A popular alternative for international e-commerce payments solutions today, especially on Web auction exchanges, is the person-to-person payment system, such as PayPal. Many former Buy-It! Button merchants are switching to PayPal. These systems allow you to make payments to anyone with an e-mail address, even if they do not have an account. You can also place a PayPal button on your Web page to accept payments by setting up an account.

PayPal claims to have over 10 million accounts and is a major player on eBay and other auction sites. An attractive feature of PayPal is the relatively low fee of 2.9%. With no setup fees, this is an attractive option for e-commerce vendors. One drawback is the inconvenience for the buyer of having to set up a PayPal account before being able to use his credit card to buy your product. Through PayPal, the consumer retains all the protections provided by his own credit card issuing banks and institutions, such as Visa and MasterCard. If the buyer demands a refund or obtains a chargeback through the bank, PayPal makes the adjustment on the vendor’s PayPal account.

With c2it (http://www.cj.com/), you can send, receive, and move money within the United States for free. However, c2it does not provide the pay button, shopping cart, or recurring payments offered by PayPal. When sending money by c2it internationally, c2it will charge $10 per International Check and $15 per International Direct Deposit. In addition to the transaction fee, any difference between the foreign exchange rate given to you and the foreign exchange rate received by c2it will be kept by c2it.

Currently, you can use any U.S.-based checking, savings, and money market accounts to send and receive money by c2it. You can also use any MasterCard or Visa credit card accounts. You do not have to link a Citibank account to use c2it. MasterCard and Visa debit cards may only be used to Send Cash and Add Cash at this time, and may not be used for transferring money between linked accounts. Although this is one of the most versatile and low-cost person-to-person payment services, it is not designed for e-commerce merchants. Guess who created the first ATM in the world? Yes, Citibank in New York.

Another payment option is ClickBank, which charges a higher flat fee of 7%, but makes the purchase more convenient for the consumer. The merchant pays the 7% fee for each transaction and also pays an initial setup fee of $49.95. For low-volume start-ups, this may still be a lower cost than establishing an actual merchant account with Visa or MasterCard.

BillCC.com, iBill, and Revecom provide alternative e-business opportunities using their own merchant accounts to sell your products, subject to careful controls. Without the specific approval of the underwriting banks, using one company’s merchant account to sell another merchant’s products is called factoring, and is a violation of Visa and MasterCard rules.

If your business is international in nature, or your customers are from other countries, you may need an international payment service such as the Global Debit Card. This system uses CIRRUS ATM cards and MasterCard debit cards to access cash and make purchases throughout the world. You may also become a B2B reseller of the debit cards by signing up with the Financial Services International network. If you, as the seller or merchant, can accept debit cards, this will enable purchases from virtually anywhere in the world.

The Global Debit Card does not require a social security number and includes a CIRRUS PLUS debit card and a MasterCard debit card for the same account. Although a U.S. mailing address is required to apply for the debit card, the card applicant can establish a U.S. mailing address for a minimum of $40 plus postage to the applicant’s foreign address using the U.S. Mailing Address service at usmailingaddress.com (http://www.usmailingaddress.com/mgoldmine/). Funds may be deposited in the debit account through Western Union or Money-Gram in U.S. dollars.

Kagi is an Internet store specializing in products created by thousands of individuals around the globe. Kagi started with downloadable software and has since become a seller of all sorts of other products, such as music, videos, and other physical goods. Kagi makes it easy for people to pay for products and frees the seller from handling all the payment processing. Mainly, Kagi processes software payments.

DigiBuy is an electronic commerce solution for publishers of software, shareware, electronic art, information, and data. Using DigiBuy’s turnkey service, you can quickly and inexpensively build a secure storefront to merchandise your products, take orders online, process payments, and distribute digital products over the Internet from points around the globe.

Planet Payment™ is a leading provider of Internet payment solutions for e-businesses (globally) in nearly any currency. Planet Payment features multicurrency credit card acceptance services (http://www.planetpayment.com/), advanced payment gateway (http://www.planetpayment.com/) technology, and value-added products and services. Planet Payment’s state-of-the-art Internet payment service enables e-businesses to accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and other major cards in a secure online environment in over 140 currencies (http://www.planetpayment.com/). These affordable solutions are compatible with most shopping carts and Web site technologies, so implementation and setup is complete within minutes.

WorldPay pioneered multicurrency processing in association with NatWest bank in 1996. The WorldPay multicurrency processing system enables you to offer your products and services in over 120 different currencies, and to receive payment for them from a range of 14 remittance currencies. WorldPay manages the uncertainty of foreign exchange rates for you, allowing your shoppers the unique choice of purchasing goods and services from you in a currency that they recognize and understand. More international payment solutions are listed next.

Smart cards and digital wallets use traditional credit card accounts to enhance online shopping in different ways. Smart cards have embedded chips that when read by a smart card reader verify that the original card is present at the moment the transaction is being enacted. Digital wallets hide the credit card account number when the transaction takes place and also fill in shopping cart forms for you with ease.

Another credit card processing alternative is using e-cash systems, such as eCharge, Qpass, iPin, and trivnet. Merchants can set up accounts with each of these resources to enable e-cash online payments.

Your Internet business can be facilitated by marketing your products on the Internet without the overhead of having your own merchant account. Another alternative is token money that can be traded for real products. Several auction portals and merchant account alternatives, as well as e-cash options, are listed in the following sections.