Sarah Wickham wrote:

>We want to look into the possibility of offering other means of making
>payments, but I'm having trouble finding out about other possibilities,
>particularly those available for overseas users.

Sarah

You may want to look at PayPal - a web-based secure service that allows
individuals and businesses to accept payments and send money from/to anyone
with an email address.  PayPal is free for individuals and charges a small
percentage fee for handling payments on behalf of "businesses" (for which
read any corporate body) but it saves you having to get a credit card
merchants account yourself, for which the fees are much much higher.

PayPal can be found at
 
http://www.paypal.com

which gives details and demos of how the service works, fees etc.  PayPal
was only available to users in the USA until last week, which is why you
may not have heard of it.  What follows is the text of the email press
release with which they announced that it has gone international:

 START==============================================
Now International!   
   
A businessman in Rio de Janeiro needs to send money to his family in Seoul.
No problem. A web surfer in Venice, Italy, wants to buy an item from an
auction seller in Venice, California. Thanks to PayPal, it's as easy as
email. 

People from 26 countries around the world can now send and receive money
online with PayPal. PayPal is already the #1 online payments service in the
US -- over 4 million users have signed up since we launched our service one
year ago. And now users from all over the globe will be able to take
advantage of the world's fastest, easiest, and safest way to move money. 

It's simple to sign up for an international PayPal account. Just complete a
brief registration form, confirm your email address, and add a credit or
debit card to fund your payments. Registration is completely free, and all
transactions are conducted in US dollars. PayPal is faster than mailing a
cashier's check, and much cheaper than sending an expensive money wire. 

Also, all PayPal users in the US have automatically had their accounts
upgraded to be 100% compatible with international users. 

Residents in the following countries are now eligible for PayPal accounts: 

  
 * Australia 
* Austria 
* Belgium 
* Brazil 
* Canada 
* Denmark 
* France 
* Germany 
  
 * Hong Kong  
* Ireland 
* Israel  
* Italy  
* Japan  
* Mexico  
* Netherlands  
* New Zealand  
   
 * Norway  
* Portugal  
* Singapore  
* South Africa  
* South Korea 
* Spain  
* Sweden  
* Switzerland  
* United Kingdom 
   


Whether you're online with a personal computer or on the go with a
Web-enabled cell phone, PayPal gives you the power to send payments to just
about anyone in the world. PayPal is already accepted for purchases on over
2.5 million auctions on eBay™ and on hundreds of sites all over the
Internet. And with our advanced security technology keeping your money
safe, PayPal isn't just the easiest way to send money arou nd the globe,
it's also the most secure. 

PayPal is available for both international consumers and businesses -- just
register for the type of account that's right for you. 

To complete the simple international registration process, just fill out
our short registration form that includes your name, address, and email. A
confirmation link will be sent to your email address; by clicking on the
link and confirming your password at the PayPal website, you will enable
others to send money to you at this email address. 

Finally, you'll be asked to register either a credit card or debit card to
fund your payments. PayPal will then send two credits to your card (at our
expense) that are labeled with unique PayPal merchant number identifiers;
when you call your card company to learn the number identifiers of these
debits and enter them on our website, it proves to us that you are the
card's owner and we will allow you to start making payments using your card. 

If you have any questions about PayPal's new international service or
registration process, please be sure to visit our online International Help
Center for more information. 

Thank you for your interest in PayPal's international service, the fastest,
easiest, and safest way to send money in the world! 

End====================


==================================================
Richard Taylor
Curator, Archive Collections
National Railway Museum
Leeman Road
YORK YO26 4XJ
ENGLAND

Tel 	+44 (0)1904 686 289
Fax 	+44 (0)1904 611 112
Email	[log in to unmask]
Website	http://www.nrm.org.uk

This e-mail and attachments are intended for the named
 addressee only and are confidential.  If you have received this e-mail in
 error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your
 computer system and destroy any copies.  Any views expressed in this
 message are those of the individual sender and may not reflect the views of
 the National Museum of Science & Industry
===================================================




%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%