Expanded Payment Surcharge Options Now Available for Australian Merchants

Surcharges for payments by credit card are now fairly common in the Australian market place, and came about from an RBA review into the payments system, which recommended greater transparency for consumers.

These sort of regulations, however, do not exist overseas… especially in the US. This means that support for adding surcharge payments to orders is basically non-existent, and is not really likely to be added in the near future by US-dominated ecommerce platforms.

In case you hadn’t realised, Spiffy Stores is 100% Australia owned, so of course we’re more concerned with meeting the needs of our Australia based merchants. Today’s announcement demonstrates this point.

So we’re happy to announce that our payment surcharge options now include the ability to add a percentage surcharge to all PayPal transactions, in addition to our existing credit card based surcharge options, which allow differing surcharges based on the credit card brand.

Perhaps one of the important lessons we’ve learnt from the global pandemic is that maybe there are some things we don’t really want to get from overseas! It’s been a reminder that there are benefits in looking at local solutions for many of our needs.

Shouldn’t this also be true when you are considering what platform you choose as the basis for your own business?

I guess the bottom line is that with Spiffy Stores, you’re going to get a platform for your online business that is aligned with your needs as a business owner. The same can probably not be said for the US-based platforms that you may be considering.

4 new payment gateways supported by Spiffy Stores

ecommerce payment gatewayDon’t say we don’t spoil you!

We’ve connected up 4 extra payment gateways to give you even more choices for processing credit card payments.

You can now add the following gateways to your online store. Yay!

Pin Payments – Australia’s first all-in-one online payment system. You don’t even need a merchant account to make use of their solution. You’re up and running right away.

Merchant Warrior – An Australian–based payment gateway that caters for all sizes of business from SME to the big end of town.

SwipeHQ Checkout – New Zealand-based SwipeHQ payment gateway also allows you to send invoices with credit card payment links, create ‘buy now’ buttons and run MOTO transactions.

… and already supported, but now available in Australia…

Braintree – An all-in-one platform from the US that provides a merchant account, payment gateway, recurring billing and credit card storage in the one spot.

You can select these providers, and many others, in your store Toolbox, under “Preferences > Checkout & Payment”.

More information about payment gateways compatible with Spiffy Stores can be found in our knowledge base.

Stripe payment gateway now available

We’re really pleased to announce that Spiffy Stores now supports the Stripe payment gateway for accepting credit card payments in your online store.

Stripe is super easy to set up, and has some of the lowest fees, bringing the whole process of automating credit card payments within reach of small businesses… without the giant setup fees imposed by many banks.  Their fees are just 2.9% of the transaction plus a 30¢ transaction fee.

Stripe has no setup fees, no monthly fees, no minimum charges, no validation fees, and no card storage fees. There’s also no charge for failed payments.

What’s the catch you ask?  None except that it’s only currently available to ecommerce businesses based in the US.  We’re eagerly awaiting the release of their worldwide service though, and will let you know as soon as it’s available.

Worldpay payment gateway now available

We’re happy to announce that Spiffy Stores now supports the Worldpay Direct XML payment gateway, allowing store owners to seamlessly accept credit and debit card payments in their online store.

Worldpay’s Business Gateway Plus is an all in one payment gateway and Internet Merchant Account that includes advanced fraud screening and online management, giving you everything you need to start collecting payments online. With everything under one roof, it really is good value and easy to manage.

Existing store owners who have signed up with Worldpay can enable the Worldpay gateway in the “Preferences -> Checkout & payment” section of their store toolbox.  More information about payment gateways compatible with Spiffy Stores can be found in our knowledge base.

New payment gateway: Quickbooks Merchant Services

Happy Friday everyone! This is just a quick post to let you know that Spiffy Stores now supports Intuit’s Quickbooks Merchant Services payment gateway to accept credit card payments in your online store.

You can select this gateway in the “Checkout & Payment” section of your store’s preferences, where you’ll also find some handy setup instructions to get you up and running.

Westpac PayWay payment gateway now available

Spiffy Stores is proud to announce that we now support the Westpac PayWay API service. If you already have a PayWay account or are planning on getting one, you can now use the PayWay payment gateway to seamlessly accept payments in your online store.

