If you want to accept credit cards on your web site then you have a few different options available to you. One such option is using Google Checkout. Google Checkout is a relatively new service which is making it easy to accept payments online. This review will look at why you might want to use it as well as looking at the advantages and disadvantages of using the system to accept online payments.

The Need for Online Payments

If you do business on the Internet then it's essential for you to accept credit and debit card payments. Customers will not want to post a cheque to you because this simply isn't convenient. The only thing that is convenient on the Internet is plastic. If you don't want a gateway or merchant account then a service like Google Checkout could be perfect. This is easy to apply to and you also don't need to worry about the security of your customers payment details.

If your site accepts Google checkout then your customers can pay you without telling you any credit card numbers. All of these details are entered into Google which makes it very secure. This means that it works in virtually the same way as PayPal or other third party processors.

Advantages

If you use Google Checkout then you will discover that there are many reasons and advantages for using it. The main advantage is that it's extremely easy to set up. It's also very easy to integrate since your site doesn't actually handle the payment gateways. There are no monthly or setup fees which is very good. The only fees that you will be charged are the transaction fees. The transaction fees are a percentage of your turnover and they will be higher than a traditional merchant account however they are ideal for low volume companies.

Another major advantage is that it integrates very nicely with AdSense. If you are a customer of Google AdSense then it's very easy to connect the Google Checkout to the Adsense Account. This means that the money you earn through AdSense can be used to pay for your payment fees. You can also fund Google advertising campaigns by using any money in your Google Checkout account. This is a great way to minimize the cost of your payment processing and you could well essentially end up getting free payment processing.

Another great reason for using Google Checkout is that you will have a small little badge which appears next to your site in Google Ads and Google results. This instantly makes your site much more trusted. This might also encourage more people to click on your site and visit it because people appreciate different methods of payment.

Fee Schedule:

  • Turnover of under $3,000 per month = 2.9% per transaction + $0.30
  • Turnover of between $3,000 to $9,999.99 per month = 2.5% per transaction + $0.30
  • Turnover of between $10,000 and $99,999.99 per month = 2.2% per transaction + $0.30
  • Turnover of more than $100,000 per month = 1.9% per transaction + $0.30


The prices are fairly competitive and can be lower than some other payment gateways. However you will not normally be able to benefit from all of the advanced features you would get with other merchant accounts.

Disadvantages

There are of course plenty of disadvantages of using Google Checkout and you will need to decide whether or not you want to put up with these. Google Checkout can only be used with credit and debit cards which means that users will not be able to pay with their paypal balance. Google Checkout is becoming very popular but it's still no where near as common as Google Checkout. You will also find it slightly more difficult to transfer money to your bank account from your Google Checkout balance.

If your business can't justify the initial and ongoing expense of a traditional merchant account then Google Checkout will be ideal. The advantage of being able to put the Google brand on your website instantly makes it much more credible.

Before you decide which option you want to use to accept payments you will need to consider what your business actually needs. There are dozens of different options that you can choose from, many of these will work better for different types of businesses.