Merchant Services: Payment Types

Payment Method Categories

Accepted Payment Methods (based on customer location)

International

• Visa credit card with SSL
• Visa Electron
• MasterCard credit card with SSL
• American Express credit card with SSL
• Diners credit card with SSL
• JCB credit card with SSL

Austria
All international payment methods plus

• ELBA-Payment Raiffeisen Bankengruppe
• netpay Erste Bank / Sparkassengruppe
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Banküberweisung")
• Paybox
• POP Bank Austria Creditanstalt

Belgium
All international payment methods plus

• ING Home Pay
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Bankoverschrijving")
• Open Invoice ("Acceptgiro")

Denmark
All international payment methods plus

• Dankort
• Off-line Bank Transfer

Estonia
All international payment methods plus

• Hansabanken BankLink
• Eesti Ühispank PangaLink

Finland
All international payment methods plus

• Nordea Solo Payment
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Tilisiirto Giro")

France
All international payment methods plus

• Carte Bancaire / Carte Bleue
• Cheque
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Virement Bancaire")
• Direct Debit ("Prélèvement Automatique")

Germany
All international payment methods plus

• AirPlus Corporate credit card
• Cheque
• Commerzbank OnlineBankingWeb
• Deutsche Bank 24
• Dresdner Bank InternetBanking
• ELV ("Elektronisches Lastschriftverfahren")
• Off-line Bank Authorisation ("Lastschriftverfahren" / "Bankeinzug")
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Überweisung Inland")
• Online Bank Transfer Germany

Greece
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line Bank Transfer

Ireland
All international payment methods plus

• Laser Card

Italy
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Trasferimento Bancario" / "Trasferimento Bonifico")

Japan
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line Bank Transfer

Luxembourg
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line Bank Transfer

Netherlands
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line bank transfer ("Overboeking")
• Open Invoice ("Acceptgiro")
• Rabobank Direct Betalen
• Signed Permanent Mandate for Direct Debit ("Doorlopende Machtiging")
• Single Mandate for Direct Debit (signed or unsigned)
• Internet cheque ("WWW-bon")

Norway
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line Bank Transfer

Singapore
All international payment methods plus

• eNETS Debit

Spain
All international payment methods plus

• Cheque
• Direct Debit ("Domiciliación Bancaria")
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Transferencia")

Sweden
All international payment methods plus

• Nordea Solo ("E-Betalning")
• Off-line Bank Transfer ("Inbetalning" / "Girering")
• Open Invoice ("OCR-Giro")

Switzerland
All international payment methods plus

• Off-line Bank Transfer

UK
All international payment methods plus

• Cheque
• Off-line Bank Transfer
• Solo
• Switch

USA
All international payment methods plus

• Discover

Other countries
All international payment methods plus

Payment Method Categories

We distinguish four principal groups of payment methods, which can be characterized as follows.

On-line card payments
On-line card payments are conducted with a credit card, a deferred debit card or a debit card. Regardless where the order is initiated, these payments are processed over the internet. Thanks to the fact that the complete payment process is conducted on-line, the customer receives an order confirmation and identifier immediately.

An on-line card payment works as follows: a customer chooses to pay with a credit or debit card, and is asked to submit their card number and expiry date and, for some financial institutions, the card verification code (CVC). This generates a confirmation instantly.

On-line proprietary protocol payments
On-line proprietary protocol payments, such as SET, are also completely processed over the internet, which means that the customer will immediately receive an order confirmation and identifier. The main difference between these payments and standard on-line card payments lies in the fact that the customer is authenticated beyond any doubt. This provides extra security for the merchant, as the customer cannot deny the transaction and revoke the payment afterwards. Authentication works via user name and a dynamic code generated with a token, via digital certificates in combination with a personal code. Authentication can also be conducted using a mobile phone, such as with Paybox. Another new protocol in this category is 3-D Secure (often also referred to as Verified by Visa).

Off-line debit payments
Off-line debit payments are not processed over the internet, and therefore do not generate a purchase confirmation immediately. Even though these payment methods do not yield an immediate confirmation as with on-line methods, some customers prefer these payment methods due to familiarity and trust. The two types of off-line debit payment methods that Protexis supports are the bank transfer and direct debit:

• Off-line bank transfer
  When presented the available payment methods, the customer selects 'bank transfer.' Protexis then provides specific information necessary to conduct the transfer, such as the bank account number and reference code used by Protexis or its provider. The customer uses this information to order the bank to transfer the amount due to the Protexis or provider account. This can be done either with an off-line bank transfer form that has to be sent to the bank or by using an internet banking solution. Protexis or its provider has bank accounts in most European countries and Asia in order to be able to collect local bank transfers in the local currencies. This way consumers are restricted from having to transfer funds internationally, which is a complex and costly process.
• Off-line direct debit
  After selecting a payment method, the customer authorizes our partner Protexis to collect the amount due from the customer's bank account . Once Protexis has received the authorization information, it orders the bank to collect the money. In most cases the authorization information is transmitted on a signed form that is sent to Protexis by the customer.

With both off-line debit payment categories Protexis or its provider has to monitor its bank accounts for incoming money transfers for specific orders. Only once the amount is actually received in the Protexis or provider bank account will the purchase confirmation be issued and the customer will be notified by email. The time frame between the moment the order is placed and the moment the payment has a positive result can be as long as several days.