I have recently been looking at the payment processing options for two projects which will be based in New Zealand.

In both cases, the client will be organising a merchant account with a bank, so it is a matter of connecting those up with an online payment processing service. Here are the ones I have been actively considering:

SecurePayTech

SecurePayTech seems a relatively well established service. I created a Silverstripe payment module for it last year without any issues and has a decent API which allows for integration via SOAP or HTTPS post. SecurePayTech is also a wholly owned subsidiary of Digiweb. I guess that means they are a bit more established then…

www.securepaytech.com

Pricing:

Set-up fee: $30.00 + GST

Black Marks:

• No multi-currency processing (NZD only)

PayStation

PayStation seems like a decent option. Their website has plenty of detailed information on their service and what is needed to get set up etc. Their pricing is quite competitive and is kind to businesses with low transaction volumes but with a very competitive per transaction cost. Good code examples and documentation also.

www.paystation.co.nz

Pricing:

Set-up fee: $200.00 + GST

Black Marks:

• Haven’t had fantastic responses to my queries with them, concerned just how well established they are

Payment Express (DPS)

The DPS service from Payments Express seems to be the most well known Kiwi payments processing solution and is in use on a lot of high profile websites. There is plenty of supporting documentation, test accounts are available etc. As it is the most established, there are also lots of existing payments modules for shopping carts etc.

www.paymentexpress.com

Pricing:

Set-up fee: see table

Black Marks:

• A lot more expensive than the others at lower volumes
• Higest setup fees

Honourable Mentions

Paymex

Paymex is a slightly different animal in it as a payment processing service and combined Merchant account.

www.paymex.co.nz

Pricing:

Set-up fee: free

Black Marks:

• No multi-currency processing (NZD only)
• Per transaction and monthly transaction limits
• Charges appear on customer statements as “Paymex Ltd” – could cause confusion
• Hosted integration method only

I’m delighted that I have my first SilverStripe website under my belt that I developed from start to finish. I find it quite frustrating these days that I only get to do bits and pieces of websites, add modules, modify code etc – seems I only ever get asked to the hard bits! The same holds true for SilverStripe: I have been working with it for several months now, developed modules, modified sites and other odd jobs, but never a complete site.

But at least all the bugs in Cashtrack.co.nz are all 100% mine! I worked with the very talented ladies of Decisive Flow on this project: they provided the fantastic design of the site, and I tried not to ruin it too much as I combined it with the Silverstripe development

Cashtrack is a pretty simple website (hence my ability to do it on my own!?), it lets New Zealanders enter the serial number of their note and little about where they picked it up etc. As the database grows, I think it will become a really interesting site that can might go in directions we haven’t thought about before.

I’m already thinking about some of the reports we could run: Where in New Zealand do people have the most $100 notes? What dollar amount has the site tracked so far, etc. 

We stuck with the philosophy of keep it simple at the start and adapt the site as required over time. I think it is the best policy for a site like this as it lets the site direction be guided by how users interact with it.

So best of luck to Rupert with the site. I certainly enjoyed doing the web development with SilverStripe and the development framework, Sapphire.

Almost finished my next big SilverStripe project too!

My good friend Patrick Davey’s New Zealand “trip” has lasted what 3/4 years now Patrick? It was 2004 when I was over there to visit you anyway.

When he isn’t trying to kill himself by climbing mountains, snowboarding or living in a house with no central heating (come on New Zealand, it’s not that warm over there), Patrick engages in the black art of computer wizardry.

He recently decided to combine two of his abilities in co-operation with some mates, to create SnowPool.org.nz. As they put it, “Car sharing to the hills”.

The idea is simple, most of the ski resorts are a good bit outside of Christchurch, their local stomping ground, and the same is true for most of the other ski fields around New Zealand, so why not hitch a ride or have someone use up the spare seat in the back.

They save gas money and of course less cars = less co2 = saving the planet.

I’m particularly fond of their “so low fi it’s hi-fi” cutting edge graphics. The logo speaks for itself:

The site is basc at this stage, but an RSS feed was added today so it is a work in progress. It’s always best to start simple and build as you need to.

I particularly, like the cookie captcha system for keeping evil robot computers at bay (the ones without eyes at least).