Nochex
Nochex is a United Kingdom based, online payment provider that allows a website to accept online payments and the transfer of money between people over the Internet.
Account types
The person to person service is restricted to users within the UK, however the Nochex Merchant Account allows international customers to buy goods from account holders. Nochex is free to move money between a users bank account and nochex account and vice versa (but there is a charge of 25p for withdrawing less than £50). Nochex's primary uses are for payments on websites or online auctions. Where a Nochex registered customer buys from a Nochex registered seller, the transactions are protected from chargebacks.1
In addition to the "Personal Account," Nochex has two main types of 'all in one' accounts that allow for online payments to be transacted on a website. These accounts do not require the account holder to procure a bank's merchant account or payment gateway (such as Protx or Securetrading.)
The "Seller Account" will not allow payments of over £100 and insists that all payments are made from UK credit or debit cards only. For seller accounts, there is a one-off initial set-up cost in the form of a charge to the holder's credit/debit card of up to £1.99.
The Merchant Accountallows for much larger payments and includes greater functionality, including International transactions, a fully customisable payment page, multiple merchant IDs and partial refunds. Support is offered via a dedicated account manager, reachable by telephone. These accounts also require the holder to maintain a deposit in the account at all times, to cover for the risk of any chargebacks that may occur. After the account is closed, this will be returned in full, providing no chargebacks have occurred since the account was closed.
Nochex-integrated shopping carts and software
Nochex is integrated into over 50 shopping carts and programmes, including some of the most popular systems such as OScommerce, EROL, Zencart, Cubecart and many more. A comprehensive list can be found on Nochex's Knowledgebase
Nochex and auctions
Nochex is a widely-used method of paying in online auctions. Nochex is stated as being an acceptable method of payment on eBay, although unlike Paypal is not integrated into the system.
On 7 July 2006 eBay announced that Nochex would no longer be allowed for payments on their site. eBay have a potential conflict of interest, in that they own their preferred PayPal payment system. On 13 July 2006 eBay claimed the decision to be a mistake and reinstated Nochex as an acceptable form of payment. In addition, Nochex is integrated into CQout - a smaller online auction system - as well as Ebid and QXL.
Penalties
Nochex charges for non-use: when an account becomes "dormant" it is liable to be suspended, with a charge for non-use of £5 per quarter. The company does not warn users when their account is likely to drop into this category, although they do not pursue charges "owed" if there is no balance to cover payment.