There’s a wealth of online payment services out there, and it can be hard to know which one will suit your needs the best. Whether you’re running an online business or just looking to transfer money, there’s sure to be a service out there for you, so we’re going to look at five of the best currently available.
Paypal
PayPal is still the biggest name in online payment services. Fathered at the turn of the millennium, PayPal was one of the first companies in the game with a personnel pedigree that includes rockstar start-up moguls like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. It’s been inexorably linked to that other Titanic online company eBay, which may account for its phenomenal popularity. While PayPal has drawn ire from online merchants and eCommerce companies for its somewhat “lock account first, ask questions later” approach and sluggish customer service, it’s still really popular with customers and individuals due to the anonymity it affords users who don’t want the people or companies they deal with to see their financial details. It’s for this reason that, while technically there might be more business friendly payment platforms out there, you could be alienating a lot of potential customers by not offering a PayPal payment option.
Authorize.net
Emerging in the tech boom of the late 90s, Authorize.net is currently a subsidiary of Visa, Inc. Whilst it won’t allow private payments between individuals, it’s a very solid option for small- and medium-sized eCommerce businesses, thanks to its clear and simple interface, tight security, and attentive customer service. You have to pay a one-off account setup fee followed by a monthly gateway fee after that, but given how solid and merchant-friendly the service is overall, it remains a great value choice for most smaller businesses.
Skrill
After PayPal, Skrill remains the most popular alternative online payment service. It’s low fees and a wide range of countries and currencies it carries is attractive, as is the option to have payments directly sent to fully functioning Skrill debit card that you can even use at ATMs. The main drawbacks seem to be poor customer service. However, as with PayPal, you might be remiss not to carry Skrill given its widespread popularity.
Payoneer
Payoneer has a similar interface to Skrill, and, like Skrill, you can also send your incoming funds to a Payoneer debit card that can be used anywhere. There aren’t any country restrictions either, allowing more global reach. The service is very easy to setup and integrates into a website as well, even for those with little programming knowledge. The main problem is money transfer fees which most of the big services don’t do, and the charges you can incur with the use of the debit card.
Dwolla
Dwolla is a useful payment platform that acts a conduit to the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network, which functions as a massive system for transferring and juggling large amounts of credit and debit transactions. It lets you move money through email, phone, and social media networks. For larger scale business, well-integrated account for transfers comes in very useful. Crucially, though, with Dwolla, no one has to pay any individualized transaction fees. A flat monthly fee is necessary, but given the tools on offer, the value for money here is very solid.
About the Author:- Anabel Cooper
I’m a 26-year-old editor from Harlow. Though I’m not a professional writer it’s my hobby to put together articles from time to time and share them with the audience.I have a master’s degree in Literature. I work as Copyreader and News Writer in Longman.I’m looking for new inspiration and searching new topics to write about.
