For several years, Paypal seemed to have a near monopoly in online payment methods. The service is easy-to-use, readily available and, in its early years, had only minimal fees.

Recently, Paypal has changed its policies to hit business owners with larger fees, and some users have reported problems with Paypal not accepting their credit cards for payments because they don’t have a Paypal account. Additionally, other users have raised concerns over the quality of Paypal’s security.

While Paypal is still the most-widely used online payment service, other alternatives exist for business owners or individuals who want to shop online or send money to family, friends or business associates. Let’s look at a few of the choices.

Debbie Mahler at Mice Training & Technology recommends U.S. Bank Merchant Services as one alternative. Not only is this a full-scale merchant services company that lets you take credit cards over the phone, through fax or in person, but it also has a Virtual Merchant interface that can integrate with your website’s shopping cart system.
Intuit also offers merchant services with no contracts and a low monthly fee.

Many options for merchant services exist. If you are a small business owner with a decent credit history, it may not pay to mess with sites like Paypal, when you can get all your merchant needs taken care of by one company. You can learn more about how to accept credit cards with your small business here on CreditShout.

Google Checkout is probably second in popularity to Paypal and offers many of the same features for businesses. The fees, if you do less than $3,000 per month in business, are the same as Paypal’s original fees: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction.

Google Checkout is as easy to use as Google’s other features, such as AdWords. It offers multiple options for business owners, including:

• the ability to email invoices
• the Google checkout store gadget, which lets you create an online store using a Google spreadsheet
• pre-integrated shopping carts
• Google checkout shopping carts
• custom shopping carts
• Buy Now buttons for single items

The only negative? There are no options for individuals to send each other money, although you could email a friend an invoice for money owed.

Hailed as one of the fastest and safest ways to pay online or transfer money of the Internet, Moneybookers is a true alternative to Paypal, providing options for businesses and individuals to send and receive money.

Just like Paypal, Moneybookers lets you send money to any person worldwide with an email address. There are no fees for the service.
More than 60,000 merchants, including many eBay merchants, accept payments through Moneybookers, too.
You can pay through Moneybookers using:

• your bank account
• your credit or debit card
• a local Moneybookers payment provider
• existing funds in your Moneybookers account

You can also shop direct through a list of Moneybookers merchants listed on the website. Although I haven’t yet used the service, I signed up for an account, and am seriously considering it as a payment alternative to Paypal for my freelance writing business. Stay tuned for a complete and honest review of Moneybookers online payment service!

People tend to lean toward the familiar, which explains Paypal’s continued popularity. But you don’t have to settle for a service you’ve been unhappy with; shop around for alternatives that fit your unique needs to send and receive money online!