Since online credit-card authorization services are popping up like wildflowers,
companies need distinguishing features which sets them apart from the pack which the well-conceived ComBill platform does by combining 24x7 authorization services with enhanced customer tracking and business reporting.
The platform enables Web-based businesses to conduct secure e-commerce instantly and cost-
effectively. ComBill provides a 24x7 online merchant reporting and monitoring
system with instant notification of new activity and the ability to block or
audit customer activity in real-time. The powerful back end Oracle database
also provides the ability to track customers.
The actual billing capabilities are extensive, with real-time credit-card
processing supported for MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Discover and Japan
Card. In the case of ComBill, real time is real time -- merchants can block or
audit activity in instantly and can be notified of new activity immediately.
In addition, ComBill processes online checks with the same instant
verification. Businesses can also set up a subscription management service that
handles recurring billings of either credit cards or checking accounts.
As with most of the popular services these days, ComBill provides a link to the
ComBill processing service, which can be accessed from a Web page on the
merchant site. A secure Java program (using the Secure Sockets Layer or SSL
for security) acquires the data and sends it to the Oracle back-end
database, which handles the actual billing. Payments from credit-card
companies are paid immediately and sent to a merchant account.
The ComBill system is really geared to smaller businesses that don''t
need any integration with a back-end inventory system and want to use the
ComBill inventory-management capabilities for order fulfillment.
When a customer is released to the ComBill Web site, ComBill
manages the transaction and sends back a purchase order with the ComBill
transaction code via electronic mail. The merchant must enter the
transaction on their system and make sure the shipment is made. (The
purchase order will contain shipping and tax information so that the customer
is properly charged.)
For larger corporations that want to tie in a billing
system with a larger e-commerce initiative, ComBill''s Oracle back-end will
interface with most database-driven fulfillment systems or EDI system.
ComBill data is available in JDBC and ASCII formats and can be set up to
automatically interface with databases supporting these formats. The
entire ComBill system is based on Java, which means that there can be some
extensive customization done between the ComBill system and your system.
For all businesses, the extensive tracking capabilities offered by ComBill
is useful. An administration section on the ComBill secure server provides
all information about ordering activity, including a record of previous orders.
The secure server also contains order status information so that when
ComBill e-mails an order confirmation to a customer, a URL linking to
client-shipping information is also sent to the customer. When a merchant
receives an order, they must enter the shipping information into the ComBill
system and only when a product actually ships are funds released to the
merchant account.
ComBill will work with most popular shopping-cart software. ComBill directly
supports several shopping-cart packages; check with the company for the
specifics.
Partnerships are important in the electronic-commerce world and this is an
area where ComBill is weakest when compared with the competition. Currently
ComBill has relationships with only Charter Pacific Bank and Imperial Bank to
automatically set up merchant accounts necessary for Internet billing.
It''s becoming hard for competitors in the authorization field to distinguish
themselves. In the case of ComBill, there are some pluses not offered by the
competitors, including a totally Java-based system and an Oracle back-end that
will make it easy to connect fulfillment and customer back-end databases. For larger corporations this connectivity will be important, but for smaller
businesses who want a turnkey system, ComBill may not as appropriate a choice
as other credit-card processing services.
Pros: Can authorize Internet credit-card and check
payments; works from Java and an Oracle back end.
Cons: SET is not supported; limited relationships with
merchant bankers.
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