E-CURRENCIES

E-currencies available online!

Ecurrencies or electronic currencies are various types of money/currency in electronic mode. The most popular e-currencies available online for payment include e-gold (www.e-gold.com), e-bullion (www.ebullion.com), e-money (www.emoney.com) and other online money or currencies. You can sign up most e-currencies for FREE of CHARGE in their websites and use them to make online purchases and payments. You can equally accept payments from people in your websites through various e-currencies.

CONVERSION OF ECURRENCIES TO PHYSICAL MONEY

Various Ecurrencies licensed who are known as exchangers to sell and buy different Ecurrencies. For example, if you have $600 what of e-gold, you can contact any person that needs to buy e-gold and exchange the e-gold with physical cash, in most cases, using more than the subsisting exchange rate value. At times, one have to wait for weeks to have his e-currency converted into physical cash in naira or other currencies.

ADVANTAGES OF ECURRENCIES

It makes it easy and fast for people that do not Paypal, credit cards to make online purchase without hassles.

DISADVANTAGES

There is a high rate of security abuse and theft associated with online transaction involving E-currencies.

1.      It takes time, at times, to convert E-currencies into physical cash

2.      Some websites reject E-currencies.

EPAYMENT SOLUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Collecting or Making Payment Online

Once you offer products or service for sale online, it is important that you have in place an easy way that your would be customer can pay you for such product or service. However, the system of receiving payment online will largely depend on the kind of customers you deal with and the kind of product/service you offer. Let’s look at some practical examples. My web hosting company SYSKAY is owned by a Nigerian and I pay for their services with local currency (Nigerian Naira), by using their banking facility (FirstInland Bank or Guaranty Trust Bank) provided in Nigeria. It is smooth and convenient for me. However, their customers outside Nigeria pay with dollars using Credit Cards or PayPal. Of recent, I paid for a hosting company from my web hosting abroad (www.tmdhosting.com) using my credit card issued by a Nigerian Bank, Intercontinental Bank Plc. Last 3 weeks, I paid for a 1-year Domain name registration with Yahoo! for $10 with my Intercontinental Bank MasterCard. Two months ago, I made payment for some software scripts worth about $600 with my Intercontinental Bank issued MasterCard without hassles. Also payment involving several thousands of dollars can be made without much risk such as involved with credit cards. Even when the company is online, payment can be made via secure Bank Telex Transfer (i.e. Bank Wire Transfer) because the amount involved was huge. From the scenarios above, one can see that one payment option may not fit all situations. The nature of your business activities plays a major role in determining what Payment Option your customer will consider suitable. So the first question to ask is; How do my customers want to pay? While there are several payment options such as:

PAPER CHEQUE - A paper cheque is written and mailed to you. Not the most convenient or timely option.

WIRE TRANSFER (Bank Telex Transfer) - Most suitable for huge amount of money. eg. local bank to a foreign correspondent bank.

CREDIT CARDS - Most suitable for any amount of money. eg. MasterCard, VisaCard, GraphCard

E-PAYMENTS - Highly convenient for small amount of money. eg. E-Gold, e-Bullion payments Statistics have it that 90% of all online sales get settled through credit cards. So if the customers want to pay with their credit cards, you must put in place a facility for accepting credit card. It is a fact that for you to do business with consumers in the developed countries, your online business must be able to accept credit cards as a form of payment. To accept Credit Card payments, you will need to obtain either a personal merchant account or use the service of a third party processor.

WHAT IS A MERCHANT ACCOUNT?

This is a special account provided by a bank or financial institution that enables an entrepreneur accept customer Credit Cards and other electronic payments via an e-commerce website. Simply put, it is a special kind of bank account. The process of getting a merchant account can be simple or rigorous depending on the kind of business activity the entrepreneur is carrying out online.

Third Party Credit Card Processors

If your business is small and your monthly turnover is less than five thousand, you may not need to bother about getting a personal merchant account. You can actually start collecting payment online by using the service of a third party Credit Card Processor. When the business turnover grows, you can then obtain your own merchant account. Let look at examples of affordable Third

Party Credit Card Processors you can use.

Types of Credit Cards

1. MasterCard

2. VisaCard

3. American Express

4. GraphCard etc.

Amongst all the above-listed, MasterCard is the most popular and easily obtainable. More Banks in Nigeria issue MasterCard through MasterCard International of USA. It is possible to obtain MasterCard in Nigeria without owning N1 MILLION as some people think. In fact one can obtain a MasterCard Account in Intercontinental Bank Plc. of Nigeria without either owning a

Domiciliary Account or depositing N1 Million into your account.

