Accepting Credit Card Payments for small operators

How to communicate with your potential renters - how to turn site visitors into enquiries, and enquiries into bookings.
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Thanks kev, that makes sense that we get contradicting answers between us.
Codliveroil
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Post by Codliveroil »

kevsboredagain wrote:
Codliveroil wrote:
Kevsboredagain, with respect, you are reading this wrong. It says the credit card must match the holder details, that is the billing address on the card, same with any online CC transaction. So if you set up with one address (Billing address) and then use a card that has another "Billing" address then that card will be rejected.
Their website actually says
"The name on your credit card must match the name on your TransferWise account. If it does not, please be aware that your transfer will be delayed and potentially cancelled."

As I have never tested this out myself or had any feedback from my clients who have used it, I will simply ask Transferwise myself to clarify, as what you say seems to contradict their website. I would also like to tell my guests no account is needed.
Quite correct Kev, But it also says, quote: For GBP Customers - When paying with your card for the first time, we'll ask you to enter an address. Please enter the address which is linked to your card, even if this is not your current address.

https://transferwise.com/support/custom ... 790#Making

Right at the bottom.

So it's like any CC transaction on line, the payee needs to enter the correct name and billing address that appears on the card they want to use.

You can't tell your guests that no account is needed because it is, but is very simple and none invasive, all they need, if I remember correctly, is name, address, (which much match the CC if they are going to use one) DOB and a password, not unlike buying from Amazon for example for the first time, except for the DOB, which I just discovered by accident was asked of me when I signed in to my TW account from a different location, (I opened TW login whilst I was using my VPN to video stream) so it was a security question if you like.

Having the account allows the guest to check on the progress of their payment and of course being able to make future payments such as balance payment damage deposit, future bookings without having to input the info again.
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

Codliveroil wrote:
Right at the bottom.
I've already read all of this in search for an answer to my question.

There's a section on how to pay by credit card. There's a section on how to pay by bank transfer. There's a section on ID requirements, like passport and utility bills, which is not mentioned in the payment sections.

As I've only ever used bank transfer, I went through the process of ID verification, which was certainly not instant.

Please point me to where it says that the verification required is different, depending on whether you pay by bank transfer or credit card. This is the information I cannot find.

I've emailed Transferwise for an answer.
Codliveroil
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Post by Codliveroil »

kevsboredagain wrote:
Codliveroil wrote:
Right at the bottom.
I've already read all of this in search for an answer to my question.

There's a section on how to pay by credit card. There's a section on how to pay by bank transfer. There's a section on ID requirements, like passport and utility bills, which is not mentioned in the payment sections.

As I've only ever used bank transfer, I went through the process of ID verification, which was certainly not instant.

Please point me to where it says that the verification required is different, depending on whether you pay by bank transfer or credit card. This is the information I cannot find.

I've emailed Transferwise for an answer.
Kev your previous posts were about several issues and I thought that I had answered them to the best of my ability, I apologize if I missed the Verification issue.

All I can say about verification is that two days ago I personally set up an account in under 5 minutes and no verification was required. (another poster on this thread says basically the same), I made 3 transfers but using the Bank transfer method form GBP to Euro and all went smoothly and the money has been deposited in my Euro accounts. I am not sure why you had to go through a verification process. How long ago did you set up, maybe things have changed?

I did test the payment by credit card and cancelled it at the very last page and was not asked to verify anything.

It will be interesting to hear what you find out from TW on why, when and if verification is asked for when setting up, or when later using the system.
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

Codliveroil wrote:
Kev your previous posts were about several issues and I thought that I had answered them to the best of my ability, I apologize if I missed the Verification issue.
I probably wasn't clear and do tend to type faster than I can think.

Perhaps because I'm British but not resident in the UK it was more difficult. My boss had even more problems and his verification took several days Then they got the transfer wrong but we think that was more the fault of the Swiss bank and the reference number. As I had just recommended it, I was fairly embarrassed.

I'll let you know what TW say, as I need to pass this info to my guests too.


and here is their answer:

Hey Kevin!

