One of the most frequently asked questions I get as a Webmaster is "can you setup an eCommerce system for our company?"

For most businesses venturing into eCommerce, ePayment means accepting credit cards. This involves setting up a complex system including a SECURE order page/shopping cart software, a merchant account (basically a bank account that receives the credit card proceeds), and a credit card processing service. Care has to be taken to ensure that the shopping cart is compatible with the authorization service. All the various elements need to be compatible and interface with each other.

While the bulk of Internet eCommerce is still transacted using credit cards, there has been steady inroads being made by alternative methods of settling eTransactions. These Web Payment Services (WPS) have ingeniously utilized the most popular application on the Internet"e-mail", to appeal to customers.

By using an existing platform to launch their services, WPS providers have enjoyed wide appeal with customers worldwide. The largest of these, PAYPAL, has approximately 11 million users, processes 150,000 payments per day, and attracts over 20,000 new users each day.

But are there any advantages of using these alternative payment systems over credit card merchant systems? To help you decide the following criteria will be evaluated:

Setup
Maintenance Costs
Ease of Use/Convenience
Cash Flow Effect
Customer Perception