YNOT – One of the foundations of a successful e-commerce profit model centers on the impulse purchase. For many years, the ability to join a site or purchase on a whim has required a credit card. While this model has worked quite well in North America and elsewhere around the world, either alone or combined with a recurring membership or subscription, converting impulsive European shoppers remains a challenge. Online credit card usage in Europe lags behind adoption in other regions because of differing cultural views on debt and credit use.

Credit card billing in Europe certainly can produce significant joins, revenue and profits, but in the European market — larger than the U.S. market and quickly moving online — fewer than 25 percent of web users own a credit card. Even fewer surfers actually will use one for personal expenditures online. Germans can rattle off their bank account and routing numbers in the same way U.S. residents know their social security numbers, and Germans are accustomed to paying for everything with their bank accounts. That’s just the way they do things.

Key benefits of credit card billing include the ability to capture the spontaneous join, both through trials and classic purchases. The ability to re-bill subscriptions, offer one-click add-ons and up-sells, provide a pay-per-anything plan and present cancellation offers can boosts earnings.

If you offer only credit card payment, the majority of European surfers will be unable to pay, unable to convert, unable to join. Direct debit solutions can provide the answer. Direct debit — also sometimes called “direct withdrawal,” “pre-authorized debit” or “prre-authorized payment” — allows bank account holders to instruct their bank to pay directly from their funds on deposit. The transaction is initiated by the seller and authorized by the buyer, and then the bank tenders the money.

Adding a direct-debit payment method to your existing financial solutions can significantly increase your EU revenue. No card of any kind is required — just a bank account, and virtually everybody who earns money in Europe owns a bank account.

The impulse sale is alive and well in the EU. Potential joins already exist in your current traffic. Convert every possible user. Do not let any impulse buyers escape.

Webbilling, based in Amsterdam, has processed direct debit payments for European buyers for 11 years. According to Global Operations Director Ines Petersen, online merchants can achieve their billing goals in Germany, Austria, the UK, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands with an EU direct debit solution. For more information, email the marketing staff.