Swipe HQ Checkout – now even easier to accept credit cards

When we last compared credit card payment processors I reviewed Paymex, Paymate, Flo2Cash, ANZ eGate, PayPal, ClickBank, 2Checkout.com and WorldPay. Since then, the main players are still around and they continue to carry their relatively high transaction charges for merchants. However just last month we saw a new player enter the market for New Zealander’s wanting to accept credit card payments on websites – they’re definitely worth checking out.

Optimizer HQ, who began as a web design agency in 2003, and later moved into the software space launched their Swipe HQ Checkout this year. They’ve quickly become one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing internet software companies and their rates standout as the most attractive in my comparison.

Just on charges alone, SwipeHQ wins hands down. Swipe HQ Checkout offers a transaction charge for most merchants of just 2.75% – there are no other charges and they offer a 3-day automatic settlement of funds into your NZ bank account. Another “nicety” is their 0.65% transaction charge for charities and non-profit organisations. PayPal also offer a discounted rate for charities, but it’s over 2% higher
at 2.9% plus a 45 cent transaction fee.

Another thing I like about SwipeHQ is that their dashboard integrates a customer relationship management solution – their merchant console is packed with reports & charts and you have the ability to upload your company logo, change background colours, and provide your own refunds, returns and customer service policies. A simple interface allows you to customize the payment pages your customers will use to make payments. The merchant console also allows you to produce encrypted “Buy Now” buttons that you can cut and paste onto your website or embed within HTML emails sent using popular email marketing tools.

Those website owners who email invoices to customers will love the ability to upload any invoice generated by your own accounting system in PDF format, specify some details and have Swipe HQ securely deliver the invoice to your customer giving them “one click’ ability to pay you using their credit card. You can even see within the merchant console if the invoice has been viewed and if the payment link has been clicked!

When I started writing this post, a negative I saw was the lack of integration and support for e-commerce shopping carts – however I was soon proven wrong. SwipeHQ has churned out a number of plugins and as of writing supports the following shopping carts: Open Cart, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Virtuemart, WP E-Commerce, Jigoshop, Magento E-Commerce and EcWid.  Their team assures me that they will continue to pump out new plugins, extensions, add-on modules and components so if they don’t yet support the shopping cart you are using – ask them!

You can learn more about Swipe HQ Checkout on our website.
Transaction Charge

• While we have taken every care to ensure this information is accurate
  at the time of writing, you should obtain a proposal specific to the needs of
  your business before signing up.