Accepting one-off customer payment by Credit Card...?

[MarkCup]

We have a customer, potentially a big one, that has a massive PITA supplier vetting process that will take a long time to get through.

Their buyer has said he would like to get the ball rolling sooner by paying us what we need with his business credit card...we're talking a couple of payments of circa £5k.

I've worked here for eight years now and we've never needed this, nor do I think we'll ever need it again after this.

I see PayPal or Stripe seem to be options, but they're mostly geared up to providing solutions for online traders etc. and getting to the meat of what I'm looking for is tricky.

Any thoughts on the best way to do this, with the least amount of hassle?

 

[Louis]

Does your bank not provide this service?

 

[Clio.lee]

im an engineering manager. If i need to buy a product from a new supplier. Even once. I need to add them as a vendor and ask them to complete loads of paperwork. Most companies cant be arsed for a one off. It honestly does my head in

 

[MarkCup]

Does your bank not provide this service?

I expect so...but with costs and minimum terms and so on, but my relationship manager is out until Monday, and the alternative relationship manager has gone straight to voicemail. Naturally that then leads me to CS!

 

[davo172]

I expect so...but with costs and minimum terms and so on, but my relationship manager is out until Monday, and the alternative relationship manager has gone straight to voicemail. Naturally that then leads me to CS!

🤣🤣 God help ya then!!😉

 

[ChrisR]

Naturally that then leads me to CS!

Move their toaster and buy an M3?

 

[MarkCup]

Move their toaster and buy an M3?

Tried that. Payment declined.

 

[The Psychedelic Socialist]

Tried that. Payment declined.

Can't you just ask them to buy you £5k of Amazon gift cards?

 

[MarkCup]

Can't you just ask them to buy you £5k of Amazon gift cards?

Good shout! Will suggest tomorrow.

 

[Krarl]

To get people added into our system there are multiple NDAs and vetting processes to go through as well as insurances. Then procurement take a f**king age to actually get a vendor set up

If I can, then I bang s**t on my company card because it doesn't have a limit on how much I can spend, just a £100k limit per transaction🤣

 

[MarkCup]

So this is exactly what our new customer is doing/asking, I just have no way of accepting a card payment.

If CS has no other suggestions it does look like I'm gonna have to set something up formally with our bank. Grrrr.

 

[.Joe]

We've recently taken up Stripe and gocardless, Stripe we're utilising for one off payments and Gocardless for direct debit's for recurring, both accept single transactions but stripe is tailored more towards Mastercard/Visa

 

[seb]

I have no idea what your company is but do you not have a card machine in reception or something? You can manually input card details into one. Fees are higher on company cards as well as taking the transaction that way also.

I’d be deferring it to company policy. What payment types do you accept?

I have it in my t&c’s i only accept up to £1000 cash, and i don’t accept cheques or amex. I also don’t accept payment over the phone.

It is bank card chip and pin in person or bank transfer.

 

[seb]

You’d prob be quicker just getting a mobile card machine from toolstation Lol

SumUp Air Card Reader

You'll never miss out on a payment again! With the SumUp Air card reader, you'll be able to receive card payments on the go, wherever you're working - anywhere, anytime.Your customer isn't carrying any cash? No problem - if you've got this SumUp card reader, you can accept all major debit and...

www.toolstation.com

No idea if you can manually tap in the details. Can they come in and do it with the card? 😂😂👌

 

[Matt Cup]

Why can’t their buyer just pay by bacs/chaps/swift instead of cc?

 

[MarkCup]

You’d prob be quicker just getting a mobile card machine from toolstation Lol

SumUp Air Card Reader

You'll never miss out on a payment again! With the SumUp Air card reader, you'll be able to receive card payments on the go, wherever you're working - anywhere, anytime.Your customer isn't carrying any cash? No problem - if you've got this SumUp card reader, you can accept all major debit and...

www.toolstation.com

No idea if you can manually tap in the details. Can they come in and do it with the card? 😂😂👌

This looks to be the perfect solution! Thanks seb. CS triumphs over Google again 😁

Why can’t their buyer just pay by bacs/chaps/swift instead of cc?

It's a government body with a lengthy supplier vetting process...but their buyer wants things moving immediately hence him wanting ti use his approved discretionary spend credit card.

 

[RSRowe]

It’s refreshing to hear that the buyer has actually proposed this and is keen to do stuff.

I’m from the same side of the fence as @Clio.lee and getting stuff done 'properly' with the wider procurement and legal team is an absolute nightmare.

 

[McGherkin]

Get them to send the money to me and I promise I’ll send it back when you have your payment system set up.

 

[Krarl]

Just be careful of card fees @MarkCup

Stripe usually take a percentage, not sure about the SumUp

 

[MarkCup]

Just be careful of card fees @MarkCup

Stripe usually take a percentage, not sure about the SumUp

Sumup is 1.69% with no contract or monthly recurring fees.

