E-commerce has revolutionised global trade. Market size projections from technology research company Forrester (http://www.forrester.com/) indicate that more than $133bn of sales were made on-line during 2002. What's more, by 2006 annual sales will increase to more than $560bn. Here we highlight three of better known examples of on-line merchant facility providers:

PayPal World Pay Fastpay Generally speaking, it costs nothing to set up an on-line merchant account with all three and actual operation is fairly simple. Charges are made against transactions and are not excessive although they do vary - this is how providers earn their money. It's worth doing a quick comparison between providers before choosing one. PayPal PayPal is owned by eBay and recently launched its UK site. At same time PayPal have either reduced eliminated withdrawal fees for its UK members. Withdrawals of under £50 to a UK bank will cost 50% less or £0.25 and fees will be eliminated completely for withdrawal amounts of £50 and above. Founded in 1998, PayPal enables any individual or business with an email address to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online. PayPal's service builds on existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards and utilizes world's most advanced proprietary fraud prevention systems to create a safe, global, real-time payment solution. PayPal has more than 31 million account members and is available to users in 38 countries around world. World Pay An important part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, 5th biggest banking group in world, World Pay payment solutions are trusted by thousands of businesses, big and small. Customers accept payments over internet, by phone, fax and email. They accept Visa, MasterCard, Diners, American Express, JCB and all major credit cards. Not forgetting debit cards and local payment schemes like Switch, Laser, Electron and more. Bank transfers, instalments, standing-order and direct-debit style payments. Even mobile payments! All in customer's currency and language - wherever they are in world. FastPay FastPay is a relative newcomer to market but comes with backing of one of UK's leading High Street Banks National Westminster Bank. FastPay is a quick, easy and secure way to send and receive money by email or mobile phone. Sign up is free, and you can start using FastPay immediately.

To take a look at what’s on offer cut and paste following links into your browser. PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/uk/mrb/pal=NX9AXM2JALHP2 WorldPay: https://secure..worldpay.com/app/splash.pl?Pid=71739 FastPay: http://www.fastpay.co.uk

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