Paypal, Thaiepay - Receiving Credit Card Payments?

[Smithson]

What are ppl's experience with receiving credit card payments? We have a registered business, but are finding this very tricky.

PayPal works OK, except we can't withdraw directly here.

We've tried Thaiepay, but it's problematic

Siam Commercial seems OK, but they're not accepting applications at present

Bangkok bank wants 5% commision and 14K set up fee!

Can any forum members recommend others? Ideally I'd like something that is suitable for shopping carts as well as letting me send invoices with a message field for customers.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[stats]

try 2checkout you can withdraw via wire transfer.. and you can receive money thru Thai Baht too

Edited January 4, 2006 by tytus

[John_Betong]

Hi Smithson,

A friend of mine has been using the following service since 1997 and is still with them.

http://www.regsoft.com/index.shtml

The Digital River Visa Electron Card is now available!

Digital River and RegSoft.com are excited to introduce the newest, fastest, and easiest way for you to receive your payments. The Digital River VISA Electron Card can be used to withdraw your payment from nearly one million ATM Machines worldwide. Plus, use your VISA Electron Card to make purchases online virtually anywhere VISA is accepted.

An example of their payment scheme:

https://www.regsoft.net/regsoft/vieworderpa...productid=63519

Cheers,

John_Betong

[KronbergTH]

Hi Smithson,

What are ppl's experience with receiving credit card payments? We have a registered business, but are finding this very tricky.

PayPal works OK, except we can't withdraw directly here.

We've tried Thaiepay, but it's problematic

Siam Commercial seems OK, but they're not accepting applications at present

Bangkok bank wants 5% commision and 14K set up fee!

Can any forum members recommend others? Ideally I'd like something that is suitable for shopping carts as well as letting me send invoices with a message field for customers.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is the problem with Thaepay? I have been using it for years. Only problem is that the fee is 4% and they are slow...

[thaitanic]

My experience in Patong, Phuket:

Kasikorn Bank, my current bank, said OK to merchant account and online payments but wanted 200,000 baht fixed deposit with very low interest (sod that).

SCB only wanted 100,000 baht deposit but demanded 6 months' good performance before granting online payments. They failed to see the logic that I can't perform without the means to perform.

Bank of Ayuthaya only wanted 50,000 baht deposit but finally turned me down "because my office doesn't look like a shop". They failed to see the logic that an internet business does not need to look like a shop.

Paypal does not allow one to withdraw the money in Thailand.

I'm using Paysbuy. It has worked so far but they've currently dropped Mastercard. They can only take Visa. Apparently they're switching from BOA to another bank to reintroduce Visa payments but I'm not holding my breath.

[Smithson]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is the problem with Thaepay? I have been using it for years. Only problem is that the fee is 4% and they are slow...

Thaiepay is OK, there are a number of things I don't like about it:

1) They don't have a message field or a way for customers to let me know sizes etc. when they are paying

2) They don't take Mastercard (even though their website says they do

They also hold your money for a while which makes me nervous if the economy gets shaky.

[thaitanic]

I have exactly the same reservations about Paysbuy. Thaiepay and Paysbuy look very much like the same company to me, or else one has ripped off the other's design.

Paysbuy told me that they are planning to reintroduce Mastercard by changing their merchant account away from Bank of Asia, which had stopped them taking it for some reason.

With a little PHP or ASP programming you could take notes, sizes etc. off customers before they reach the paying stage.

[Smithson]

I have exactly the same reservations about Paysbuy. Thaiepay and Paysbuy look very much like the same company to me, or else one has ripped off the other's design.

Paysbuy told me that they are planning to reintroduce Mastercard by changing their merchant account away from Bank of Asia, which had stopped them taking it for some reason.

With a little PHP or ASP programming you could take notes, sizes etc. off customers before they reach the paying stage.

They both sound similar, but I don't think they're the same company, although it appears they're having the same problems and giving the same excuses about changing from Bank of Asia. Apparently Mastercard won't allow BOA to accept payments, claims there's been problems with to much fraud.

