Streamline

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Streamline have decided in their infinite wisdom that they are putting a £10 minimum charge per month in place for using their machine.

I don't process that many cards a month and as it's 29p per debit card it's hardly going to be worth me doing this. I pay about £15+VAT hire charge already, so this will be £25+VAT which is not loads, but it is the principle behind it. :mad:

I am very annoyed about this and want to find an alternative.

Any ideas?

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Currently use the paypal gateway. Never had any issues and I think the charge is 3.4%.

[Sapphire Disco]

It's a shame we couldn't take cards via MDD , one machine for everybody and then the money distributed but I think that may be too difficult.

[Corabar Entertainment]

I think Darren's after more than an online solution though, Neil.

Having said that, I believe Paypal (and others) do 'virtual terminals' which may be worth investigating (ie, you don't have a machine, but you are permitted to enter directly online when you take a call from a client)

[Vectis]

Having said that, I believe Paypal (and others) do 'virtual terminals' which may be worth investigating (ie, you don't have a machine, but you are permitted to enter directly online when you take a call from a client)

Yep. £29 per month (inc. VAT) last time I looked, so on a par with Streamline by the sounds of things.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Oh well. Bang goes that idea. Never looked at the costs for these myself.

[Marc J]

Darren, do you need the machine to take POS / CNP payments or would a virtual terminal do?

[Danno13]

I've not heard anything about this and am with Streamline as well :confused:

Does the £10 count towards the transaction fees, or is it extra on top?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I've not heard anything about this and am with Streamline as well :confused:

Does the £10 count towards the transaction fees, or is it extra on top?

It's a minimum charge, so I assume instead of being charged what you process they charge you £10 minimum instead.

You'll probably find that you'll get your letter soon Dan.


Darren, do you need the machine to take POS / CNP payments or would a virtual terminal do?

Er...not sure what they are Marc! :o

[Dynamic Entertainment]

POS - Point of Sale... CNP - Cardholder not present (IIRC)

[Marc J]

Darren, do you need the machine to take POS / CNP payments or would a virtual terminal do?
Er...not sure what they are Marc! :o

POS - Point of Sale... CNP - Cardholder not present (IIRC)

Yes, Steve's right - sorry! If you don't actually need the machine this will typically work out around £10 - £20 per month cheaper as it's usually charged for. If a virtual terminal only (i.e. web interface to your chosen payment gateway) will do then this opens up more possible providers to you. You'll need to make sure you have the correct type of merchant account, though. If taking any payments online you need an IMA (Internet Merchant Account) and if you do MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order) then some providers insist on a different type of account for these, too.

I'm partnered with a few Payment Gateway / IMA providers (PayPoint and SecureTrading) through setting up eCommerce sites for clients, let me know if you want a referral ;)

Of course if you take card payments you'll also have to be PCI compliant (see https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/). This is straightforward if your customers pay online through the payment gateway, as all the card details are processed by the gateway (your supplier) and you never even see the card details. It gets more complicated if you take numbers yourself (i.e. MOTO transactions) as you have to be audited to make sure you're not writing these on post-its and leaving them lying around, or storing them electronically insecurely etc. etc. There are companies that specialise in PCI compliance but for most people it can be a self-cert.