Netbilling: So much more than just payment processing
While Internet payment gateway processor Netbilling set out in 1998 to establish the ideal solution for online payment processing, the company says the combination of solutions it provides makes Netbilling the ideal partner for an adult pay site.
Karen Campbell, the company’s sales manager, says that in addition to payment processing, Netbilling provides a range of other services designed to support Internet businesses. And, while it was not explicitly designed as an adult solution, the adult business simply fit.
“Our system is different from other gateways in that it does automated recurring billing and password management. So it has the ability to write and expire users according to the paid memberships and automatically re-bill those cards,” she says. “We got into this adult venue because so many of the adult sites require what we offer. It's a good fit.”
Along with the processing, Netbilling provides a range of services for online merchants designed to manage passwords, customers and sales online.
The company offers free shopping cart software, developed in-house, says Campbell, designed for customers selling products online. Of course, while the company has its own shopping cart, the Netbilling service is also compatible with virtually any shopping cart software.
Netbilling also offers outsourced customer support functions through a dedicated call center that responds to billing-related issues around the clock. According to Campbell, the customer support function is particularly appealing to customers switching to Netbilling’s gateway processing services from third party credit card billing solutions who don’t want to suddenly accommodate the customer support side of things.
Campbell says many of Netbilling’s customers come to the company from third party billing solutions, seeking the cost and control benefits of operating a merchant account over doing business through a third party provider.
“If a merchant has its own merchant account,” says Campbell, “it costs normally about half what it would if they were going with third-party. They have a lot more control over the types of transactions they accept, meaning they can set the fraud rules and filters and things like that, whereas with third-party they don't get to set anything but just have to take what the company provides. And with a merchant account, they get access to the customers' information.”
And while setting up a merchant account can be a substantial cost for a start-up operation, Campbell says even new business owners should seriously consider setting up merchant accounts of their own, right from the start. Making the switch to a merchant account later in the game can be a source of considerable complexity and strain.
“When you move to your own merchant account,” says Campbell, “the third party billing company is obliged to keep the customers because the customers signed up for that billing company, not for the particular Web site.”
Campbell says Netbilling can help to accommodate customers who aren’t sure how to go about setting up a merchant account. The company has established relationships with merchant account providers that are adult business friendly.
For customers still just planning their approach to collecting payment, Campbell recommends research. Posting questions about potential partners on webmaster message boards is a sure way to gather feedback about a company. Ultimately, however, she suggests going with a reliable company, and one with a track record of reliability.
“We get really great feedback from our customers,” she says. “Typically, the people that have Netbilling really like Netbilling, and they're pretty loyal.”
