

Ask HN: As a non-US resident, how do I accept CC payments on my website? - mightymau

I'm going to launch a subscription based web app soon and I need to accept payments on my website (I am based in the Philippines, Filipino citizen). I've researched on various solutions to integrate seamless credit card payments and ALL of them require a merchant account/SSN to setup an account.<p>Are there other ways for me to integrate payment system on my website?<p>Is it possible to get a merchant account for non-us resident? should I setup aUS company first? is that even possible?
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sorbits
It is fairly easy to setup a US LLC, see e.g. <https://www.delawareinc.com/>
(they’ll handle all the paperwork for around $450).

This will give you an Employee Tax Identification Number (EIN) which can often
be used instead of SSN.

Note though that setting up a US bank account (as a non-resident alien) is
more problematic (and you pretty much need that to receive the money). Your
safest bet is to visit the US, see <http://www.valisinternational.com/us-
company-bank-accounts> for options.

So I would recommend going with PayPal rather than process the credit cards
yourself (though I didn’t check if they offer accounts to people in the
Philippines).

~~~
ahoyhere
The tax status then becomes quite complicated.

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kareemm
I'm Canadian. We use Beanstream as our payment gateway. We got a USD merchant
account through them (at TD Bank).

Have you looked around at local options? It's definitely possible to get a USD
merchant account, and it does NOT need to be at a US bank.

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JarekS
Please check <http://2checkout.com> \- it's really nice, easy to setup and
international friendly system. We use it in <http://smartupz.com>

~~~
NiekvdMaas
From the site: 2CO applies a 5.5% commission on each transaction, plus a $0.45
USD charge per transaction.

That sounds incredibly expensive to me, even PayPal is cheaper
([https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-
receiving...](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-receiving-
fees-outside)).

~~~
tomh
Depends. PayPal can add a 1% charge for international transactions, and an
extra 2.5% charge for currencies other than USD.

Source:
[https://merchant.paypal.com/cms_content/US/en_US/files/merch...](https://merchant.paypal.com/cms_content/US/en_US/files/merchant/pp_mpr_datasheet_ec_r4.pdf)

~~~
NiekvdMaas
The 2.5% only applies if you receive in another currency than USD. Usually you
request the payment in USD, so the conversion happens on the sender's end.
Didn't know about the 1% though, I'm wondering if that still applies as I
can't find in on the regular site.

~~~
what
The 2.5% actually applies to currency conversion. So as long as your PayPal
account currency is the same as the currency that you charge in there should
be no conversion?

While we're talking about PayPal, if you want to do small transactions there's
a special micro payment account with fees of $0.05 + 5%. Works out cheaper for
payments < $12. It was hidden somewhere, not sure how I stumbled across it.

[http://www.paypal.com/IntegrationCenter/ic_micropayments.htm...](http://www.paypal.com/IntegrationCenter/ic_micropayments.html)

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NiekvdMaas
You should consider <http://www.moneybookers.com/> \- they have the lowest
fees I've found yet, and support credit cards/wire transfers/local bank
checkouts. We use it at <http://www.adperium.com/directads>

~~~
csomar
unluckily they have very strict restriction over debit cards. I verified two
cards on PayPal that were restricted on MoneyBookers because they weren't
issued from the same country I live on.

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tchvil
We are just starting to test <http://www.adyen.com/> in our web app. The guys
at <http://www.knowledgeplaza.net> are using it for a while and recommended it
to us.

