Brian-

Ironically I wish we could process in CAD. I would say it's premature to say "If I can't accept VISA, there's no point in doing a site" - lots of sites are successful using other billing methods, such as for example 900, dialer (nocreditcard.com is excellent), Epassporte/Moneybookers, SMS. What you do need to consider is that even with VISA you're entering a super-crowded market - so I would say in some percentage at least that planning your entry (no pun) is at least as important as how you get paid for it. CC processing is probably the most treacherous method of all due to chargeback requirements as well as the foreign company issue.

I don't know if CCBill will set you up for 900 billing or not as a Canadian company but that's definitely a step in the right direction and they're quite easy to work with. Avoid IBill like the plague, ask anyone.

From what I have seen the states most companies choose in the US would be Nevada or Delaware - but that's primarily for tax reasons. An issue is you might end up facing double taxation by being incorporated in the US, you would need to talk to an attorney familiar with trade rules.

I do recall there was a firm processing in Canada for Canadians some months back, but can't remember their name. There's plenty of Canadians on this board who might be able to offer up some help, but I'll look around and try and track them down.

-doug

Quote Originally Posted by BrianDN
I'm setting up a site and I'm faced with so many different options for payment processing. As a Canadian, I'm faced with many complexities (or, maybe it's not that complex, I'm hoping).

Ideally, I want to utilize CCBILL but I that means I'll have to setup a US Corporation and appoint a principle in the states in order to qualify to accept VISA. Here's where I'd like some advice:

- From what I understand, it's crucial to have VISA otherwise forget the site alltogether. Is this true?

- Canadian Based site operators: what are you doing to get around the issue of appointing principles to qualify for VISA? Have you incorporated in the states as an LLC? If so, which states would you advise?

- US Based operators: any ideas/suggestions would be great! What states do you recommend for an incorporation?

Thanks in advance, everyone :-)

Cheers,
Brian