Merchant account options for Ruby On Rails ecommerce site

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+1 Q:

Merchant account options for Ruby On Rails ecommerce site

Hi, I am looking for a payment processing solution for my Rails e-commerce site, here are my requirements.

Simple Rails integration, e.g through activemerchant plugin.
Operates in the UK.
Payments can be taken on my site (not redirected to third party)
Preferably no/low monthly cost, and therefore higher transaction percentage for when site first goes live.

Thanks

+1 A:

http://activemerchant.rubyforge.org/ lists the available UK gateways (covering your points 1 & 2)

Point 3 is why I'm posting though. It's likely that hosting the payment page yourself will mean you're going to need to be PCI-DSS compliant, which will be worth looking into if you aren't already aware of it. In short - you may want to reconsider!

Point 4 I can't personally help with. You'd need to query the providers individually to weigh up costs/benefits.

PaulG 2010-07-27 15:30:50

I don't think you have to be PCI-DSS compliant, to use the likes of paypal, google checkout etc.

pingu 2010-07-27 17:08:58

If your taking the details on your site (no redirect) you MUST be PCI compliant. There are thresholds for each level required , the lowest being a self certification (if i remember correctly) then later requiring more indepth investigations from third parties. I recommend Chargify , works in the UK, has an API AND can work on there site to save you hassle.

David Lyod 2010-07-27 17:59:23

Actually, if you carefully read the PCI compliance requirements they state that everyone accepting payments needs to be PCI-compliant, even if they completely outsource all payment processing and never see a credit card number. You would be considered PCI level 4, self-assessment type 1 (you need to fill out a simple questionnaire, SAQ A). PayPal's site has some (potentially outdated) information implying that you don't need to do anything to use Website Payments Standard -- it's wrong. Don't make assumptions about PCI folks -- read for yourself and do it right.

MikeJ 2010-10-15 15:36:41

+1 A:

The no/low cost requirement is going to be tricky. Keep in mind, with billing transactions, you absolutely get what you pay for.

I'd recommend that you look at Braintree (http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com/), which has a developer API (http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com/gateway/api) and a port of Active Merchant specified to their use (http://github.com/braintreeps/active_merchant).

I'm not sure if they operate in the UK, but they'd be worth investigating.

charliepark 2010-08-17 14:58:22

ansaurus

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Merchant account options for Ruby On Rails ecommerce site

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