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What is the easiest way to accept card payments directly?
Hi
I do occasional freelance tasks and sometimes my clients are from countries (middle east) where using PayPal to pay for services does not work properly, and the guest checkout option does not work in all countries.
Since a lot of people here are accepting card payements directly, I thought someone might have a suggestion to accept card payments directly (hopefully for a low fee or at least that does not exceed PayPal's). Also, I don't have a registered business, is there a payment solution that I can use without being a company?
I heard about stripe, they seem to charge the same fees as PayPal but I don't know if I can register as an individual...
Thanks in advance
P.S Wise (transferwise): same problem
Comments
You can try asking for their credit card then go shop with it for the amount they owe you. It's no fees also
I actually did that once
the client has one of these "one time internet card" option from his bank, though, I can't ask everyone for their card just like that
I heard TransferWise is much cheaper in term of fees, but I haven't used it myself.
Wise is great in terms of fees. But, same problem... mainly supported in EU/US, does not support a lot of countries I deal with
I am being a troll here.
If you care for the long term, setting up a merchant account at your favorite bank will go a long way.
Or you can be a dick and sell your soul to OPalPay.
Payoneer? I also do freelance work and get paid via Payoneer. What I like about it is that the fee is always the same (3USD) no matter the amount you receive unlike PayPal. You can use it without being a company
Try Paysend or service like Stripe (alternative availability in EU)
Having dealed with it through eBay sales. It was by far not as convenient as PayPal and didn't appear as professional (and PayPal is already at a quite low level).
I have an old Stripe account that is registered as an individual, so I think you can do the same.
Every business provides a paid service to operate have to pay some expenses like office rent/ electric bill and communications , payment fees, advertising and servers etc
For me I don’t think all the 5% goes to paypal or stripe since they pay some for the visa/mastercard 1.7%+30c also they handle fake accounts/credit card risks etc,,
For me I have used both PayPal and stripe, if you are providing a legit service you will be more than happy with them.
Stripe supports individuals in some countries. You might have to register as a Sole Proprietor and get some sort of registration number. Varies across countries.
Most if not all of Stripe's competitors require a corporate entity.
What's the average transaction size? Since you already have a Wise account, you could ask your customers to pay you by bank wire. If they send by SWIFT, make sure they select "OUR" as fee type so that none of the bank fees are charged to you. Obviously not ideal for smaller invoices.
Here it is
Try Paytm
https://business.paytm.com/payment-gateway-campaign1?redirectUrl=instant-onboard&utm_campaign=Google_Generic_Phrase_payment&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=Google&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2sqOBhCGARIsAPuPK0jDjXd78m-x-G2K4Zw-_XyhV1ORahItviJ5O-uESRPQXuA1Sx3DasUaAqTSEALw_wcB
You could try Revolut. Even with the personal use Standard plan, I can generate payment request links like this one: https://revolut.me/r/uATmo1mYIv
There is also a free plan for freelancers
Read some controversies on wiki about this one
Probably everything I have read about Revolut on the web (especially Reddit) seems very controversial. It ranges from users locked out of their accounts and fund inaccessible for months (or even longer) to "this is the best service I have ever used". Personally, I only had to re-verify my identity once. Other than that I didn't have any trouble, but it was a hassle back then and I somewhat wouldn't use them as my main bank account. That being said, I use them for travelling and they also have some very positive reviews. With them since a couple years now. Your call
Totally agreed
Thanks all for the valuable suggestions.
@Ympker, I will check Revolut (and read some more reviews), thanks for the the "live demo" link. This is practically what I need. Sounds like a very suitable candidate (where I should avoid to store a lot of money tho, just like PayPal).
Payoneer is another very good candidate too, I totally forgot about them. I had an account years ago, but I stopped using it because I no longer needed it (replaced it by PayPal).
@serversupportz PayTM seem good too, because they have the "recurring payments" option. But they seem too India focused and I am not sure of the usability outside India. I need to check how they handle other currencies/countries and the associated fees. Neither me, nor my clients are from India, so no reason really to use an Indian platform
Edit: Paytm is useless, it is only for Indians.
@WebProject, Stripe sounds like too much info to fill, I am looking for a "fill and go" form like PayPal if possible, which is why I asked if stripe is really worth it. paysend does not support "send" option from the same countries that have issues with PayPal.
@Dupondt, thanks for the info about stripe
Seems it might be an a hassle to register with them. Payoneer and revolut seem more suitable to me. I appreciate your help.