HOW TO OBTAIN AND OPERATE MASTERCARD CREDIT CARD IN NIGERIA

I am a living witness of wonders of possessing and owning a credit card. Sometime, early last year I tried so hard to get a credit card through a Nigerian Bank but my effort was met with a brick wall when I first approached Zenith Bank in Wuse Zone 4 Abuja. I was told by a Customer Service attendant that what I needed to open and operate a MasterCard were the following:

1. Minimum deposit balance of N250,000

2. I have to open and operate a Domiciliary Account for at least 6 months and so on. I was flabbergasted. That's mean, even if I have N1 Million I cannot operate a MasterCard account with Zenith Bank. I approached UBA, I succeeded to open a MasterCard Account after I first opened a Current account followed by a Domiciliary (Dollar) account. I left $100 as minimum balance in my Dollar account apart from bearing the cost of the MasterCard issued to me which was $45 plus cost of Cheque booklet for my Domiciliary account. I opened this account to trade Forex but UBA does not allow payment to and from Forex brokerage firms, so I went to Intercontinental Bank at Wuse Zone 4 to open another Domiciliary Account and accompanying MasterCard Account, this time around leaving a minimum balance of $15 plus $45 cost of MasterCard and that settled it. Two weeks after, I collected my MasterCard and started operating both my domiciliary account and MasterCard account. From my personal experience, Intercontinental Bank's Domiciliary and MasterCard accounts are the easiest to open, obtain and operate. The following requirements are expected of you to open a Domiciliary account at Intercontinental Bank plc:

1. An International passport, driver's license or National ID Card plus your company ID Card

2. 2 Referees from Intercontinental Bank or any other Nigerian Bank who have operated a Current account (Not salary) for at least, a period of six (6) months. It is easier and faster to verify Referees if they come from Intercontinental Bank. It normally takes 2 minutes to do that compared to about 2 to 3 weeks from other Referees from other Banks.

3. About 4 passport photographs.

4. Any Utility Bill such as PHCN Electricity Bill

5. Fifteen Dollars ($15) minimum balance for a SAVINGS DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT or $100 for a CURRENT DOMICIARY ACCOUNT. The choice is yours but I recommend operating the former.

6. Also if you need a MasterCard, you have deposit extra $45 for the cost of the MasterCard period.

NOTE: It is possible to obtain and operate a MasterCard account at Intercontinental Bank without first of all opening a Domiciliary or Dollar Account. Some Forex Brokers accept credit cards like MasterCard for transferring money to your Forex account and sending you your Forex earnings back to Nigeria.

HOW TO TRANSFER MONEY FROM MASTERCARD TO FOREX BROKERAGE ACCOUNT AND RECEIVE YOUR EARNINGS IN MASTERCARD HERE IN NIGERIA

1. It is cheaper to use MasterCard to fund your Forex account rather than using Bank Wire Transfer method. The former costs around $68 to transfer a fund of about $1000 from your Domiciliary account in Nigeria to your Forex account or customer abroad. Conversely, it costs around $10 to transfer or receive money through your MasterCard account. Unfortunately, not all Forex brokers accept funding of Forex account using MasterCard yet. One of them that accepts MasterCard is CMS Forex, www.cmsfx.com. Try their website for details.

2. To transfer fund via your MasterCard, you fund your Domiciliary account OR fund your MasterCard account directly, ask your Banker to transfer the money (in dollars) to your recipient abroad. You have to give the Bank the necessary transfer details: the recipient's MasterCard or credit card Name, Number etc via filling a form and the job is done.

3. To receive money from abroad via your MasterCard, the sender or your Forex broker will transfer the money into your MasterCard's account. You have to give the necessary details of your MasterCard to the sender to be able to successfully transfer the fund into your MasterCard Account. Such details include the name in the MasterCard, the MasterCard's Account Number, the CCV code. Once the money is in your MasterCard account, you can retrieve it by going to any Intercontinental Bank ATM or Zenith Bank ATM nationwide, insert the MasterCard and type CREDIT, type the amount in dollars and the equivalent amount in Naira using the current exchange rate of $118 to a dollar will be paid to you instantly.

NOTE: ZENITH BANK ATM accepts and issue payments from and to any other Bank's credit card nationwide. SECURITY FEATURES OF MASTERCARD. Please click here to download and view this .pdf for details. If you have any confusion about obtaining MasterCard from Intercontinental Bank Plc, please call me on +2348096304304 for clarifications.

PayPal

This is the most famous of them all. PayPal is a simple and affordable payment solution for new online entrepreneurs. It safes you the high cost and stress often associated with getting a merchant account. Also, PayPal offers different solutions to Online Entrepreneurs. We will take a look at three of them.

PayPal Website Payments Standard: Your customers are afforded the option of payment with

Credit Cards or Paypal. The transaction is processed on PayPal secure server.