PayWay is a fully integrated merchant solution and payment gateway from Westpac, which means you only have to pay one organisation for both your merchant solution and your gateway solution to accept credit cards in your ecommerce website.

Existing Spiffy Stores store owners can set up the PayWay gateway in the “Checkout & payment” section of their store preferences. Unlike some other providers, we don’t charge a fee for an “add-on” to enable you to use PayWay…  it’s available for use with no additional charges from us!

For more information about the Payway gateway, please visit https://www.payway.com.au/core/AboutView

As with all payment gateway options, we recommend you shop around to get the best deal for your business. A full list of all of the payment gateways that can be used with Spiffy Stores is available in our knowledge base.

New Australian payment gateways available

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve added payment gateways from Suncorp Bank and Bendigo Bank to our supported Australian payment gateways.

This means that you now have even more options for accepting credit card payments directly in your online store.

Our current direct payment gateways available to stores in Australia are:

  • Advam
  • ANZ eGate
  • Bendigo Bank
  • Camtech
  • Commonwealth Bank CommWeb
  • eWay
  • NAB Transact
  • NetRegistry
  • PaySecure
  • PaymentExpress
  • SecurePay
  • Suncorp Bank

These are in addition to our support for PayPal Website Payments Standard, PayPal Express, and the ability to accept credit card payments manually using your own credit card processing facilities.

PayPal Express now available

If you’re especially observant, you may have noticed the PayPal Express Checkout button in the Showtime Theme demo that we posted yesterday.  I can confirm that yes! PayPal Express Checkout has been added to Spiffy Stores, and can be set up to replace (or along-side) the PayPal option in the checkout.

Enabling Paypal Express Checkout in your store should help decrease the number of abandoned carts/orders that store owners experience who rely on PayPal to process transactions, as it takes the customer directly to the PayPal checkout from the shopping cart page to place their order.

We’ve been hard at work adding a little tag to everyone’s store to support the new feature, and it’s been included in all of the Spiffy Stores e-commerce themes.  If you’ve somehow missed out, and want to add the button to your store, there are instructions on how to do this in our knowledge base.

Special deal from Camtech Payment Gateway

Camtech recently contacted us with a great deal that is exclusive to Spiffy Stores owners.

They are offering a low annual fee, and a 40¢ transaction fee.  Comparable services have a higher annual fee and/or transaction fee.

The Camtech Payment Gateway provides an easy and cost-effective way to accept real-time online payments.  Camtech integrates with Australia’s major banks, and is now fully integrated with Spiffy Stores, allowing merchants to process real-time transactions in their checkout.

Camtech have a simple signup process, and can even help with your application for a merchant facility at the bank.  They are undoubtedly the best value payment gateway in Australia, and if you find a better advertised rate they will beat it by 10%.

For more information about Camtech, and to take advantage of the exclusive deal for Spiffy Stores owners, visit the Camtech site at http://www.camtech.com.au

To receive this special pricing offer, make sure you select the ‘Custom Pricing Plan’ option when signing up with them.

Automated online payments with Payment Express

Link to http://www.paymentexpress.com.au

Spiffy Stores now accept payments through the Payment Express payment gateway!

Payment Express is a Visa and MasterCard certified solution, developed by DPS, which facilitates electronic payments seamlessly from multiple access points i.e. Web, EFTPOS, Billing, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), CRM, Vending, MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order) and Wireless.

DPS are certified with banks in Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Singapore, South Africa, USA and United Kingdom.

Of course Payment Express does require a merchant account, but they have developed a relationship with their banking parters to streamline the application process for you. They are currently offering free setup, with a low $20 a month fee and a 40 cents per transaction charge, making them one of the most affordable payment gateways in Australia.

It’s easy to accept payments through Payment Express in your Spiffy Store. After you’ve signed up with Payment Express, you just go to the “Checkout & Payment” section of your preferences, select “Payment Express” as your payment gateway, and then enter your Payment Express login and password, and it’s all set up for you instantly!