PayPal Website Payments Pro

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Payments Pro Overview

Aimed at the larger merchant, Payments Pro is PayPal's attempt to streamline and upgrade its payment interface, bringing them into line with other merchant providers such as WorldPay and Authorize Net.

Smaller merchants and those outside the US should consider PayPal Standard which is better suited to those with a lower turnover, as well as offering a easier setup.

Payments Pro consists of three separate elements.

Express Checkout
This is a simplified way for existing customers to order goods quickly and easily. After clicking on a shopping cart buy now button they are taken to the PayPal site to confirm the payment method and then back to the merchants site to finalise the transaction.

Direct Payment
Like a conventional merchant account, transactions are processed entirely on the owners site, giving the store a more professional look. At no time in the ordering process is the customer redirected to PayPal. This option is designed to run in conjunction with Express Checkout.

Virtual Terminal
This let merchant take orders by fax and telephone. The customer's credit or debit card numbers is entered into a browser based interface by the owner of the store  for processing. The store owner does not require either a shopping cart or website.

Currently this is a US only system.  Merchants in other countries should use the PayPal website payments standard shopping cart, also available from this site.

Other Details

Transaction fees only apply when an order is received. There is no long term contract, unlike some merchant accounts which require an annual sign up period. You can also use Payments Pro together with other payment methods, giving more choice to the customer.

A once only application is required, which typically takes two days to approve. Using the virtual terminal part of the package you can begin trading straight away, even without setting up a shopping cart.

Requirements

When used with out shopping cart, the merchant requires a secure server capable of running CGI scripts with OpenSSL installed.