act on a number of detailed enquiries on the transaction, obtain reconciliation information, as well as manage refunds and chargebacks all through WorldPay’s easy-to-use online payments management tool." 

It offers fraud and risk management and foreign exchange in conjunction with accepting all major debit and credit cards. WorldPay can also provide a printer with a comprehensive set of integration guides, as well as telephone support to aid the integration process.

Cost Costs are dependent on the types of payment methods that the printer chooses to offer to their customers
Contract conditions The printer can change their payment service provider at any time subject to a 30-day notice period
Branding WorldPay’s hosted payment pages can be customised to replicate the printer’s web shop branding
Time for money to be processed In some cases, WorldPay may delay settlement or ask for some guarantee to mitigate risk, but for most merchants WorldPay will settle funds in full two days after the transaction.

PRINTER EXPERIENCES

CIRCLE SERVICES: SecureTrading
Claire Austin Director at Circle Services
"We have been really happy with the SecureTrading service. We have a tailored payment website with them, so the customer doesn’t necessarily even realise they have left our website. We can do refunds, part-refunds, payment checks – we have full access to our transactions. We are also notified to possible frauds, where odd activity is flagged up and I then authorise the payment if I think it is legitimate. We did look at PayPal, but found our customers did not like it, as it is something they relate to personal transactions, so it made our business appear smaller than it is."

MICROPRESS: Sage Pay
Paul Gillings Software and workflow technician at Micropress
"The Sage Pay user interface is superb and extremely easy to use. The accounts people can go in and process refunds and look at payments very easily, so our customer service is extremely good. Customers like to see a bit of familiarity and Sage is a well-known and trusted brand, so the customers feel comfortable seeing it there and using it. The charging system is really clear and very reasonable, and it’s completely scaleable too. If we were to grow, they’d have no problem keeping up."

PIXART: Printing Worldpay
Matteo Rigamonti President of Pixart Printing
WorldPay makes it incredibly easy to pay something. Moreover, say you had some problems with a customer, refunding the money is a piece of cake – very easy, quick and effective. It is important to remember that the easier you make things for your clients, the more likely it is they’ll come back."

TANGENT COMMUNICATIONS: Datacash and Paypal
Nick Green Executive director at Tangent Communications
DataCash is our basic provider and we also offer PayPal. Both are very secure and are very robust. With DataCash, we pay a flat fee for a set volume amount of work going through their engine. DataCash is effectively our online credit or debit card transaction portal, and with PayPal it is just another option you can use.  Both are completely integrated – it was seamless.  PayPal only took a couple of days to set up. The payment side of DataCash was just as quick, but it took slightly longer to organise the administration side of things with regards to our accounts department. We were given a test account, so we could fully test the system before launch. In terms of receiving the money, the debit and credit card is instantly debited. We can instantly refund people too. It is a manual process at the moment, but will become automated in phase two of this project."

THE CALENDAR PRINTERS: PayPal
James Earle Operations director at The Calendar Printers
"PayPal handles all the security and data concerns. We have had no issues, and we didn’t have to get too involved in the set-up – it just works! We did have some concerns about the fact PayPal has associations with people’s personal transactions rather than proper business transactions, but these were allayed when we opted to upgrade to the PayPal Pro account. This makes the system the same as the other business systems on the market – perhaps an entry-level
version, admittedly, but with the branding available, it is just as good as the alternatives. One area we take issue with is the fact that Paypal keeps a percentage of the income in the account in case of charge backs (where a customer cancels a payment and their bank looks to take back the money transferred). The money sits there for around 60 days as, PayPal wants to keep it available if that does happen."