Capitalizing on Micro Processing and Subscription Billing

Over the last decade, the proliferation of technology through all fields has changed the face of news and publishing in drastic ways. The two most concrete examples of this are the increasing popularity of self-publishing and major news outlets moving to online subscriptions over print.

With these major changes in production and consumption in the literary world, the need for alternative payments has become more and more important. This is especially true in the areas of recurring billing and micro-processing. With experience in both of these types of payments for almost 15 years, AlternativePayments is able to help you maximize your profit by offering alternative payment solutions.

Recurring Billing for Subscription Services

With more and more news outlets moving to an online subscription model, the need for a processor familiar with this area is more important than ever. Whether your company is a large scale news organization trying to crossover from print to online, or you are a smaller local paper or blog, AlternativePayments can get you started quickly and easily with subscription billing. Since 1999 they have been providing fully scalable, and customizable, recurring billing services. With an extensive background in alternative payment methods popular around the world, AlternativePayments is uniquely setup to help, especially for companies with large readerships from outside the US.

Micro Processing for Self Publishers

With the explosion of self publishing as an effect of products like the Kindle and iPad, micro processing has experienced similar growth. With cheap eBooks running from 99 cents to a couple dollars, and pay as you read becoming a more popular method of online consumption, the need for micro processing is ever growing. With AlternativePayments, you can easily setup customizable micro payments for single products, setting access rules individually. AlternativePayments also has the ability to setup prepaid, pay as you go reading, where readers prepay as little as $5 and their credits are deducted as they read. They also provide an easy way for customers to convert to a subscription based service and allow publishers to set custom article pricing.

There is no sign that the trends in micro processing and online subscriptions will end anytime soon for the publishing industry. Talk to AlternativePayments today to see how easily you can get setup with alternative payment solutions to maximize your company’s profit.
Email us at sales@alternativepayments.com

Keeping Up With the Times

The trend of how things are done online constantly changes and over the course of 15 years of working online, viewing how advertising is distributed and witnessing the amazing progression of how funds are transferred has substantially expanded leaving many that don’t stay current with new technologies in the dust.

First and foremost, you don’t want to be one of those statistics that eventually fade out or have your creation purchased by a whale for pennies on the dollar after all the hard work and effort you put into it.

In order to stay in the game you need to actively educate yourself which in this day and age is at your fingertips every time you sit in front of your computer. While many don’t openly acknowledge this, everything you could need for education no matter what the topic is can be found on Google or your preferred search engine.

It is advised to make a list of relevant search terms also known as keyword phrases so that you can do your own research and educate yourself with all the new trends that appeal to your market share.

By doing such searches you will find forums, blogs and other educational sites and resources that you will likely bookmark and frequent regularly while having that first cup of coffee before plugging away at your websites development.

If you are impatient you can always hire someone who is capable of keeping you informed but the reality of this is if your time is only worth a certain amount per hour it is likely that hired help can cost more than what you make. In which case you then need to "suck it up" and take the responsibility upon yourself to keep your mind fresh on all things new and innovative.

Another aspect is keeping a close watch on your competitors. While they often don’t display their secrets on their front pages, you can research their terms or service and legal pages and other features that are offered to ensure that your legal section is current. And for those who are sneaky, view their source code if available and take notes as to what software they are using, what keywords they have in their meta tags and other such minor details which while often is inconclusive can have an equal amount of impact on your websites rankings and stability if you don’t stay in suit.

The reality of it all is that there are many tools out there available for you to stay informed; all you have to do is search for it!

And when you get to that point of needing Alternative Payment Solutions, you know where to turn!
AlternativePayments.com 

The Difference Between Credit Cards and Charge Cards

To many a “charge card” and “credit card” are the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably, however there are distinct differences in these types of cards that clearly set them apart. These unique features can determine customer availability as well as impact credit scores. What is a charge card? A charge card is a payment card that requires the balance of purchases to be paid off in full each and every month. There is generally not a preset limit on charge cards, instead spending habits, payment history, credit record and financial resources determine for how much a purchaser will be approved. These factors are continually monitored to adjust spending limit. This means that charge card customers will not incur over-limit fees and do not need to apply for larger limits as with credit cards. Since all balances are to be paid off in full each month, there are no interest rates or minimums associated with charge cards. Payments are also usually required within 40 to 50 days from the close of billing cycles as opposed to 25 to 30 days with most credit cards. If full payment is not made on a charge card, there are penalties and late fees that are incurred. Just as with credit cards, there is an annual fee that is determined by the type of card you have. For example the annual fees for AMEX vary widely depending on spending habits and your spending limits. Annual fees include membership in rewards programs and additional perks. How do I know if I qualify? Since charge cards do not have preset spending limits and require to be paid off in full, the qualification requirements are generally higher than credit cards. If you have less than stellar credit, you may still qualify for a low limit credit card, or can even get a secured card where you deposit money to cover your limit. To qualify for a charge card, one must usually have a strong credit background. Affecting credit score Credit cards and charge cards can also widely vary in the way they impact your credit score. Since charge cards do not allow the user to carry over a balance, they are a way to build credit history without the risk of racking up expensive debt. The other area that charge cards vary greatly from credit cards in terms of credit is in credit utilization. Credit utilization is a highly weighted factor in credit scores that is based off a user’s credit balance versus available credit. Since charge cards do not carry a set limit and cannot carry a revolving balance, they are excluded from credit utilization in credit score factoring. What does this mean for merchants? While credit cards are king in the US, charge cards are a growing alternative that are becoming more widely accepted every year. Opting not to allow charge cards as a payment method, among other alternative payment methods, could cause you to lose business to other merchants based on your customers’ preferred payment methods. To add charge cards and other alternative payment methods to your checkout with ease, check out AlternativePayments list of options for the US and foreign markets.Or drop us an email at sales@alternativepayments.com