Barclaycard charge 1.6% for using one of their terminals and £15 a month terminal rental for 18 months minimum term!

1.69% works for me especially considering how infrequently we'll use it, and for those times that we do, we'll just add a bit more to cover.

 

[seb]

Sumup is 1.69% with no contract or monthly recurring fees.

Barclaycard charge 1.6% for using one of their terminals and £15 a month terminal rental for 18 months minimum term!

1.69% works for me especially considering how infrequently we'll use it, and for those times that we do, we'll just add a bit more to cover.

We used to charge customers a fee when they used credit cards on our machine. That got outlawed a few years ago now, you have to suck it up. It may be different for business to business and not for the public customers.

 

[seb]

Just checked, it is only for personal consumer cards.

Business to business you can charge the fee. But then depends on whether you want to do thta or not if you are courting a new long term customer. You may take a view on it as the card payments isn't going to be a regular thing.

 

[MarkCup]

We won't be charging a fee as such, but we may take a view on how much margin we build in to our pricing overall

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

@MarkCup Just be very cautious!

There is a LOT of fraud going on at the moment, we've been tried a couple of times. 'Ello mate, im a local builder, need a roll of carpet. Ill pay up front on a card'. Payment goes through, they take goods, suddenly youve got the bank on the phone telling you that the card is stolen and youre out of pocket for the goods.

Its happening a hell of a lot - I keep seeing posts about it on the flooring group im on. We now tell these kinds of customers that we need proof of ID, address and for them to pay when they arrive with the card in the same name as the ID.

Think ive had a couple of attempts in the last few months - oddly they never turn up and pay....

Im sure youve covered this though, you're a cleverererer man than I!

 

[seb]

@MarkCup Just be very cautious!

There is a LOT of fraud going on at the moment, we've been tried a couple of times. 'Ello mate, im a local builder, need a roll of carpet. Ill pay up front on a card'. Payment goes through, they take goods, suddenly youve got the bank on the phone telling you that the card is stolen and youre out of pocket for the goods.

Its happening a hell of a lot - I keep seeing posts about it on the flooring group im on. We now tell these kinds of customers that we need proof of ID, address and for them to pay when they arrive with the card in the same name as the ID.

Think ive had a couple of attempts in the last few months - oddly they never turn up and pay....

Im sure youve covered this though, you're a cleverererer man than I!

How are they proposing taking the card payment? Is it a manual payment or over the phone and not chip and pin?

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

How are they proposing taking the card payment? Is it a manual payment or over the phone and not chip and pin?

Yep, basically.

Stolen card details, phone up, give details, take goods, f**k off into the distance and never be seen again.

 

[seb]

Yep, basically.

Stolen card details, phone up, give details, take goods, f**k off into the distance and never be seen again.

Yeah, This was also prevelent a bit for appliances. Ring up, pay then collect and f**k off.

I don't take card payments over the phone as you firstly have zero protection on the payment with your payment service provider. Plus the fees are higher too compared to a chip and pin transaction.

Yes deffo don't do card transaction over phone. Only do card in person with pin number @MarkCup

 

[Bluebeard]

We used to charge customers a fee when they used credit cards on our machine. That got outlawed a few years ago now, you have to suck it up. It may be different for business to business and not for the public customers.

Whenever a customer wants to pay on a credit card I just charge them a £25 admin fee.
“Oh f**k that I’ll transfer it in to my bank and do a bank transfer to you”

Lovely, a thank ya.

 

[seb]

Whenever a customer wants to pay on a credit card I just charge them a £25 admin fee.
“Oh f**k that I’ll transfer it in to my bank and do a bank transfer to you”

Lovely, a thank ya.

LOL i feel ya bro and i wish i could do the same but…

Card surcharge ban means no more nasty surprises for shoppers

Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card will be banned from today (13 January).

www.gov.uk

i think you’ll find you shouldn’t be doing it and you could get in s**t for it. Tbh last thing you want is some gov dept snooping around if a potential customer reported you for it.

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

LOL i feel ya bro and i wish i could do the same but…

Card surcharge ban means no more nasty surprises for shoppers

Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card will be banned from today (13 January).

www.gov.uk

i think you’ll find you shouldn’t be doing it and you could get in s**t for it. Tbh last thing you want is some gov dept snooping around if a potential customer reported you for it.

Yep. Our transaction fees per year make me very, very upset.

Last I checked, it was the equivelent of hiring someone full time. Yay.

 

[seb]

Yep. Our transaction fees per year make me very, very upset.

Last I checked, it was the equivelent of hiring someone full time. Yay.

Yeah I had a battle getting a new contract and reduced fees last year... it is worth the effort tbh with a few different payment providers.

But my MO is try and get bank transfer as much as possible and avoid cards if all possible.

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

Yeah I had a battle getting a new contract and reduced fees last year... it is worth the effort tbh with a few different payment providers.

