PayPal Launches Website Payments Pro

PayPal launched PayPal Website Payments Pro, a new product suite for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Website Payments Pro features three new functions: Express Checkout, Direct Payment API and Virtual Terminal. With these functions, merchants can offer shoppers more choice in how they pay for items -- with their PayPal accounts, their credit cards, or by phone, fax or mail -- all through PayPal, a single provider. Express Checkout helps buyers with PayPal accounts pay for items in just three clicks on a merchant’s Web site. The buyer initiates and approves PayPal payment earlier in the checkout process, and shipping and billing information is sent immediately from PayPal to the merchant Web site. For buyers who don’t have PayPal accounts, Direct Payment API lets merchants accept credit card transactions just as they would with traditional merchant accounts. The buyers simply enter their credit card details directly on the merchant website. Payments are processed through the PayPal system on the back end, and PayPal remains invisible to the buyers. Website Payments Pro also includes Virtual Terminal, a new feature that supports phone, fax and mail orders by providing merchants with an online interface to manually enter credit card transactions through the PayPal system. Website Payments Pro is PayPal’s first non-hosted payment suite, which meets an important requirement for SMBs. PayPal customers are directed to the PayPal site momentarily to log in and confirm payment, and then are automatically redirected to the merchant website to complete checkout. As a result, merchants have more control over the buyer checkout process. For example, merchants can include their own branding on every step of the checkout process and direct buyers back to their websites to continue shopping after payments are completed. For merchants that do not have their own custom shopping carts, Website Payments Pro is integrated with third-party shopping carts including CityMax, CoolCart Pro, eMartCart, iBuilder, Mal’s E-commerce, My eBiz, 1ShoppingCart and StoreFront by LaGarde. Pricing for Website Payments Pro includes a low fee of $20 per month and a per-transaction rate of 2.2 to 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. As an introductory offer, PayPal will waive the $20 monthly fee until late 2005. Pricing for all of PayPal’s other products remain the same, at 1.9 to 2.9 percent per transaction, with no monthly fees. PayPal also repackaged its current product line into four distinct product suites – PayPal Website Payments Standard, PayPal Website Payments Pro, PayPal Email Payments, and PayPal as an Additional Payment Option. The new product bundles, found in the “Merchant Tools” tab on the PayPal Web site, make it easier for merchants to find the right payment products for their specific businesses needs.