The core of iBill, http://www.ibill.com - more formally known as the Internet Billing Company - is in the wide range of plans offered. These plans range from an authorization service for companies with existing e-commerce sites to a catalog-sales plan for companies that have no back-end billing or shopping-cart mechanisms in place.

Merchant Solutions
The Catalog Sales TP plan is ideally meant for merchants who have no back-end transaction processing: iBill provides a shopping cart and check-out mechanism. The process is simple: when the customer is ready to check out after reviewing their charges (including shipping and applicable taxes), they enter their address and credit-card information. After the charge has been authenticated by iBill, three forms of verification are sent out: the user receives a verification screen on their Web browser and an e-mail confirmation, while the vendor receives an e-mail purchase order, which includes the customer''s shipping address, the items purchased, and the total charges. With this service, a vendor must already have a merchant account with a financial institution that supports iBill. In addition, vendors can connect to a very detailed set of Command Management Interfaces that provide accounting, customer-service, and setup information, running the gamut from prices in catalog listings to specifics about transactions. The fee for this service is $1 per transaction, with a one-time fee of $149 and a minimum monthly fee of $50.

The Basic TP service is designed for Web merchants who already have a sizable Web presence - a merchant account, a secure Web server, secure transaction services - and want a back-end tool for the actual billing process. The only change you''ll need to make to your Web site is adding a link to your back-end software to post credit-card information to the iBill server via a secure (HTTPS) connection. You''re paid directly, with iBill later deducting its commission from an ACH withdrawal. In addition, vendors can connect to a very detailed set of Command Management Interfaces that provide accounting, customer-service, and setup information, running the gamut from prices in catalog listings to specifics about transactions. The fee is 25 cents per transaction, with a one-time setup fee of $149 and a minimum monthly maintenance fee of $50.

The Reseller Subscription service is geared toward businesses in the service and recurring-billing realms. (It''s also the service for companies lacking merchant accounts.) In this service, iBill is actually the billing agent on behalf of your company, managing credit-card authorizations and end-user billing inquiries. As in the Basic TP service, vendors can connect to a set of Command Management Interfaces. The fee for this service is based on a sliding scale as a percentage of your billables: 15 percent for billables between $0 and $9,999; 14 percent for billables between $10,000 and $24,999; 13 percent for billables between $25,000 and $49,999; 12 percent for billables between $50,000 and $99,999; and a negotiable rate for billables at $100,000 and up.

The Subscription Sales TP service sets up iBill to handle back-end transactions for the purchase of content or services on a one-time or recurring basis, where a user is sent directly to an iBill secure Web page via HTTPS, where they input their credit-card information. The information is then checked via risk-management scoring algorithms (but not authorize a specific transaction) to assess the risk factor of the transaction. If the card is approved, the customer is cleared to return to your site and complete a transaction. Future transactions can also be approvedby issuing the user a username and a password. There are four ways to set up these username/password combos: manual hardcoding, PIN coding, listed usernames/passwords, and iBill access control. Merchants are paid directly, with iBill later deducting its commission from an ACH withdrawal. Similarly to the other services, vendors can connect to a set of Command Management Interfaces that provide accounting, customer-service, and setup information. These services also run the gamut from prices in catalog listings to specifics about transactions. The fee is $1.00 per transaction, with a one-time setup fee of $149 and a minimum monthly maintenance fee of $50.