But my MO is try and get bank transfer as much as possible and avoid cards if all possible.

We tried the same a few years ago after reviewing our charges.

We were also being absolutely hounded by a chap who was Car Salesman X Double Glazing Salesman level of keen. He was annoying AF but kept promising he would reduce our charges so I gave him a shot....

We were declined. Apparently, according to them, 'Home Furnishings is too risky' of an industry. Yeah, that makes total sense mate. We've only been trading 75 years.... 🤣. Morons.

 

[seb]

We tried the same a few years ago after reviewing our charges.

We were also being absolutely hounded by a chap who was Car Salesman X Double Glazing Salesman level of keen. He was annoying AF but kept promising he would reduce our charges so I gave him a shot....

We were declined. Apparently, according to them, 'Home Furnishings is too risky' of an industry. Yeah, that makes total sense mate. We've only been trading 75 years.... 🤣. Morons.

There are loads of rogue card providers who are basically resellers. I just went direct to the big companies after a bit of research as was getting houdned by pricks wanting me to change over.

 

[MarkCup]

After a day of testing here's where I've ended up...

No card terminal rented or purchased as I have no need for one, we're not a retail outlet nor will we ever be one.

I did, however, sign up to Sumup and create an online account. This enables me to create payment links which I can email to anyone, and will take them to a Sumup payment portal. They enter card details and an amount, and payment is collected. This does come with a 2.6% fee though!

Then I discovered that by downloading the Sumup app, instead of online payment links (with the 2.6% fee), I can create a QR code (both as an image and a URL) and email that to anyone for payment as above, they enter card details, enter amount, payment is collected.

The best thing about the QR code option though, is that the fee taken from our funds is precisely zero, nil, 0%.

I've made three small payments so far using the original online payment option plus both of the QR options, and the collected funds will credit the company account within 3 working days. Once that happens we're setup and I'll be asking someone to fire £10k over. Fingers crossed!

Given that this entire thing has come with zero cost either upfront or ongoing I can't help but feel I've missed something. Time will tell

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

After a day of testing here's where I've ended up...

No card terminal rented or purchased as I have no need for one, we're not a retail outlet nor will we ever be one.

I did, however, sign up to Sumup and create an online account. This enables me to create payment links which I can email to anyone, and will take them to a Sumup payment portal. They enter card details and an amount, and payment is collected. This does come with a 2.6% fee though!

Then I discovered that by downloading the Sumup app, instead of online payment links (with the 2.6% fee), I can create a QR code (both as an image and a URL) and email that to anyone for payment as above, they enter card details, enter amount, payment is collected.

The best thing about the QR code option though, is that the fee taken from our funds is precisely zero, nil, 0%.

I've made three small payments so far using the original online payment option plus both of the QR options, and the collected funds will credit the company account within 3 working days. Once that happens we're setup and I'll be asking someone to fire £10k over. Fingers crossed!

😁

That is bonkers! What a loophole!

Ill be in touch, good sir

 

[Bluebeard]

LOL i feel ya bro and i wish i could do the same but…

Card surcharge ban means no more nasty surprises for shoppers

Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card will be banned from today (13 January).

www.gov.uk

i think you’ll find you shouldn’t be doing it and you could get in s**t for it. Tbh last thing you want is some gov dept snooping around if a potential customer reported you for it.

That’s my point though. Tell them you’ll charge them an admin fee if they don’t pay by bank transfer. They will always pay by bank transfer.

“The admin fee is nothing to do with the card fee’s sir, it’s simply to cover our admin. If you pay by transfer, we have no admin so we’ll pass the saving to you”

Works every time.

 

[Donny_Dog]

I'm late to the party, but I'd have checked out wise.com
I use them for sending money abroad (being an international lover and player) but they also have a same currency transfer section. The customer could use their card to make the payment to you via wise.

Never mind though, looks like you've figured something out.

 

[JimF]

Just another person coming on here to warn others about fraud. My place got stung for £75,000 last year. Was a very clever system used and started off with legitimate sales etc to build up a rapport and trading history over a few months before the shenanigans started.
With the OP stating its Government obviously that'll be fine. I get why they'd want to use a credit card rather than wasting time setting up accounts etc for the first one. If the buyer has a works credit card for discretionary 'cash' purchases with a high enough limit then it makes no odds to them. My place has done that at times when wanting to purchase from companies with overseas accounts departments.

 

[MarkCup]

Today the £14.00 I paid on our company card (last Thursday) over 3x test transactions, turned up in our bank less 13p charges on one of the transactions, so £13.87 received.

I'll be inviting our new customer to chuck £10k through it via the QR code generator soon. If payment then comes through without hassle and remains completely free of charges, that'll be a right result.

I will report back.

 

[Marc.]

All sounds good @MarkCup - I’ll be keeping an eye on the thread as our transaction fees are astronomical. Sadly I think it’s a necessary evil for us.