Worldpay Merchant Account Application Process & Fees w/ Marie Bosch

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Thanks everyone for tuning in, I’m so excited this week, I’ve been meeting so many amazing listeners from this podcast – I think its due to Canton Fair – a lot of business people coming over this time of the year. For those of you not aware, the Canton Fair is one of the biggest sourcing fairs in China – happening 2 times per year in the spring time (april/ may) which is where we are now, and then again in the fall. There is also the Hong Kong fair by Global Sources so its double the action.

These fairs were what first brought me to china in fall of 2007 – I had been buying from factories for a while, and I do still feel if you’re waiting for a chance to visit China and are dealing with factories – these fairs are the right time to make the trip. You can meet all your factories and China business connections in 1 insanely busy trip!

Another note from meeting up with listeners, you don’t know I have a blog! I’ve had a blog since I first came to China in 2007 – and even a bit before that, its a mix of my business experience as well as my personal life – and I have a new domain recently too so its easy to remember – check it out at MikesBlog.com and get some inside looks of my chaotic life.

So now for this week’s episode – we have Marie Bosch, who I am advising and consulting for her online business, New York Bar Store – I’m so happy she has taken on the project and I’m working alongside her get it setup.

She has chosen WorldPay as her payment processor, and I know we mentioned Marshall Taplits in episode 6 using Worldpay but didn’t get into the details – so today is all about how Marie is applying, the application fees, and getting setup.

This has been a hot question for many listeners, as I know dealing with offshore merchant accounts is still a struggle for many. Marie gave me some of her materials mentioned on the show notes, check it out at the bottom of the page on GlobalFromAsia.com/episode31 – now let’s jump in.

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Topics Covered in this Episode

• Intro Marie Bosch
• Why did you choose Worldpay as your merchant processor in Hong Kong?
• Application process
• Fees breakdown
• Setup fee / application fee
• Monthly fees
• Yearly fee
• Variable costs
• Transaction fees for master card and visa
• American express customer transaction
• Telephone and mail order option
• Total setup fee
• What verification information you have to send
• Followup questions
• How quickly is the money deposited to your bank
• If money is held longer, how long is it normally held
• Fraud, on both consumer and business side – and why merchant accounts see high risk
• Common questions during the offshore merchant account application, refund policy
• How long it takes to open your Worldpay account from starting the application
• Contacting Marie

People / Companies / Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Worldpay Merchant account website
• Marie’s e-commerce business – New York Bar Store and asia.newyorkbarstore.com
• Email Marie at info @ newyorkbarstore.com
• Chargify.com/
• Brent – Shenzhenparty.com
• Marshall talking about Worldpay in episode 6
• Mike’s personal blog and new domain name Mikesblog. Com

Episode Length: 19:37

Thanks Marie, I am so happy Marie and others are wiling to come on the show and share so openly about her application process and fees. And don’t forget everyone – we have a lot of show notes on the website – GlobalFromAsia.com/episode31. It is just exciting to connect with more and more global entrepreneurs, and as we put our minds together – let’s crack the puzzle of dealing with merchant accounts.

In a StartupsHK group chat I was listening to some mention Chargify – I’m going to look into that deeper soon.

Once again, thanks everyone for your amazing emails, and meeting up in person – It has truly inspired me to keep these podcast episodes going. Brent from ShenzhenParty – thanks for your kind email and I hope we can get you on the show. Thanks Victor for the Chile Baijiu that is really awesome – my Chinese father in law and I have been drinking it with our dumplings at dinner. And I’m still working on a logistics episode- its really just overwhelming

Til next week everyone!

Below is the Application Process She Went Through

Hey Mike,

This is what I have been going through with the Worldpay application. Right now, I had to wait two weeks so I can give them bank statement. My HSBC said they cannot give me bank statement as my company bank account is less than two weeks old. They need one month so my bank statement will appear.

