Which Bank has the Cheapest Merchant Account?
In the past in order to use a Payment Gateway in Australia you would have been required to establish a merchant account with one of the Australian Banks. The industry has progressed and this is no longer a requirement. There are a number of Payment Gateways that offer “All in one” solutions that include a Payment Gateway and merchant account bundled so that you are not required to separate your merchant account from your Payment Gateway.
A sample list of Payment Gateways in Australia that offer a bundled Payment Gateway and merchant account includes, but is not limited to:
There still may be situations where a Bank in Australia offers a competitive rate for a merchant account. In these rare situations it is often more cost effective to use the merchant facility established with your Bank and link it to an external third party Payment Gateway. This allows you to achieve a cost effective merchant facility and all the features of an external third party Payment Gateway. Always review your Bank quotes with your Payment Gateway as they can often be matched or beaten.
The Australian Banking Royal Commission saw a lot of pressure placed on the Banks in Australia. This coupled with the fact that the Payments industry has been moving faster than ever before has meant that the offerings by the Banks in Australia have fallen far behind. Scheme Tokenization, 3DS 2.0, BNPL schemes (eg. AfterPay) and EFTPOS releasing eDAF are all solutions that merchants will want to incorporate in their offering and the Banks are often trailing at offering these solutions to merchants.
EFTPOS eDAF enables merchants to route their debit card transactions via an EFTPOS link instead of via the schemes (VISA, MasterCard) and in doing so offers another solution for Australian merchants to potentially reduce merchant service fees. As a merchant if you are considering opting for an eCommerce solution from your Bank you should be asking them if they support eDAF to assist in reducing your merchant service fees.
Why Do I Need A Third Party Payment Gateway?
Australian Banks such as ANZ & The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on-sell a Payment Gateway called “MIGS” or “MPGS” (the newer version of MIGS) – MasterCard Internet Gateway Service. These Australian Banks will often mention that they have their own Australian Payment Gateway for merchants to utilize. ANZ has a product called eGate and CBA has a product called CommWeb; both of these products are a white labeled version of the MIGS or MPGS platform which is owned and operated by MasterCard.
Put shortly – MIGS and other Payment Gateway products which are offered by the Australian Banks cannot do what a Third Party Payment Gateway such as Merchant Warrior, Stripe or SecurePay are able to do. If you simply want to process transactions and you’re happy with limited support, then an Australian Bank Payment Gateway solution may be what you are looking for. However, if you value customized solutions, advanced reporting, fraud prevention, up to date industry products, a support team that will actually answer your phone calls and help diagnose issues bundled with solutions to help you maintain PCI Compliance and integrate seamlessly with your application(s), then you will be looking for a Third Party Payment Gateway in Australia.
An Australian Third Party Payment Gateway is an Australian Bank’s Payment Gateway on steroids. A Payment Gateway in Australia is usually able to offer the following products:
Pay By Link – Want to accept payments with zero effort and zero development? This is the type of product for you. You will receive a link that you can send customers and when they pay you’ll be notified instantly.
Virtual Terminal – This allows merchants to process transactions manually, one-by-one over a web interface or application.
Hosted Payment Page – If you do not have a Web Developer to integrate your system or want to start processing transactions automatically without any hassles this is the best solution for you.
API – This helps Web Developers connect their application or website directly into the Australian Payment Gateway to process transactions seamlessly and automatically.
Token Payments – This is a product which has been developed to help merchants maintain their PCI Compliance ask your Payment Gateway in Australia about it.
Batch Processing – In short this allows merchants to upload a CSV file (Yes. Like an excel spreadsheet) directly to the Australian Payment Gateway who then processes the Credit Card Transactions.
Recurring Transactions – If you have a subscription based model and would like the Australian Payment Gateway to handle the processing of your recurring transactions (daily, weekly, monthly) then this is the solution for you.
IVR – If you have a requirement to accept payments over the phone this is an automated solution to achieve that. Provide your customers with a toll free number to call and they can enter their details and make a payment and you can be notified instantly when the payment has been completed.
This information may help you determine which solution is best for you. It often helps to have someone who can speak “Bank” with the Australian Banks to help you achieve the best solution and best pricing for an online merchant account or a bundled solution. One local Australian Payment Gateway that is able to discuss your requirements with a number of Australian Banks and find the most cost effective online merchant account for you is Merchant Warrior. If you are looking to open an online merchant account and need some advice or assistance feel free to call them on (07) 3166 5489.