The Payments Bureau provide an all-in-one solution for processing online payments. PayPal is the most well known Payments Bureau, other popular payment Bureaus include Nochex and WorldPay. They will collect and process the card details for a merchant who does not have an Internet Merchant Account (also knowns as a Merchant Service Agreement) with an acquiring bank. Typically, a Payments Bureau will accept most types of businesses. Their criteria are usually that the business has a business bank account and an address that confirms the identity of the business. This simplified application process makes the services of a Payments Bureau attractive to small businesses who are starting out with online payments. As you can expect there must be a downside to the Payments Bureau option.

The main disadvantage is the amount of time the Payments Bureau holds on to the funds after a payment has been processed. This time is known as the settlement period. In the early days of a business's relationship with a Payments Bureau the settlement period could be between 30 - 60 days reducing over time to around 14 days. These figures are only a guideline, you should contact your Payments Bureau to find out what their settlement period is. Payments Bureaus use the long settlement period as a method of reducing their risk of accepting any type of business. Most frauds and refunds occur within the first 30 days after a transaction has taken place. By holding onto the money for this length of time the Payments Bureau are reducing their level of risk. By comparison the settlement period with a PSP and acquiring bank is typically between 1 and 3 days. This can be very important for a small business as it will greatly improve your cash flow.

If you are interested in Payment Bureaus who provide services to Irish Merchants then you can find a list of Payment Bureaus in our provider comparison section.

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