There are a number of rumours around the web that Amazon are looking into offering a payment processing system similar to Paypal or Google Checkout.

A source from Digital Transactions has said there is a 70% chance of it going ahead, however there has been no official announcement by Amazon.

If Amazon do dip their toes into the payment processing waters, they’ll be a welcome change.

The Google Checkout launch quickly became a system of little worldwide interest when it became clear they were only accepting merchants from the US. UK residents now have access, but that still leaves the far majority of the world unable to use their system.

If Amazon does launch their own payment system it is hoped that they’ll be offering worldwide access and a flexible system.

Amazon is a very well establish company, and a trusted name. They have the ability to create a serious impact in the online payment processing world.

AlertPay has announced that you can now fund your AlertPay account directly from your US based bank account.

This new feature will make life much easier for US customers. The rest of the world is now crossing their fingers and hoping their country will be the next offered for direct bank account funding.

In other news, AlertPay is celebrating their two year anniversary and marking the event by giving away cash to their members.

AlertPay is a payment processor similar in design to the Paypal system, however are not so strict with their rules. It’s a very clean and easy to use system. You can find out more here: AlertPay webpage

 

The biggest strength Clickbank have had over the majority of the 3rd party payment processors out there is their built in affiliate program.

It looks as if there will be a new contender in the affiliate program stakes: 2Checkout.

2Checkout are currently discussing and planning adding an affiliate program to their system, and they’re inviting you to have your say:

http://www.2checkout.com/community/?p=354

This is ground-floor stuff, so any requests you make have a better chance of being added into the system.

Yesterday information was made very public about E-Gold’s Indictment for money laundering and illegal money transfers. Today E-Gold have issued a statement.

The US Department of Justice claims that E-Gold are involved in criminal activities as their system is anonymous and untraceable. E-Gold have responded saying that their system isn’t untraceable, and they have security in place.

While the US Department of Justice has some heavy claims against E-Gold, E-Gold’s own statements, and transcripts of previous court battles with the US Government certainly give balance to the argument.

While speculation will grow and continue to run riot, it will be interesting to see what facts are brought forward from both sides. As the term “justice” would have us believe, both sides should be heard with a non-prejudicial ear.

The US Department Of Justice:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/April/07_crm_301.html

E-Gold’s Response:
http://www.e-gold.com/letter3.html

We’ll continue to follow this story closely.

ClickBank has rolled out it’s latest changes to it’s administration system. The changes circle around usability rather than a torrent of huge new changes.

There is now Step by Step instructions on setting up your Clickbank products on the administration pages. You can now add 500 products to Clickbank, and when you add/edit a product you can now set it to “demo mode”. Demo mode basically changes the price of your product to $0. You can no longer set your product price to $0 for testing - instead you just tick the demo box.

Set up options have been split over a couple of pages, giving the impression of streamlined account setup.

The changes, while not huge, are a very nice addition to the Clickbank administration.

The full list of the changes are as follows:

- Admin Interface
    Intuitive navigation
- Account Setup
    Step-by-step account setup
    Informative hover text
    Status notifications
- Product Management Tools
    500 products per account
    Item number assignment
    Test mode
 
Let us know what you think: http://www.guardhq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9

 

Following not too far after Clickbank’s facelift, Paypal has also undergone a facelift of it’s own.

The biggest standout feature of Paypal’s new layout are the bright orange buttons, designed to lower customer confusion of “what to do next”. The pages have been cleaned up a lot, and sections separated more predominantly. The colours have been changed from what was becoming a bland looking navy blue to a much more lively and professional looking shading.

With the more professional colours and design, coupled with the clearer and less cluttered layout, the new payment processing screens from Paypal are an excellent update, and could very possible lead to increased sales.

The following screen is the first screen seen when purchasing a Paypal product:

This next screen is show after logging in to Paypal, asking to customer to confirm their payment:

 
 

Have Your Say:
What are your thoughts on the new layouts?
Have your say here: http://www.guardhq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8

 

 

Clickbank is a force to be reckoned with in the world of Internet payment processing. Like any giant, however, it also has it’s Achilles’ heel.

Companies like Visa and Mastercard see card-not-present transactions, such as Internet payment processing as high risk, and for good reasons. This means the credit card companies themselves have a big say over how companies such as Clickbank run their business.

To help squash potential issues, Clickbank have adopted an easy-refund policy. While this can be frustrating for vendors when people simply take advantage of Clickbank’s policy, some would argue that it is a necessary stance for Clickbank to guarantee it’s future existence.

Will this flexibility lead to it’s ultimate business destruction, however?

While a non-questions asked refund policy, and a never-contested chargeback policy has been adopted by Clickbank, what affect is this having on Clickbank’s staff? The people who process these requests each and every day? Refund errors are starting to creep into the system, possibly because of what can seem like a “refund production line” process.

Clickbank have been making some changes to their system recently to help ensure the ongoing success of the popular payment processor. The question remains, will Clickbank be also reassessing their Achilles’ heel in the near future?

ClickBank seem to have stepped up their testing, and are testing a new screenshot today.

The product details have been removed from a small description underneath the credit card details to a larger box near the top of the page, reminicent of a Paypal payment screen.

ClickBank are now testing another change in their order form.

This raises the question, when split testing single changes, will all the positive changes simple be added to the new order form when testing is complete? And if so, will changes that singularly increase conversion rates still perform when combined with other positive changes?

Any answer to this would be mere speculation, but something interesting to consider when split testing your own site.

The latest screen shot is show below:
 

Clickbank are testing a new order form layout today.

This one uses the origial order form layout but with the addition of an order process bar. This bar shows the user how far along the order process they are, and what to expect next.

See the screenshot below: