In Pakistan, consumers have an overall lack of trust in online shopping mainly due the risk of fraud. To counter this lack of trust, e-commerce stores have introduced Cash on Delivery option so that the consumer only pays for the product at the time of receiving the product which is mainly due to the consumer’s fear of the product being not authentic or not perfect in condition and working. However CoD has its own risks as the customer is not handed the product for assessment until and unless the delivery personnel has being paid in cash.

Aimed at building trust and confidence, the consumer will be able to pay in advance for all their online purchases. Buyer protection withholds payment from the seller until and unless the customer has received the product and has checked it and intimated their satisfaction with it. In case the customer has any issue, for example the product not being the same as advertised or is damaged, they can raise a dispute with Easypay. After which the customer will be given the option to get a refund or a replacement of the said product.

How it works?
The buyer simply has to fill a dispute form (dispatched with the shipment) along with a detailed description of the issue being faced along with supporting evidence (photo/video) within 7 days of receiving the package. This initiates the first phase of dispute resolution whereby the merchant and customer are given an opportunity to resolve the issue amongst themselves within the next 7 days. If the dispute remains unresolved, the next phase of resolution is initiated wherein the Easypay dispute resolution committee shall assess the dispute details and supporting evidence and give a final decision in either party’s favor.

Shedding light on this major development, Yahya Khan, Chief Financial Services Officer, Telenor Pakistan said, “Through Easypay Buyer Protection, we have engineered a solution that would boost Pakistani buyers’ confidence in online shopping, giving them the right to spend their hard-earned money only when they are satisfied with their purchase. This is the very first time that a Buyer Protection service has been introduced for online shoppers where consumers will get their money back if they are dissatisfied with their purchase, and we are proud that Easypay has pioneered it.  We really hope that Easypay Buyer Protection helps overcome trust and results in the growth of the local e-commerce sector.”

Taking advantage of this new service offering, a number of online shopping sites have already signed up for Easypay Buyer Protection some of which are Homeshopping.pk, Well.pk & Techcity.pk. For more details about the terms and conditions of Easypay Buyer Protection, follow the link below:
https://www.easypaisa.com.pk/easypay-buyer-protection

Khurram Zahid

The post Shop Online With Confidence Using Easypay Buyer Protection! appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

E-commerce industry is in early stages in Pakistan however one important piece that has been missing for a long while to support the growth and ecosystem is enabling consumers to make purchase online using credit/debit card. Though international payment gateway were used by certain eCommerce websites to provide this facility however the procedure and cost of setting up and ongoing recurring fees was not only high but passed on to the consumers which made online shopping an expensive proposition. This delay in bringing localized e-payments offering by financial institutions forced online businesses to look for alternate options such as cash on delivery, which in the beginning was a logistical challenge but this soon gave birth to various specialized startups that offers outsourced cash pick up and delivery service at a reasonable fees. This soon became a norm for both e-commerce stores and consumers and now adopted by upcoming online businesses.

Realizing the need, UBL in 2013 launched a local payment gateway service in collaboration with Etisalat which was the only option for quite sometime but not a very lucrative one.

Only recently other financial institutions including HBL, MCB and EasyPaisa (Telenor & Tameer bank intiative) has also launched payment gateway offering competitive rates and better options.

The technology behind these 4 providers vary as most of them use international payment schemes, MCB utilizes the hosted services offered by MasterCard’s MIGs to allow ‘card not present’ transaction. HBL, the largest bank in Pakistan, has partnered with VISA using their hosted payment application Cybersource while EasyPaisa has launched EasyPay, a local payment gateway application developed by Systems limited. Lastly, UBL used Etisalat proprietary solution to offer ecommerce based transaction. Before we get into the pricing structure, we have explained the meaning of different terms used by banks and what it means to you.

Merchant Account: Merchant here refers to the business that wishes to accept payment online. A business account must be opened in the same bank they wish to use the payment gateway. Every bank requires different set of documents to open a business account of your company however at minimum, you will be required to produce NTN, AOP and CNIC of owners.

Merchant Discount Rate (MDR): This is a percentage charged by the bank (payment gateway provider) to merchant on each transaction. For example, if you have signed up with a bank that offers 1% MDR and a customer makes a payment of Rs. 1000 on your website, Rs. 10 will be dedcuted by bank and Rs. 990 will be deposited in your merchant account.

Settlement Period: It is a time from the moment when a transaction is authorized by the payment gateway provider to the time when money shows up in your business(merchant) bank account. The reason for the delay is because banks want to decrease the number of chargebacks and fraudulent transactions. By holding on to the money for a few days, or in some cases weeks, they are ensuring that all is in order before the seller is paid.

Now that you understand the jargons and well versed with them, now look at the pricing structure of each Payment Gateway.

[table id=2 /]

Except Easypay, FED (16.5%) will be charged additional on top of the above fees . Chart prepared by Smartchoice.pk

Integration

An API is provided by payment gateway provider which needs to be integrated into your ecommerce website, this can be easily done by a web developer.

Below table will further help you understand the strengthens and weakness of each payment gateway

Bank	Points to consider
	Benefits Quick to setup Multiple payment options Quick settlement FED charges included in pricing
	Benefits Proven and renowned payment gateway Monitor and Protects from fraudulent transaction Low MDR Used by Aga Khan, DHA, Nadra Disadvantage Longer settlement period Ecommerce store must be in business for 2 years Longer account opening procedure
	Benefits Proven and renowned payment gateway Monitor and Protects from fraudulent transaction Disadvantage Higher MDR Yet to be used by known ecommerce store
	Benefits No transaction fee Shorter settlement period Disadvantage Higher MDR Longer account opening proces

Verdict

When it comes to technology HBL and MCB uses robust application and you can be assured that you are in safe hands, no ecommerce store wants to be victim to fraudsters.

For early stage startups or purely e-commerce companies, Easypay is a great option since it utilizes local payment system, no upfront payment and has rapid settlement period. It is easy to implement as well, making it ideal for e-commerce and small scale businesses.

For larger corporations, HBL seems to be the best choice. The MDR is lower as well as the annual fee, and has a respectable corporation like Agha Khan as its client.

For payment gateway providers, it is going to be a long way to generate real volume and share a substantial percentage of online transactions as it requires a behavioural change to migrate customers from cash on delivery mechanism to pay online. Online businesses also need to play their part to encourage customers by not passing on the MDR to customer and offering other lucrative offers.

If you are you using any of these platforms to accept payment online, tell us about your experience in comments section below.

Khurram Zahid

The post Choosing the best payment gateway in Pakistan appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

What is EasyPay?

EasyPay is an end-to-end payment solution that provides a comprehensive platform for digital payments. It uses EasyPaisa account through Telenor sim for direct payments, completely free, and can also be used through 65,000 EasyPaisa agents across Pakistan. It is also integrated with MasterCard and VISA, allowing you to use your credit card to buy products and make payments.

How does it work?

EasyPay uses USSD technology for secure payments, just like EasyPaisa, and is a holistic payment ecosystem. To address online payments, EasyPay provides three options to customers:

1) EasyPaisa Account: If you have an EasyPaisa account, you can go to online store (with EasyPay option) and do your shopping. At the end of your shopping click the button “Checkout with EasyPay” and on the next screen select the option “Pay via EasyPaisa Mobile Account”. On the next screen enter your mobile number and email address (on which your EasyPaisa account is registered) and you will receive a notification on your mobile phone for online payment. Confirm the payment and enter your security pin, and  your transaction will be successful.

2) EasyPaisa Shop: Once you complete your online shopping, click “Checkout with EasyPay” and on the next screen select “Pay at EasyPay Shop”. On the next screen fill out your mobile number and email address, a token number will be generated against your order which you will receive on both email and mobile. Go to the nearest EasyPaisa shop and the agent will process the payment using that token number.

3) Credit Card: Once you complete your online shopping, click “Checkout with EasyPay” and on the next screen select “Pay via Visa/MasterCard”. On the next screen fill out the details of your credit card. As soon as the payment is verified, you will receive confirmation on your mobile phone.

