Product Brief: PlanetPayment.com

Both US and international merchants will be delighted to hear about PlanetPayment.com's services that allow merchants to accept credit card payments in 146 currencies, and receive fund deposits in one of 22 currencies. This means that non-US merchants can receive payment in US funds without the expense of setting up a US corporate presence and securing a US bank account. A US merchant, on the other hand, could set up a store in France and accept payment in Francs but receive payment in US dollars. PlanetPayment.com also opens up the possibilities of incorporating in a tax-free or low-tax country, but taking payments in US dollars, though businesses must approach this very carefully to avoid legal problems.

Costs are higher than for a US merchant account, but include a payment gateway. Costs at the time of this writing were US $595 setup fee, part of which is non-refundable if the merchant's application is rejected. In addition, there is a monthly fee of $25, plus a discount rate of 3.95% (compare to a typical 2.5% US discount rate) and 50 cents per transaction (compared to a typical 30 cents for US merchant accounts).

PlanetPayment.com is a US corporation based in New York, with operating subsidiaries in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and Ireland. Its association with Authorize.net means that all e-commerce software that are able to use an Authorize.net payment gateway are compatible with credit card payments and authorization through PlanetPayment.com. These include popular applications such as Open Market ShopSite, FreeMerchant.com, Actinic Catalog, Americart, uStorekeeper, Miva Merchant, Merchandizer, Hazel, EasyCart, CoolCart, Able Commerce, and dozens of others. A major competitor to PlanetPayment.com is London-based WorldPay.com.

Contact information outside the US:

Planet Payment
P.O. Box 119
197 Main Street
Road Town, Tortola
British Virgin Islands
Phone +1 (284) 494-7362

Related article: "Philip D. Beck Interview," eMarketer, February 7, 2000. http://www.emarketer.com/enews/020700_beck.html