 4.4 Online Payment
There are a number of online payment possibilities to consider for your tourism business. The goal of implimenting an internet-based payment system is to reduce the cost of managing payments and increase the ease of use for both client and tourism business.
When choosing the internet payment options for your organization consider the hidden costs of managing payments. Some tourism organizations offer preferred payment rates which recognize the cost savings attained when guests use payment options which are less expensive.
Since the internet has created opportunities for international exposure of Northern Ontario tourism experiences more widely available, the options for internet payment are making it easier for tourism businesses to process payments online from all over the world.
Let's take a look at the current payment possibilities Paypal, ECheques, Sending Money by Email, Credit Card Payment and Electronic Ticketing and their strengths and weaknesses:
: The granddaddy of online payment, paypal owned by EBay, has emerged as a payment option to facilitate the exchange of goods on the online market, while retaining much of the fees credit card companies charge. Paypal provides a variety of services for online merchants who do not require a merchant account of their own. The payments are linked to a credit card and/or bank account and each exchange charges a fee of 2.9% + $.50.
Businesses do not require a credit account with their financial institution to use Paypal. Businesses with a credit account may find that the Paypal rate is more than their own bank charges. Offsetting this cost is how easily payment by Paypal can be set up, managed, and used by paying customers. To boot, you are not responsible for securing the payment with a signature. Deposits from your Paypal Account to your Business Account are very easy to set up.
Merchants can also pay for goods and services directly from their Paypal account at no cost.
Over 50% of Tourism Keys participants used Paypal to pay for their workshop attendance. To start a business account with Paypal, click the link below.
IKOBO - Another Money Transfer service which operates in 170 countries. Payment is made by a free dedicated Visa Debit Card. The account can be accessed from almost any ATM machine in the world.
Tips for Payment Transfers: In all likelihood your transfers will go through without a hitch. However, users need to realize that payment transfer organizations are not banks and are not regulated in the same way. Although PayPal is subject to very strict customer policies and regulations, for your protection know what your agreement says:
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look for information on conflict resolution and learn how disputes are handled. Check out info on fraud protection too.
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Avoid leaving large sums of money in any money transfer service account.
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Use money transfer services for payments you need to make.
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Diversify your payment options. Some folks will not be comfortable with online payment, so take pleasure in getting an old-fashioned cheque in the mail from time to time.
ECheques: U.S. Banking institutions have developed ECheques. The most beneficial aspect of ECheques is that it permits U.S. visitors to pay for Canadian Tourism Experiences in U.S. Funds at a very low cost. At present, ECheques require an account with a registered third party who can process the payments in Canada. Most operate on a monthly fee basis. Second Site is one organization which permits such payment along with a variety of bookkeeping and data services.
Sending Money by Email: Canadian Banks permit their account holders who utilize online services to send money anywhere in Canada by email. The service lets the buyer of tourism services log-in and send money to any email address, with a security question and answer to ensure that the money finds its way to the intended recipient. The recipient of the email logs into their bank account online and the money is deposited once they answer the security question.
Sending Money by Email is Secure, but requires your guest to go to a bit of trouble to meet your needs. Your guest must take the time to log into their own bank account online and send money by email. In the event the security question is incorrectly answered by either the sender or receiver the payment is not completed. In this case, the sender must log into their bank account to see notification that the email payment has failed.
Credit Card Payment via secure server: Some web sites offer payment by credit on their own secure server. Most web hosting companies can provide secure server access for an annual fee. The guest opens a secure form on the tourism web site and enters data like on a regular form, however enhanced data security ensures that the data is safely exchanged. Although some people send credit card account information on unsecure forms or by email these transactions are potentially unsafe.
Processing Credit payments yourself is considered more risky by Credit Card agencies. Be sure to get your guest signature in association with all keyed-in credit card transactions.
Electronic Ticketing: TicketingSolutions.com is an example of a company which provides online payment processessing and ticketing of tourism experiences. The advanced services provide opportunities to set up commission sales accounts, make room assignments and process payments in a wide variety of European Currencies. The services are available on a monthly basis with a variety of service levels.
Your Experience:
 Tourism Keys Workshop participants utilized one of three available payment options to cover the cost of lunch and meeting space for the tourism keys event.
Which payment option did you choose? How important is payment convenience and payment rate to your choice of payment?
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