The following video about Credit Card payment will shed more light on the payment process:

EasyPay video by f576890875

How will it benefit the end consumer?

EasyPay brings convenience of buying from your home, without worrying about payment hassles or Cash-on-Delivery challenges. It uses your mobile phone for payment confirmation, the credit card process is secure through Visa and MasterCard stringent security checks and it opens doors for further innovation in the mobile payments industry.

Most customers buying online rely on Cash-on-Delivery. The main advantage is convenience, checking of product before purchase and less chances of fraud (such as credit card). This method became the primary choice for customers because of lack of payment options and lack of trust on sellers (online merchants/websites) to use credit cards.

This trend has saw tremendous change with the emergence and growth of portals such as Homeshopping, Tohfay and Online Bazaar. Buyers are now even willing to use credit cards to buy products from these websites. This change can be further pushed into payment methods where Cash-on-Delivery can be slowly replaced with digital payments.

The overall EasyPay advantages are:

• Cash-on-Delivery, via courier services, is available in 250 cities. EasyPay is available in 850 cities
• Seller can pass on the Cash-on-Delivery expense as discount to the customer, lowering the price of the product
• 65,000 EasyPaisa agents across the country that can process EasyPay payments
• Can be used for retail payments
• Instant settlement in case of payment via EasyPaisa account
• Instant payment reversal for EasyPaisa account based on return policy
• Overnight settlement for EasyPaisa shop payment and 3 days settlement for credit card payment
• EasyPaisa already engaged in P2G and G2P payments, such as traffic fine payment in KPK, Zakat disbursement in Punjab and funds disbursement to female school students in Sindh. EasyPay can take it to next level such as micro treasury bills and e-prize bonds (currently under discussion with government)

Only online payments?

EasyPay is also into retail payments. The pilot testing is going on in Islamabad where various merchants have been provided with relevant training and material. Using an NFC tag (that will identify your EasyPaisa account) you can make payment at the merchant’s shop.

The following video demonstrates the process:

EasyPay use at retail using NFC Tag by f576890875

Benefits to the merchants/sellers?

• EasyPaisa actively promoting its partners
• No joining fee
• No hidden costs
• Simple website integration process to show EasyPay option
• About 15 days process to activate merchant account at Tameer Microfinance Bank and EasyPaisa merchant account
• 1%, 2% and 3% per transaction fee from EasyPaisa, EasyPaisa Shop and Credit Card payments respectively
• Merchant/retailer of any size can join, even a “Pan Shop”
• No minimum transaction volume
• Comprehensive reporting and analytic tools for merchants with store-wise breakdown and details high volume transactions
• Instant settlement, overnight settlement and 3 days settlement in case of payments via EasyPaisa account, EasyPaisa shop and credit card respectively. No longer locking of capital for 15 to 30 days under current settlement mechanisms with courier services
• Plugins/extensions for easy integration with WordPress, OpenCart and Magento
• Templates for web stores available for those with no web portal
• 750,000 transactions each day, 15 million every month
• 1 million EasyPaisa accounts being activated every month
• Based on number of accounts, EasyPaisa is the third largest bank of Pakistan
• Basic EasyPaisa account has 50,000 limit, Over-the-counter/EasyPaisa shop and Credit Card have no such limits (except those they inherently have, such as credit card limit cap by the bank)

Future Possibilities?

Digital payments can leap frog with a stable and mature payment ecosystem. Pakistan already is far ahead in mobile payments even from developed countries and it can further enhance economic growth. From domestic remittance, inter-bank funds transfer and mobile-to-mobile payments that are already in use, EasyPay can open doors to e-commerce boom, increase in the use of digital payments, reduce cash circulation in the economy (helping in controlling inflation), bring unused cash into digital payments, improve inventory turnover rate, reduce locking down of capital due to long settlement periods, reduce costs of products and services, trigger innovative online services for general as well as niche markets and make payments even more convenient as the ecosystem matures with time.

Khurram Zahid

The post EasyPay – The New Payment Ecosystem appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.