Why no Paymate?

[Edebid]

Hello,
another unhappy eBayer here, new to this site.
Just wanted to suggest Paymate as a payment option for AU and NZ sellers, untill they make it available worldwide, as it is a very good alternative to PayPal; while it is only available to AU and NZ sellers, it is also available to worldwide buyers...

[astral276]

There is nothing to stop you offering PayMate as a payment option in your listings. Unlike where you came from eBid do not involve themselves and dictate how you get paid.

I am not familiar with PayMate but I assume you are able to invoice customers through PayMate itself as you can other payment facilitators. Simply offer the option and request anyone wishing to pay by that method contact you after the sale requesting an invoice.

If you are after getting an icon on listings such as PayPoo, PPPay, Google, etc have - then a suggestion in the 'Website Suggestions & Glitches' forum may hit the right eyes quicker.

[gazza]

Paymate is available as a selected payment option for au.ebid.net sellers. There is not integrated checkout currently available though.

Gazza

[Edebid]

Paymate is available as a selected payment option for au.ebid.net sellers. There is not integrated checkout currently available though.

Gazza

Thanks Gazza!!

[wizebid]

My original advice was just don't even consider Paymate. Now I have new and further information regarding my interaction with the Paymate company that makes it look like Paymate may be a reaonable alternative to PooPal, Google Checkout and the likes.

To review: II became interested in Paymatet when I was solicited by them to join and use Paymate for my Ebay business and on my own ecommerce web site.

So I went to their site and began the application process.

In just a few pages of information about myself and my business I was prompted to read their Terms Of Use and the U S Merchant Operating Guide.

What I found in the Guide was a very complicated bit of legal reading of the requirements imposed by their payment processor, Chase Paymentech. It was all written for the type of Seller that would be a Corporate Entity with resources and staff on that scale.

Before you consider Paymate I would very much advise you to read the U S Merchant Operating Guide on their site and find out what legal requirements you will be under. It was my finding that I as a small Sole Proprietor would not be able to conform to their requirements. Subsequently thru my inquiries I found additional information on those requirements and possibilities which I outline below. Now it does appear that using Paymate can be a reasonable option.

To go on with the description of what Merchant Requirements on Paymate are:

For example, under Section 7, Data Security and Privacy they laid down requirements for data handling, retention, transmission that would require the work of a Security IT Staff. AND most frightening, they were clear that they would embark on "appropriate legal remedies" for non compliance. And another statement was that by become a Merchant you were agreeing that the payment processor could send Security Enforcement Teams to your site to inspect your Data Handling procedures at any time of their choosing.

The same level of Corporate style requirements were laid out for a number of other functions including of course transaction processing, chargebacks, returns etc. Now to be clear these requirements I report here are the doing of the payment processor, Visa, Mastercard, Chase Bank etc. They are not doings of Paymate, however they are of force and effect.

Now there IS a ray of hope. I wrote an email to Paymate discussing the kind of requirements described above and saying that I was at a loss as to how I as a small merchant could conform. To this I received a reply from Dilip, who is, I am told, the founder of the company. He was the one who said that the payment processor requirements were something I should not be concerned about. Something is to be said for Paymate in that they a) actually responded (unlike PooPal who just ignore you and b) no less than the company founder responded.

Initially, I felt that reply on Paymate's part (to the effect that I should not worry about the "Legal Requirements") was so wrong that I gave up the idea of using their service.

Then I reviewed the Merchant Requirements more carefully and wrote a long and thoughtful email asking Paymate for some kind of instruction or reassurance about the onerous Merchant Requirements.

I immediately (note that they answered in a timely fashion) received an email in reply that they had referred my inquiry to one of the Company Officers.

Then the weekend intervened. This morning, Monday morning, I received a phone call from a Paymate Officer in the U S. He spent some time with me on the phone explaining how the stringent Merchant Terms came to be in Merchant Requirements. Turns out that is a "cookie cutter" piece of Legal Requirements that the payment processor banks/credit card companies all use. He said that they had never seen those requirements enforced against a small merchant. He went on to say that those "corporate style" requirements were set out by the payment processors to protect themselves from nefarious actions by big organizations attempting large scale frauds.

Further he said, and this is important, "the very same Merchant requirements are buried in the Terms of Service of Google Checkout and PooPal because they use the same banking or credit card entities". ( To paraphrase his words).

This appears to be true.

So my conclusion now is that a) I am impressed with Paymate because they actually respond to Merchant concerns in a timely fashion, b) People high up in their organization participate in helping Merchants with problems, c) they have demonstrated integrity in my interactions with them.

My final advice is READ their Terms of Service and the Merchant Operating Agreement so you know what you are signing up for. And you may find Paymate to be a good alternative to PooPal, an alternative that will not cheat you, hold your money, hassle you etc all the usual wrongs that are dished out by PooPal on a regular basis.

That's my report.