Last month they sent an email saying we'd have our money on the 9th, the money didn't arrive until the 14th and they weren't to happy when we asked where it was.

Any suggestions for PHP or ASP programming?

[Tompa]

I think the biggest problem with Thai based payment gateways is just that - they are Thai based. If you are doing business with mainly the US you really need to be able to accept payments through for example Paypal as it's well recognized by the mass majority.

Paypal is a bit of a bitch in that you can't withdraw money directly to a Thai bank account. However, there are a number of ways around this such as opening a Bangkok Bank account (they have a branch in the US that you can use for withdrawals), or if you are a Foreigner you could always open up the account using your home address.

You can also use other US based payment gateways such as Escrow.com (very expensive).

You need to beware of potential chargeback claims if you set up a direct credit card arrangement. While Paypal is not perfect, it does have some protection for sellers.

Tompa,

[pmoores]

Was passed onto me some time ago. At least in my future situation, I will keep my North American Bank account. To access paypal and pull money to those accounts I will keep a bare minimum Aol type dialup account. Phone long distance to the Northamerican number just long enough to connect and transfer money out of the paypal account.

I would assume paypal unless they change their policies would lock your account if you got caught. So its nudge nudge say no more for paypal.

[thaitanic]

Anyone know if asianpay.com are any good? They keep sending me emails.

Also Google are setting up a Paypal-like payment service. Perhaps they will allow withdrawals in Thailand? I doubt it though.

[haha]

What are ppl's experience with receiving credit card payments? We have a registered business, but are finding this very tricky.

PayPal works OK, except we can't withdraw directly here.

We've tried Thaiepay, but it's problematic

Siam Commercial seems OK, but they're not accepting applications at present

Bangkok bank wants 5% commision and 14K set up fee!

Can any forum members recommend others? Ideally I'd like something that is suitable for shopping carts as well as letting me send invoices with a message field for customers.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

what I do...

link up paypal account with brokerage account via the brokerage checking account. when money goes into your paypal account, you can move it to your brokerage account. once the money is in your brokerage account, you can withdraw the money from any atm here in thailand using your brokerage atm card.

etrade allows unlimiited free atm withdrawals. ..they pay the fee charged by the other bank.

the key to this system is that you must be able to setup an etrade account. www.etrade.com

if you really need to work with a bank here in thailand, some brokerages in the states like fidelity provide free money transfers from a fidelity brokerage account to one outside bank account. I use to do this between fidelity and citibank. free wire transfers - fidelity calls this feature their "money transfer" service. but it takes 3 to 4 days for the transfer to complete.

hopes this info helps you out...

[phuketsiam]

Hi Smithson,

A friend of mine has been using the following service since 1997 and is still with them.

http://www.regsoft.com/index.shtml

The Digital River Visa Electron Card is now available!

Digital River and RegSoft.com are excited to introduce the newest, fastest, and easiest way for you to receive your payments. The Digital River VISA Electron Card can be used to withdraw your payment from nearly one million ATM Machines worldwide. Plus, use your VISA Electron Card to make purchases online virtually anywhere VISA is accepted.

An example of their payment scheme:

https://www.regsoft.net/regsoft/vieworderpa...productid=63519

Cheers,

John_Betong

but they charge 8.9 %, thats most of your profit margin in an averge bizs

[stevehaigh]

I use authorize.net but i set up the account while living in the US, doubt you can do it from here. you would need a US bank account for sure.

paypal offers a direct credit card system, Web Payments Pro, but it's REALLY complicated to set up, i coildn't figure it out. paypal's fees are lower than authorize.net and verasign.

[Smithson]

Thanks alot for all the suggestions. I've used PayPal alot in the pasts and would like to keep using it. I can withdraw to an Aust account, but don't want to do this.

Can a Thai open an account in US thru Bangkok Bank?

[stevehaigh]

Thanks alot for all the suggestions. I've used PayPal alot in the pasts and would like to keep using it. I can withdraw to an Aust account, but don't want to do this.