PayPal Website Payments Pro: Almost the same with above, but the customer does not leave your website at any time. It is quite similar to having your own merchant account.

PayPal Email Payments: This is the most common one. You simply open an account with PayPal and request your customers to pay you using your PayPal account details. This is sufficient for small online businesses who receives payments that are less than a thousand dollars per transaction. However, it is advisable and financially wise to upgrade to either of the two options mentioned earlier as soon as possible. Advantages of using PayPal: PayPal is about the most popular payment options available online today. It is easy to open an account and the processing of transactions is quite fast. Also, a great number of consumers from the developed nations use PayPal.

Disadvantages of using PayPal: PayPal is not available to entrepreneurs residing in some countries, for example Nigerian Entrepreneurs residing in Nigeria are not allowed to open a

PayPal account from Nigeria. Beside this, many former users of PayPal claim that your account can get frozen for a number of reasons and you stand to lose whatever amount of money you have in the account. This can be scary for an entrepreneur. Before choosing PayPal it is advisable that you read reviews on websites such as http://www.paypalsucks.com

NOTE: Despite Nigeria being banned from opening PayPal from Nigeria, many Nigerians have found many ways to open and verify PayPal account while still resident in Nigeria. To open a Merchant PayPal account, one will need the following:

1. A Bank account in one of the countries that are allowed to participate,

2. A Mailing or residential address in one of the countries that are allowed to participate,

3. A valid Phone number in one of the countries that are allowed to participate,

4. A credit card to be used to verify the account after it is opened.

To beat being disallowed to open PayPal from Nigeria, many Nigeria entrepreneurs have discovered ways to procuring the four requirements mentioned above. To open Bank Account required for a PayPal Account, please see Opening and Operating a US Bank Account as a Nonresident, also see Obtaining a US, UK residential or Mailing Address, see also How to Obtain a valid US, UK Phone number

GRAPHCARD

Introduction: Are you frustrated by the fact that you cannot shop online because you do not have a credit card? Do you have credit card but don’t want to use it online? Are you losing sales on your website because of “dead traffic” composed of subscribers who do not have access to credit or debit cards to make payments with? Do you receive orders from foreign countries but too scared to honor them for fear of chargebacks? Do you have an online business, but are wondering if you are truly doing business with all the countries of the world? Well, now you have a way out of your problem with a new online payment method called Graphcard.

What is Graphcard?

Graphcard is an online payment system that enables anyone anywhere in the world to pay online without having a credit card.

How does Graphcard work?

Graphcard brings together 3 players: customers who want to shop online, resellers who enable customers to keep their accounts liquid by selling virtual prepaid cards from Graphcard and merchants from whom the customers buy to get started, each player has to open a Graphcard account from Graphcard’s homepage. For customers opening a personal account and distributors opening a reseller account, registration is completely free. There is a onetime activation fee of $45 for merchant accounts. This fee is due when the merchant starts accepting payments online through Graphcard. Account-holders communicate with one another primarily via email. For personal account holders and resellers, the next step after opening an account is to add funds to it. While resellers have a special arrangement with Graphcard that enables them load their accounts by wire transfer from their banks, personal account holders have various options; the leading one is to purchase a virtual prepaid card from a reseller. Alternatively, they can load using personal checks, electronic transfers from checking accounts, Western Union money transfers and money orders. Once the account is active and funded, the shopping process begins. Customers identify the merchant from whom they want to purchase an item, and log on to their Graphcard account to send money via email to the merchant. If the merchant is registered with Graphcard, the funds are deposited into their account immediately. The buyer is not charged any fees for sending money this way. If the merchant is not registered but accepts checks or money orders, Graphcard makes payment using either option. When payment is effected, Graphcard notifies both the merchant and the customer of the payment via email. An online reporting tool also enables both parties to check the status of their transactions. Graphcard has a cool feature that allows members to convert their Graphcard funds into an online debit card. This is accomplished by simply purchasing a virtual card using the funds from one’s Graphcard account. Graphcard then allows the account holder to view card details such as the card number, expiry date and CVV2 code via their secure 128 bit SSL encrypted website. The virtual card does not have personal information such as names and enables Graphcard account holders to shop online as they would with a traditional credit card but with the added benefit of anonymity.

So why should I choose Graphcard?

