Authority hikes online transaction charges

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Online transaction coompany Authority has hiked its charges to online merchants, ending its cut-throat pricing strategy against ricals seeking to offer secure trading and payment collection.

The company, which to date has charged only one per cent of toal sales value for handling online transactions, plus a 75 annual fee, has increased tis transaction fee to three per cent, plus a 375 fee.

Its revised charges, which bring it closer into line with the percentage fees charged by rivals such as NetBanx, Secure Trading and WorldPay, come into force on December 1 for existing customers.

According to one online merchant, most online businesses have typically paid up to five per cent of sales to organisations processing payments.

Online transaction bureaux charge between one and four per cent on top of the two per cent standard fee levied by transaction partners such as Barclays Merchant Services, Streamline and CardNet, which handle the bulk of “traditional” credit and debit card payments for high street retailers.

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