That’s a great question but the answer is a little more complicated.

At the moment, if you would want to use TransferWise to have folks send you their rental money, then yes indeed they would have to set up an account with us. As far as whether or not they would have to send ID, it would depend on a variety of factors.

Some may have to send ID, some may not. Our fancy algorithms look at a lot of different information, so it’s hard to say. If the amounts they are sending to you are larger, then the likelihood is pretty great that we might ask for ID of some sort just to make sure we aren’t accidentally helping some shady guys steal money from unsuspecting folks. (You’d be surprised how many there are out there!)

The good news is that sometime in the near future (we don’t have a date yet, by I am hoping by the end of this year) we will have something available called “PayMe” where persons like yourself can have accounts where friends or family (or persons sending rent money, in your case) can send you payments without having to set up their own TransferWise profiles. If you would like to be on the waiting list to be informed when the program rolls, out, you can absolutely fill out a super short survey and put in your e-mail here ....



mmmm so I was considered a bit shady eh??

In other words, just like Paypal, it would seem there is no right or wrong answer.
Codliveroil
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Post by Codliveroil »

Interesting email, whilst you were doing that I tried their online Chat i will paste it here:

e: At what level, or when if at all is verification required when making a transfer. Are the verification rules different when paying in by bank transfer or credit card?
Thanks for getting in touch! Just a moment...
Kristina | TransferWise Support: Hi there
these are random checks that are required from all our customers at some point (:
So when oyu signed up with us we asked for voluntary verification
Due to our regulations we will need to ask everyone for verification at some point in time
Just for reference:
transferwise.com/support/custo...
Me: Yes I read that but it does not answer my specific question.
Kristina | TransferWise Support: It's an automatic procedure that is triggered by a system
It doesn't matter which payment method, what country, or anything. It will be triggered at some point automatically
Me: Okay many thanks.

Except I was not asked when I signed up for voluntary verification.

Kev, where can I get that survey thing they talk about to get on a list, I want to be on it. Paste a link if you can.

Going back to Paypal, my account was limited about 6 weeks ago until I supplied proof of ID, Address and SIN number, none of these things were asked for when I opened my Paypal account 3 years ago, now they want it! I have supplied it but I am not going to use or recommend them anymore, it's too complicated and too expensive for me or clients. I receive too much spam and too many Phishing emails, not that this is paypals fault, but if I am not with paypal I can delete anything that resembles paypal. A 3% difference adds up to GBP 120 on a two week high season booking for me, that's a lot of beer!
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

Codliveroil wrote:
Kev, where can I get that survey thing they talk about to get on a list, I want to be on it. Paste a link if you can.
I didn't post it because I'm pretty sure it's a targeted link. ie. they know it was from that specific email and not just a general link to a survey. The link is HUGE with words like "track" and "click" in it.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

This is a really helpful discussion, thank you to all.

Can you please keep us up to date with any developments or news?
I don't have many bookings from overseas but do get some from the Eurozone.

Also, stupid question now, (forgive me please), can someone from the UK make a card payment from a sterling account to me in sterling using transferwise?
Just wondering if this was an option for taking card payments either debit or credit, or is it only interested in currency conversion?
Essar
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Post by Essar »

zebedee wrote:I don't have many bookings from overseas but do get some from the Eurozone.
Ah, the Eurozone - ficticious land first mentioned in the early "Harry Potter" books - controlled by forceful demigods of small stature, not unlike Hobbits. They spend most of their time making up things for others to do or to prevent them from doing; to no possible benefit to anyone. Their inhabitants spend their time transferring their belongings between each other (this they call trade) for which they then give each other money in return (called a Euro - hence the name of the ficticious land). An utterly pointless existence but is seems to make some of them happy - some seem to get realy upset and march about waving flags and setting fire to car wheels which they then douse with big water cannon - great place to avoid or live depending on your stature.

With apologies to Zebedee for hijacking the topic. :lol:
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zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Hello Essar,
I think you forgot to mention that the demigods that make up the rules become very rich by receiving large payments for their ideas, live in luxury and receive expensive gifts for doing very little :D :D :D

But please don't let this thread creep away from the very important discussions and the answer to my stupid question :roll:
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

Well I use Currenies Direct as a payment option for my guests and they nearly all choose to pay by this method.

To date, no guest has told me that they had to register to make the transfer.

My most recent transfer was done last Sunday by a guest in Australia who transferred the due rental in GBP although I gave him the option of Aussie dollars too.

No % is taken from guest or account holder. The exchange rate is perhaps, in consequence, just a shade lower than TW and other Forex agencies. (Swings and roundabouts).

I have set up a Rate Watch so that I can hopefully eke out a little more than my set rental rates.....

My UK pension also goes into my account with CD as do some other bits and pieces I have left in the UK.

If I want to make a Third party payment I can only do this to someone in another country and currency other than GBP as they are not authorised to make sterling payments. Last year, for example, I paid for my trip to Denmark, to a Danish agency in Denmark, from my account with them.
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Post by AndrewH »

zebedee wrote:Also, stupid question now, (forgive me please), can someone from the UK make a card payment from a sterling account to me in sterling using transferwise?
Just wondering if this was an option for taking card payments either debit or credit, or is it only interested in currency conversion?
I have come rather late to your question, zebedee, but I did ask this question of TransferWise and the answer came back "No", because they were only interested in currency conversions. In my case it was a transfer of sterling from a UK bank account to a sterling account with a Greek bank.

I got the feeling that they would have liked to oblige, but they would then be treading on the toes of the traditional bankers and there was some rule somewhere preventing them from doing it.
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Post by zebedee »

Many thanks AndrewH
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Cassis
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Post by Cassis »

kevsboredagain wrote:
The good news is that sometime in the near future (we don’t have a date yet, by I am hoping by the end of this year) we will have something available called “PayMe” where persons like yourself can have accounts where friends or family (or persons sending rent money, in your case) can send you payments without having to set up their own TransferWise profiles. If you would like to be on the waiting list to be informed when the program rolls, out, you can absolutely fill out a super short survey and put in your e-mail here ....
Don't hold your breath, though, Kev. They actually had this very service until around the end of February, and I used it. Then they stopped for technical reasons, a lot of customer problems. Back in March they told me they were 2 months away from relaunching this option. :D
From: TransferWise Support [mailto:support@transferwise.com]
Sent: 18 March 2015 19:41
To: xxxx
Subject:
__________________________________
Hi Phil

I saw your feedback and I thought that it would be best to write back to you, just to inject you with a bit of optimism.

You are very much correct that as we recently lost the old option to request payments, the temporary solution is to have the sender(s) sign up their personal TransferWise profiles. I do agree that this isn’t ideal but our intent was never to close it down for good and not roll out a replacement.

The good news is that right now, we are only a couple of months away from introducing a new product which would firstly, replace the old paylink functionality and also, provide our customers with more flexibility towards invoicing / requesting payments from third parties.

If you were to consider giving us another go within a couple of months, I could sign you up for a notification and that would remind you once the new money requesting method is revealed, then you could try it out and decide – whether or not it would be suitable for you to use. In case you would be interested in that, make sure to reply to this very same email as then I will know to add you to that shortlist as well!

Best wishes,

Juhan-Kristjan Levo ⁞ TransferWise Customer Support
On the PayPal issue of opening an account, all I know is that people don't need a PayPal account to pay us, just a card. Ours is a Premier account, the level below a Business account.
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

Cassis wrote:
On the PayPal issue of opening an account, all I know is that people don't need a PayPal account to pay us, just a card. Ours is a Premier account, the level below a Business account.
That was my understanding too but after a recent discussion on LMH, it turns out that this is now dependent on the country you make the payment from as well as the account type. I know a few years ago, paying with a credit card on my account did not require a Paypal account but on retesting a couple of weeks ago, it did. Nothing had changed on my side, although I don't know which country I was in when I originally tested it.
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