Authorize.Net Rolls out Simple Checkout for Small Online Sellers

In an effort to reach very small online merchants seeking a streamlined way to process payments, Authorize.Net on Tuesday unveiled a service it calls Simple Checkout. The new service allows the merchant to use a Web interface to automatically create the code necessary to place a “Buy Now” button on its site. The interface also lets merchants specify shipping methods and costs, item identification and description, and a maximum order. Once the merchant has entered this information, the system allows a preview of how the page will look and perform on the merchant's site. The merchant can then copy and paste the code. The new service is intended to help sign up hard-to-reach merchants selling small quantities of goods for Authorize.Net's transaction-gateway service, which links online retailers to transaction processors. Offered at no charge to merchants, Simple Checkout does not require a shopping cart, though it does require a merchant account and a gateway agreement. It also creates “Donate Now” buttons for charity sites. “Merchants can now simply create Buy Now or Donate buttons, all within our secure merchant interface,” said Roy Banks, president of Authorize.Net, in a statement. “Simple Checkout provides a great solution for merchants who don't fit the regular shopping-cart model of doing business.” The effort to recruit ever-smaller online merchants for transaction processing is growing more competitive as processors and gateways roll out products intended to attract their business by easing the coding and integration work necessary to accept card payments. Simple Checkout, for example, competes with a service from PayPal Inc. called Buy Now Buttons, which allows merchants to easily create code for checkout buttons for their sites or for marketing e-mails to sell individual items. Authorize.Net officials tell Digital Transactions News the company sees significant demand among so-called micromerchants for streamlined payment integration. Authorize.Net is a unit of CyberSource Corp., Mountain View, Calif.