Fees:

Set-up Fee: HK$2200
Annual Fee: HK$3800
Transaction Service Charges for Visa/Master Credit and Debit Cards – published rate is 3.95% per transaction
Transaction Service Charge for AMEX (American Express) – 3.99% per transaction (on request)
Mail & telephone order MOTO (To accept payments by phone, fax and mail) – HK$568 one off setup fee
Fraud Screening: HK$0.69 per transaction
After payment, you will go through a risk assessment by worldpay risk team. You will be contacted to provide further information about the products and services sold on the website. Additionally, you will need to ensure that your website already clearly displays the goods and services.
A WorldPay Installation ID will be created given with log in links, username and password.

From Risk Assessment team, they asked me these questions:
We would be grateful if you could provide the following information:

1. Could you provide a detailed description of your business model?
2. Please provide full details of the products and/or services you wish to take payments for via WorldPay.
3. What is the average time from placing an order to delivery:
4. Do you own the products at point of sale?
5. If yes, please answer the following questions relating to the delivery of these products:- How long is delivery expected to take?- Are the products dispatched to your customer directly from you or a third party?

   If you are using a third party:

   – Do you have an agreement in place to cover any products which are either not delivered within the timescales specified or delivered in an unsatisfactory condition?
   – Who takes full responsibility for refund of goods? Your company New York Bar Store Asia Co., Limited or supplier?

6. Where do you store the goods prior sale? Please provide the address:
7. Can you please provide the anticipated monthly turnover via WorldPay for the next twelve months split on a month by month basis? Please include the currency of your figure.
8. Please confirm the percentage breakdown of your total monthly turnover via WorldPay based on the fulfillment time i.e.EXAMPLE
   – 75% of the sale will be from products delivered within 10 days of payment
   – 25% of the sale will be from products delivered within 30 days of payment, etc

After answering these questions, another questions were asked:

1. Can you please confirm who is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the transaction?
2. Can you please confirm who will be handling customer queries?
3. Who is responsible for refund and chargeback handling?
4. Who is responsible for dealing with Customers throughout the transaction? Will you deal with cardholders at all points of interactions?
5. What company name will appear on the cardholder statement?
6. Who will the cardholders think they are dealing with? With yourself or with the manufacturer/ hotel/ activity/ transportation?
7. How many suppliers to you use? Can you please provide details of your suppliers

After Risk Assessment team, you will be forwarded to Customer Due Diligence team, they will ask you these requirements:

1. Please provide pages 1 to page 6 for NC1 documents. Therefore, in order to proceed further we require the following documents:
2. A ***Certified copy of valid passport / National ID for Director
3. And a *** Certified copy / ORIGINAL of ANY ONE of the following for home address for Director- A utility bill (dated within 3 months and mobile phone bill is NOT acceptable)
   – Local authority tax bill (dated within 12 months)
   – Bank statement (dated within 3 months and online bank statement is NOT acceptable)
   – Credit Card statement (dated within 3 months and online bank statement is NOT acceptable)Please note that information you do not wish us to see can be blacked out, but we will need to be able to read your full name, home address and the date on which the document was issued. We cannot accept documents which are only addressed to the family name i.e. Mr & Mrs.

   ***PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: These must be certified (stamped and signed) by either Notary officer, Bank staff, Justice of Peace, Local Town hall, Local Court, Police Station, Local Embassy, Lawyers/Attorney or an independent Accountant.

   Certification must include the following:

   – Certified stamp states ‘CERTIFIED TRUE COPY’

   – Name of the organization who certified the documents
   – Name of the certifier and their signature
   – Date of certification.
   – Membership number and name of the professional organization the accountant or solicitor is registered with. Example: ACCA or FCCA
   Your account must be activated within 3 months from the date of which the utility bill or bank statement was issued. The identification documents must also be valid at the time of activation. If it becomes necessary, we will ask for more up to date documentation.

4. Recent Business Bank Statement – Copy/Original Bank statement within the last 3 monthsThe bank statement must clearly show the following:Company/partnership/sole trader name & address

   – Bank/bank address
   – Sort code
   – Bank Code
   – Branch Code
   – Account Number
   – IBAN
   – Swift Code

   Please note that the bank account must be in the same name as the legal entity we are contracting with.

5. Please send the original certified documents above to the address below including your administration Code given by officer from Worldpay.

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