CCNow

For small online retailers who either can’t easily obtain a merchant credit card account or only have occasional sales, CCNow has a lot to offer. Merchants outside the US can now sell in US dollars with no investment at all.

Obtaining a Merchant Credit Card Account can be a major hurdle for US small businesses and even more difficult for companies outside the US. An account typically costs several hundred dollars in application fees, and you are assessed monthly minimums whether or not any products are sold. To obtain a Merchant Account, businesses outside the US typically must set up a corporate presence in the US and pay US corporate taxes.

Enter CCNow. They handle the credit card transaction, and pay merchants the money they collect minus their 9% fee (8% in November and December) (As of April 2009 their rate is currently 4.99% plus 50 cents per transaction.). But CCNow is serious about staying on the right side of the law. They prohibit you from taking phone and fax orders and then filling out the online form on behalf of these customers. That is illegal, they tell you, and they’ll suspend your privileges if you do this.

Unlike some e-commerce systems, CCNow merchants need to have their own website. The product information is shown on the merchant’s website, but the “purchase now” links take your customer to the CCNow order system where the purchase is completed. Your website doesn’t need to provide SSL security, since the security is provided on CCNow’s secure order form.