Getting An Internet Merchant Account In Thailand Or Singapore

[CrossBones]

Hi

Has anyone got any recommendations for getting a merchant account in TL for internet payments. Preferably one where it sends me the card numbers and I enter them into an efpos terminal. How difficult is this for my thai wife to get, or me. How to go about registering a website legally, accounting and all that (ive been using Paypal for too long)! Where should I start looking? Nearly all my payments are coming from overseas, so do I necessarily have to register the business in Thailand - although i am NOT against paying income tax here, but I want to avoid overcomplicated accounting!

Also someone suggested I could take internet payments tax fee with a singapore or hongkong account all legal and above board.. anyone have any experience with that?

Please post any information or PM me if you prefer. If you are doing website stuff perhaps we can help each other out in some capacity.

Thanks

[monty]

Not sure what exactly your business is, export or services.

In any way, Thai credit card machines (POS terminals as used in shops and hotels) won't clear transactions based on CC number and ccv. I know mine can't anyway. The machine is set up for it but it is blocked at the bank.

According to Bangkok Bank this is much too open for credit card fraud as you can simply buy stolen CC info on the net. They would have a virtually impossible time trying to figure out which transaction was legal and which not...

Again, the viability of setting up a local company along with a Thai TLD (.co.th) will depend on your line of business. Indeed you will be tax liable, but you could likely get a work permit (with assorted advantages), and with proper accounting your tax burden should not be too high.

You would also be elligible then to set up an e-business account under your Thai company allowing you to clear CC payments directly.

As you mention if you open a company in Hong Kong (not sure on Singapore's tax laws) along with bank accounts etc, as long as no actual work/business is conducted in Hong Kong, no tax has to be paid over there. This would require you to go there and set everything up, not sure either how easy/difficult it is to set up CC clearing.

Anyway, locally there are different options for receiving online CC payments, paysbuy is one of them (and actually can receive funds from paypal holders!)...

Direct withdrawal to Thai bank account...

[CrossBones]

Not sure what exactly your business is, export or services.

In any way, Thai credit card machines (POS terminals as used in shops and hotels) won't clear transactions based on CC number and ccv. I know mine can't anyway. The machine is set up for it but it is blocked at the bank.

According to Bangkok Bank this is much too open for credit card fraud as you can simply buy stolen CC info on the net. They would have a virtually impossible time trying to figure out which transaction was legal and which not...

Again, the viability of setting up a local company along with a Thai TLD (.co.th) will depend on your line of business. Indeed you will be tax liable, but you could likely get a work permit (with assorted advantages), and with proper accounting your tax burden should not be too high.

You would also be elligible then to set up an e-business account under your Thai company allowing you to clear CC payments directly.

As you mention if you open a company in Hong Kong (not sure on Singapore's tax laws) along with bank accounts etc, as long as no actual work/business is conducted in Hong Kong, no tax has to be paid over there. This would require you to go there and set everything up, not sure either how easy/difficult it is to set up CC clearing.

Anyway, locally there are different options for receiving online CC payments, paysbuy is one of them (and actually can receive funds from paypal holders!)...

Direct withdrawal to Thai bank account...

Thanks yes, you can do a direct withdrawal to a Thai bank with PayPal also, but I want to steer away from these "payment processors" and have a facility to take credit card payments online.

Does anyone else know of any other solutions, I can register this all in the wifes name

Thanks

[Phil Conners]

Check out thaiepay.com.

[Crushdepth]

I set up online payments with SCB a couple of weeks ago. There are some restrictions on it, including a fairly substantial minimum volume ($ thousands) per month just to keep it open. You need to have a registered business and all your paperwork in order. The fee is fairly similar to what you would pay a payment gateway, and you have to integrate the payment system into your website yourself, which probably requires a small amount of programming.

You do not enter credit card details yourself (I don't think anyone is going to let you do that). The customer provides their card details directly to the bank via the bank's online payment facility and you are not involved in the actual transaction. Your site just passes customers to the bank with the details of the required transaction.

If you are a small shop going with a payment gateway is a better option IMHO.

[NUMBNUTTS]

I would not pay any tax to anyone - period. What for. We get taxed everywhere, anyways.

Set up in any country that is offshore from where you live for at least 180 day - SG, PI or HK is good - ya dont need to pay them tax.

They are quite happy to process and have access to your relatively free money.

Most decent hosting sites have packages that include a cart system and work internationally - HSBC is good globally.

Go Linux, stay away from M$ & Frontpage etc - for security reasons. It is relatively simple once ya plan it out logically

PM me if ya need some help.