As you may know, it is already possible for you to invoice members automatically for their regular membership fees directly through your HarmonySite. In the very near future, we will be adding some new types of transactions that you will be able to perform via your website:
- You will be able to sell merchandise
- You will be able to sell tickets to shows and other events
- You will be able to accept donations
In readiness for this, your HarmonySite now has the capability to accept credit card payments directly from the site.
This new payment system is fully integrated, fully secure, and does not redirect your visitors/members to PayPal (or anywhere else) to complete their payments. They remain on your site for the entire payment process.
This new system is NOT enabled by default. It needs to be set up by you. You will need to create an account with one of our chosen payment gateways (a payment gateway is a provider that connects your website with your bank account for the purpose of accepting credit card payments) and then connect your website with that payment gateway account. Naturally, we will help you with this.
At present, we have integrated two payment gateways into our system. If you wish to accept credit card payments via your website, you need to choose one:
- Stripe
- eWAY (Australia only)
You can see a full comparison between these two payment gateways, including their prices, here…
www.harmonysite.com/guides/gateways.html
We recommend Stripe, at least as your first option. It offers the following advantages:
- Set-up is free
- Set-up only takes a few minutes
- Your website does NOT require an SSL certificate or dedicated IP address ($126 + GST annual cost)
- The set-up process is fully integrated into your HarmonySite, so when you’ve answered a few questions on the Stripe website, you’ll be ready to go!
- There are no monthly fees, so if no transactions are being made via your website, it’s not costing you anything
The only disadvantage is that you pay slightly higher transaction costs.
If you start doing so much volume that the transaction fees are becoming onerous, then you can switch to a different payment gateway.
To get started:
- With Stripe: Log into your HarmonySite. On the Members page, click the new “Connect to Stripe Payment Gateway” link in the Administration box. Click the “Connect with Stripe” button. Fill in the missing details and click the “Authorize access to this account” button at the bottom. You will be instantly able to take payments via credit card on your website!
- With eWAY: Contact eWAY directly: eway.com.au/contact-us/general-enquiries They will guide you through the process. If you don’t already have a merchant account with your bank, they will help you set one up. Eventually (after several days or weeks) they will give you your new account details. At that point, contact us and give us your new eWAY client ID, and we will integrate this into your HarmonySite. At that point we will need to set you up with an SSL certificate and dedicated IP address ($126 + GST) per year, and receive your $200 + GST one-time set-up fee.