Can a Thai open an account in US thru Bangkok Bank?

be careful about putting all your proverbial eggs in paypal's basket, they have a habit of freezing acounts when the holder is in thailand! read other threads about paypal on this forum.

[Smithson]

Thanks alot for all the suggestions. I've used PayPal alot in the pasts and would like to keep using it. I can withdraw to an Aust account, but don't want to do this.

Can a Thai open an account in US thru Bangkok Bank?

be careful about putting all your proverbial eggs in paypal's basket, they have a habit of freezing acounts when the holder is in thailand! read other threads about paypal on this forum.

I've been thru that several times, but that was years ago and I haven't had a problem since.

Using the Thai systems that hold your money til the following month, I feel safer with PayPal.

[haha]

Thanks alot for all the suggestions. I've used PayPal alot in the pasts and would like to keep using it. I can withdraw to an Aust account, but don't want to do this.

Can a Thai open an account in US thru Bangkok Bank?

I just checked some bank/brokerage websites in the USA. it seems they all require a social security number and/or a drivers license to open an account.

if you are thai, and you want to open an account in the states, my question to you is - do you have any relatives in the states?

if you do, maybe you could have them set you up with an account using their social security number? not sure if this legal though. they would in essense be your sponsor. you would have to be really close with them because you could really screw up somebody if you abused the bank account that they setup for you.

like in defaulting on a credit card. guess who would be liable?

[toyicebear]

There are plenty of alternatives out there. 3 good examples are worldpay, 2checkout and ccavenue .

All of the mentioned can process payments and deposite them to a Thai Bank.

Worldpay is the best and safest one, owned by the Scotland Banking Group. Have a slightly high set-up and monthly costs too. 1 month reserve, afterthat weekly payouts.

ccavenue is a india based company, they offer 3 different payment/discount scemes to choose from. weekly payouts.

2checkout is a us based company, 49 usd in set-up , no montly or yearly fees therafter. weekly payouts.

Besides these and paypal there are countless other alternatives, but the mentioned ones is quite respected and safe to use, which can not be said about most of the other alternatives out there......

[Smithson]

There are plenty of alternatives out there. 3 good examples are worldpay, 2checkout and ccavenue .

All of the mentioned can process payments and deposite them to a Thai Bank.

Worldpay is the best and safest one, owned by the Scotland Banking Group. Have a slightly high set-up and monthly costs too. 1 month reserve, afterthat weekly payouts.

ccavenue is a india based company, they offer 3 different payment/discount scemes to choose from. weekly payouts.

2checkout is a us based company, 49 usd in set-up , no montly or yearly fees therafter. weekly payouts.

Besides these and paypal there are countless other alternatives, but the mentioned ones is quite respected and safe to use, which can not be said about most of the other alternatives out there......

Thanks for the advice. I would really like to use PayPal and transer thru the Bangkok of Bangkok. I'm told this is possible, but can't find the procedure. Does anybody know?

[toyicebear]

There are plenty of alternatives out there. 3 good examples are worldpay, 2checkout and ccavenue .

All of the mentioned can process payments and deposite them to a Thai Bank.

Worldpay is the best and safest one, owned by the Scotland Banking Group. Have a slightly high set-up and monthly costs too. 1 month reserve, afterthat weekly payouts.

ccavenue is a india based company, they offer 3 different payment/discount scemes to choose from. weekly payouts.

2checkout is a us based company, 49 usd in set-up , no montly or yearly fees therafter. weekly payouts.

Besides these and paypal there are countless other alternatives, but the mentioned ones is quite respected and safe to use, which can not be said about most of the other alternatives out there......

Thanks for the advice. I would really like to use PayPal and transer thru the Bangkok of Bangkok. I'm told this is possible, but can't find the procedure. Does anybody know?

Well, the short answear is..you can't transfeer money from PayPal to a bank in Thailand...

But, you can try to do it this way...

First you set up an account in Bank of Bangkok , then you try to open an account in Bank of Bankoks American branch using your local bank account info to vouch for your identity.

If you can open a bank account in the American branch , then you can open a US PayPal account and transfeer money from paypal into the account which then is physicaly located in the United States.

But you should also be aware that PayPal do routinly ip checks on the various accounts, and that if you only log-in from Thailand but have set up an US account , they might ask you to change to a Thai account and/or close down your account. If this happen you are right back at square one again.

Othervise if that does not pan out for you, you can also use one of the 3 mentioned in my post above, they can transfeer the money directly to most Banks in Thailand on a weekly scedule.

[udon]

But you should also be aware that PayPal do routinly ip checks on the various accounts, and that if you only log-in from Thailand but have set up an US account , they might ask you to change to a Thai account and/or close down your account.

I haven't applied for a paypal a/c yet.

I was going to set it up thru my AU bank a/c and draw on the a/c thru ATMs in Thailand.

Would this be a problem with PP?

[Tompa]

Ok, here's how you do it. Firstly, you need to open a Bangkok Bank account here in Thailand. Next you contact the helpdesk of their NY branch and inform them that you wish to add your bangkok bank account to your paypal account for transfers. They will ask you to fax a copy of some documents (including your passport and bank book), and give you detailed instructions on how to complete the set up (dead easy).

It takes a little while for everything to be set up but once it's done you can withdraw money to Bangkok Bank's US branch and they will automatically forward the funds to your local Branch. Please note that you don't need to set up 2 accounts, it is enough to open 1 Bangkok Bank account here in Thailand.

This is the way so many Thai sellers get around Paypal's stupid rule that you can't withdraw money if you are a Thai seller. If you're worried about Paypal checking your IP address then simply use a proxy server and you're all set!

Tompa,

[udon]

Thanks Tompa,

I'm in SYD not usa, but have a/cs with bkkbank and thaifarmers.

[Heng]

If you're worried about Paypal checking your IP address then simply use a proxy server and you're all set!

There's something written specifically against this in the Paypal terms of service. I've done it without any issues since back in the day when they were still X.com, but after reading up on it stopped using Paypal for any largish amounts.

Any credit card/debit card revenue we get now goes into 2 different full service merchant accounts (Bank of America and Card Service International/Authorize.net). I wouldn't park my funds anywhere that I couldn't contact a customer service representative that you can ask for by specific name during regular business hours (as opposed to some random customer service rep. for Paypal in some Indian or Irish call center).

[Etherus]

I am looking at athe same scenario. What I have doen so far is set up a bank account in Hong Kong with an attached visa debit card and am intending to use Asiapay.com from HK. I would be interested if any one has gone this route?

[Khun Ngo]

If you're worried about Paypal checking your IP address then simply use a proxy server and you're all set!

Any credit card/debit card revenue we get now goes into 2 different full service merchant accounts (Bank of America and Card Service International/Authorize.net). I wouldn't park my funds anywhere that I couldn't contact a customer service representative that you can ask for by specific name during regular business hours (as opposed to some random customer service rep. for Paypal in some Indian or Irish call center).

Heng, I also find that Paypal ist not a trustworthy company.

Can you say something about the process when setting up a merchang account for a TLP?

[Heng]

If you're worried about Paypal checking your IP address then simply use a proxy server and you're all set!

Any credit card/debit card revenue we get now goes into 2 different full service merchant accounts (Bank of America and Card Service International/Authorize.net). I wouldn't park my funds anywhere that I couldn't contact a customer service representative that you can ask for by specific name during regular business hours (as opposed to some random customer service rep. for Paypal in some Indian or Irish call center).

Heng, I also find that Paypal ist not a trustworthy company.

Can you say something about the process when setting up a merchang account for a TLP?

Mine were both done in person (well, one by mail, but was in the US at the time), stateside. All they wanted was a copy of my driver license, social security #, and 2 bank references (which any bank where you've had plain jane checking and savings for more than a few years will give you). Neither required a bricks and mortar location, and I used my condo as the business address. Later on, I changed both contact addresses to a PO Box and paperless statements, no questions asked either.

[Phil Conners]

Horray for USA, what a shame we can't all be Americans and have that easy access to merchant banking.

[Heng]

It is pretty convenient.