As an Internet user without a credit card or debit card, you will definitely want to sign on with Graphcard. Merchants looking for an additional revenue source should consider registering too. Graphcard has opened up a whole new world of possibilities as it enables those without credit cards to shop from online sites such as Ebay.com Amazon.com, Yahoo.com, Google.com, looking for romance.com and a wide variety of other merchants. The service is hassle free and straight forward: the only requirement is enough funds in one’s account to cover planned purchases. For customers who possess a credit card but are concerned about the privacy of their financial information as well as protection from credit card fraud, Graphcard offers peace of mind. According to the Federal Trade Commission, credit card numbers and expiry dates are the two most sensitive pieces of financial information one can ever disclose to others. By using Graphcard, customers are guaranteed that fraudsters have no way of getting to that information. For merchants, Graphcard is a dream come true as it gives them access to additional sources of revenue without having to worry about chargebacks. Recent studies show that at least one third of the estimated 750 million Internet users worldwide do not have credit cards to buy goods online with. This is due to the inability of their countries to accept credit cards. When a merchant begins to accept Graphcard, these underserved millions become viable customers immediately. Since Graphcard is a prepaid service, merchants are protected from the threat of chargeback and fraudulent purchases. Customers make their payment at the time of purchase and all transactions take place on a secure web site.

What about privacy?

Graphcard is the sole owner of all information that customers supply during the process of registration and when using the Graphcard website. While data such as names and shipping addresses may be shared with merchants from whom the customer makes purchases, bank accounts and credit card details are not divulged to third parties.

How does Graphcard make its money?

Since registration and online shopping is free for customers, the obvious question is how does Graphcard make its money? Graphcard’s main source of revenue is fees and commissions. For example, on conversion of an account to an online debit card, activation fees starting from $3.95 are charged. Monthly debit card statements cost $0.99 and another $0.99 is charged as a monthly service fee. Merchants pay a onetime $45 to activate their account while Graphcard’s per sale commissions ranges from 2.99 to 5.4% of the total sale plus $0.44 per transaction.

So what is the downside?

The key challenge to this payment solution is signing up enough merchants who will accept Graphcard. As Graphcard account-holders are now able to convert their funds to an online debit card and make direct payment to merchants instantly, this problem seems to have been solved. Overall, buyers may still experience some minor glitches when paying on some web sites that are not set up to accept prepaid debit cards, but these are common problems and should not be a major issue.

IN CONCLUSION

As the boundaries of the digital economy expand daily, Graphcard will likely be one of the key players bringing in customers in currently underserved countries into the world of e-business. As its recognition grows, it may just become the premier method of online payments for those without credit cards in over 260 countries.

AlertPay

AlertPay is an online payment service similar to PayPal. It provides individuals and businesses the ability to send and receive payments online without exposing their personal or financial information. The service is being provided by a Canadian privately owned and managed company founded in 2004. It is a rapidly growing leader in online payments. AlertPay offers several options: AlertPay Personal Accounts

Personal Pro Account: If you want to sell something online and you need to get paid in a hurry the Personal Pro Account is the way to go. It gives you the flexibility to send and receive payments and do business using your name. You can open a free account in less than 5minutes by clicking here.

Personal Starter Account: If you are skeptical or not sure of where to start, use this option. The

Personal Starter account is the ideal account to shop online safely without exposing your financial or personal information. It affords you the opportunity to get cash from your friends and family or send payments online for FREE.

Advantages of opening an AlertPay Personal Account:

1. No cost to send or receive payments

2. Accept numerous payments options.

3. Access to AlertPay Business Tools

4. Free for shoppers

5. Shop online without exposing your financial details.

6. Highly Secure.

AlertPay Business Account

If you own a business and you operate it using a unique business name different from your personal name, then an AlertPay Business account will be a good choice. It is tailored to meet all the needs of your online business. You will have access to numerous online business tools that will help your business grow online.

Advantages of opening an AlertPay Business Account:

• Conduct business under your company name

• Low transaction fees per transaction

• Accept Credit Card payments

• Sub accounts: Manage multiple online businesses with one account

•Website Payments: Buy Now Buttons, Subscriptions and Recurring Payments

• Business Tools: Integrate AlertPay into 3rd party applications

• Mass Pay: Send out payments to groups of people

Naturally, I love AlertPay because they allow online entrepreneurs from all over the world to open an account, Nigerians inclusive.

NOTE: AlertPay has a referral program that will fetch you commissions in dollars if you bring or refer a customer to them There are other third party payment processors like 2Checkout.com, moneybooker.com, ikobo.com etc.

STORM PAY

StormPay just like Paypal and AlertPay allows you to make and receive payments online using credit cards. It allows you to send or receive Money via E-mail. A good alternate to PayPal with many benefits. To open an account with StormPay, visit www.stormpay.com

WESTERN UNION

When you want to send cash, payments or a telegram, we make it happen fast. Let us help you online, by phone or at any of our 170,000+Western Union® Agent locations worldwide.

MONEY GRAM

Send money around the world quickly and simply. Pay important bills fast. Get peace-of-mind online with MoneyGram®. Currently available to all US residents outside of the state of California and in most international countries including Nigeria. Many Nigerian Banks are agents of Money Gram International. They include Union Bank, FirstBank, UBA.