We recently resolved a problem we encountered accepting payments through Amazon (Checkout with Amazon) so all systems are green for go this holiday season. Likewise, PayPal has been operating smoothly of late, although payment notifications were slow to be sent out this past weekend as the Company worked to resolve some latency issues they were facing as well as a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS) by a malfeasant operator yet to be identified.
The benefits of using either payment method in lieu of a credit card to complete an online transaction are clear cut. First, neither company provides the merchant with the customer’s credit card or banking information and instead stores it through their own secure and encrypted payment system. So, there is no need for the merchant to contact the customer and review their billing information with them should an order need to be processed outside the customary 30-day payment window. Likewise, there is no need for the merchant to require that the billing and shipping address match, since both payment systems provide the merchant with payment protection in case the situation warrants. The downside is that the customer is remitting funds to the merchant ahead of the transaction being completed. Ordinarily, this isn’t a problem if the item(s) in question on the order are all in stock and can be shipped out immediately. It can cause some consternation for the customer if the order cannot be shipped out for whatever reason (the order contains either back ordered or pre-ordered merchandise), so it can appear as if the merchant has accepted the funds without showing anything for it. Please keep all of this in mind when determining which payment option you wish to use when placing an online order.