Overview
If you run an online search on 'PayPal' there are countless articles that come up about both the benefits and shortcomings of the third party payment processor. Unfortunately, many of these articles are often one sided and inaccurate because they are either commissioned by Ebay (PayPal's owning company) or written by a rival company looking to discredit PayPal. Our goal with this article on the other hand is to be as up front and honest as possible with our comparison of Trinity to Paypal. We always stress to our merchants that they make the most informed and knowledgeable decision about what company they choose for their credit card processing. In some cases they might even use both.
Trinity vs. PayPal - Features
Trinity is a 3-in-1 gateway developed by PayJunction that can link to any merchant account currently in the United States. The first aspect of Trinity is its real time gateway (for e commerce, API integration, etc) that offers the Quickshop shopping cart (similar to PayPal's Standard option), the Quicklink options for direct integration with third party shopping carts and its API for integration into customized websites and applications. The second aspect is the virtual terminal which supports both swiped and keyed transactions and the third aspect is the mobile processing capability either via the Cell Charge system or Easy Swipe. These are the three essential aspects of Trinity and are available to all users. There are a ton of other features that make the Trinity system a best of breed product as well...
PayPal has a rather unique business model in that they offer merchant processing without being a bank. In effect, they use their one master merchant account for all of their customers. The merchants' moneys actually route to a master holding account and then are divvied out according to how the merchant chooses (check, direct deposit or credit card). This has worked out pretty well for PayPal (even though they have had their occasional run ins with lawsuits and consumer advocacy group critiques) as they process millions of accounts world wide. Many merchants like going with PayPal because it is a known entity that their friends are already using and because it doesn't require as much documantation as a standard merchant account setup typically does.
PayPal's services really depend upon the pricing plan the merchant chooses. Unlike PayJunction, PayPal breaks this up into a number of different options as discussed in the next round. One major service that served as the foundation for PayPal was its money transfer option. This allows parties to transfer cash funds between PayPal accounts...something PayJunction can't do. They also have a donation button that is fairly rudimentary but often popular for non profits.
PayPal does not offer any type of mobile processing solution as of now.
Pricing
As with any service, it is important to be fully aware of the types of packages the company sells and why the pricing is different for each. Trinity Merchant Solutions makes this super simple for the customer by bundling everything into one, all in one package that includes a merchant account plus all of its future updates, plugins, customer support, etc. No aspect of the service is broken up into different pricing or upgrade options. Thus, every single customer of Trinity Merchant Solutions is working with the same product and service.
Because PayJunction uses resellers like us to sell Trinity (who have a standard breakdown for their cost), it is up to the reseller to charge the merchant as they see fit; thus why there aren't fees listed on the corporate website. With this type of setup, it really comes down to the merchant/reseller relationship. This can be very beneficial to the merchant as the reseller has the flexibility to tailor the fees according to the type/size of the merchant's business, especially if they are comparing to PayPal. Many resellers will do what they can to beat PayPal's pricing. This, however can put off some merchants who prefer to simply sign up online and forego the merchant/reseller interaction.
With PayPal there are a number of different packages that merchants can sign up for depending on what they need. This can be a little confusing for the average person so we will break them down here:
- Website Payments Standard: This is the most basic option that allows for merchants to use PayPal's buttons to take transactions through PayPal's website. The customer is transferred to PayPal's website to complete the payment. Works with all major credit cards. No up front cost or annual fee at the rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents. Very simple and basic all around.
- Website Payments Pro: This is a more advanced version of the previous option that allows for the merchant to process through their 3rd party shopping cart or customized solution. There is a monthly fee of $30 at the same rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents
- PayPal Virtual Terminal: This is exactly what it states it is, PayPal's virtual terminal or credit card machine online. Once again, no up front cost at $30 a month and at a little higher rate of 3.1% and 30 cents a transaction.
- *Payflow Link: This is PayPal's gateway service that allows for merchants to connect to a third party merchant account. This is the cheaper version that, like Website Payments Standard takes the customer to PayPal's website to make the transaction. This includes the virtual terminal. There is a $179 setup fee, $20 monthly and 10 cents transaction fee on top of the merchant account fees.
- *Payflow Pro: Same as Payflow Link except that it integrates with a third party shopping cart or has API for customized integration. Includes the virtual terminal. There is a $250 setup fee, $60 monthly and 10 cents transaction fee.
*With both of these options, PayPal charges for technical support. There are 3 options (this is a bit rediculous) that range from $12 to $495 a month! See here.
In looking at these different options from PayPal it seems to make the most sense to use the first one if you are a small company doing a few transactions a month. This is great for mom and pop type businesses and we often recommend that to them. However, if a merchant wants to be able to take transactions through their website and a virtual terminal they will need both accounts which results in a $60 monthly fee. That equates to $720 a year in monthly fees alone! The other option is to go with a Payflow account but this can be a little costly as well.
Customer Support
Trinity Merchant Solutions and PayJunction include their customer support with the Trinity System at no extra cost. There is 24/7 phone support as well as an online ticket system. Unlike most major providers, PayJunction uses in-house support staff that are readily available at a direct extension. They are friendly and knowledgeable and usually completely familiar with the caller's account.
PayPal offers email support to all of its customers as well as an automated toll free support line for basic inquiries. Like most major companies these days, there is a ton of button pushing needed and long waiting times to get to real person. If using their gateway, any technical support must be payed for as noted above. Because PayPal is such a large company, their support can get a little bogged down and most complaints about the service seem to arise because of poor support.
Overall Customer Satisfaction
Trinity Merchant Solutions and PayJunction have a near perfect record of customer satisfaction that is unparalleled in this industry. Run a Google search and see for yourself. The product stands up to consumer reviews like no other and the service is undeniably top quality. The only negative that we were able to find was: 1) the PayJunction reseller program (Is PayJunction a scam? site) and 2) the old merchant service that used to come bundled with the system. The first issue is immediately resolved if one reads the scam.com website post. The second issue has also been resolved as PayJunction is now its own ISO for First National Bank Of Omaha (how we set up your merchant account). This means that we here at TMS now have direct influence over the merchant account from underwriting to resolving chargeback disputes.
For PayPal, customer satisfaction seems to be in the eye of the beholder. Like any massive company of this size, you will have both view points. Some love it for its simplicity and have never needed to contact support, others who have had issues were frustrated by the lack of direct customer support. PayPal definately did not pass the Google search test either as hundreds of anti-PayPal sites popped up. As we stated in the beginning of this post however, many of these sites are obvious ploys to gain business by other rival companies but others, run by neutral consumer advocacy groups for instance, do make valid points. The biggest issues seem to come from customers dealing with chargebacks and how PayPal deals with them. The lack of direct communication with account managers can be very frustrating as PayPal users are forced to use email to get info on their debited funds. At least with a merchant account the merchant has the ability to argue their case with someone over the phone and issue a counter dispute with the correct supporting documents.
Conclusion
So what did we conclude in our comparison? While being as neutral as possible it was clear that Trinity had the upper hand over PayPal in every category. We can say that for those merchants who deal primarily with Ebay sales, small volumes and donations they will probably be happy with PayPal because of its no hassle, affordable Website Payments Standard option. However, those who process serious volumes, deal with higher risk business models or products, need multiple ways of taking credit cards or run enterprise software are going to run into a lot more issues and fees than PayPal concedes openly on their website and should probably look into getting set up with a merchant account and gateway like the Trinity System.
We hope you found this post informative and useful and as always recommend that merchants do their own research and questioning to find the best service for their credit card processing. Don't hesitate to contact us with any further questions.
