Those who regularly buy medications online would probably know that paying for them can be a little different. It isn’t exactly the same as other online stores. Normally, what you do is “checkout“, and choose “credit card” as your payment method, and it brings you to the payment page where you input your credit card info and press “Pay Now” and be done with it.
Online pharmacies can’t operate that way. One of the biggest reasons is that most of our customers don’t have prescriptions. We perfectly understand it and try our best to serve our customers knowing that they really need the medications.
That’s why online pharmacies prefer Alternative Payment Methods (APM) such as Bitcoin, Wise, Western Union, Moneygram, etc. However, most customers feel discouraged by these methods and want to know why they can’t just pay using their credit cards.
Believe us, we, the online pharmacies, also feel the pain. If we could, we would make the payment process easy for you. We simply can’t do it. When purchasing prescription medications without prescriptions, the less the paper trail, the better.
However, we can offer an explanation on which payment methods are preferable. AT EuroMeds One, we try to be as clear and honest as possible. In this article, we’ll take a look at both the customers’ and the pharmacy’s points of view so that we have a better understanding.
Following is a list of payment methods that have been organized from the best to the worst. We have also divided them into two main categories: Alternative Payment Methods (APM) and Mainstream Payment Methods (MPM)
Alternative Payment Methods (APMs)
[1. Bitcoin or BTC] [2. Wise/ Bank Transfer] [3. Moneygram] [4. Western Union]
1. Bitcoin or BTC
Bitcoin (BTC) is the number one choice. From the pharmacy point of view, we prefer it the most because Bitcoin has virtually no restrictions. It’s easy to pay and easy to receive. It takes about 10 minutes for us to receive the money, and we can process unlimited orders fast with Bitcoin.
On the customer side, the only hassle is to set up the BTC wallet first. Once you have done it, you shouldn’t have problems anymore. The more you use it, the better it’ll get.
Yet, we know that a lot of our customers don’t know how to use BTC, so we have a completely separate article “How to Set Up a Bitcoin Wallet”. You may check it out. It is the safest for both the customers and the pharmacy, especially if the customer has no prescription because BTC is virtually untraceable.
That’s why Bitcoin ranks number one on our list and we offer a 15% discount for processing payments via Bitcoin. If you choose Bitcoin as your payment method, we’ll send you an email with our BTC wallet address and the amount in BTC, and you can send the money to us from your wallet with a few clicks.
Note: US and Canadian customers who use Cash.App can now easily transfer BTC. Just watch the video below:
2. Wise/ Bank Transfer
Formerly known as Transfer Wise, Wise is a new payment method in our arsenal. It has already gotten second place because of its simplicity. It is so easy to use that once you have learned it, you won’t pay with any other methods. There are 2 ways Wise Transfer works:
a. Direct Bank Transfer
First of all, Wise has allowed us to open virtual bank accounts in any country. We are now able to accept Direct Bank Transfers (US bank to US bank, UK bank to UK bank, and Australian bank to Australian bank). It has also allowed us to have Interac, which is one of the fastest bank transfer methods in Canada.
If you are interested to pay via bank transfer, all we have to do is provide you with our bank details, and you can directly transfer your payment to our bank.
b. Wise to Wise Transfer
The customer can also open a Wise account or download the Wise App to make easy payments.
The way it works is very straightforward. You open an account at https://wise.com or download the Wise App, verify your account with a phone number and an email address, and you are good to go.
Say, you are ordering $200.00 worth of medications. All you have to do is add $200.00 to your Wise account (You may use a credit card or Bank App to upload the money).
At this point, there is a small charge, but we also offer a 15% discount for Wise Transfers, so you will save a lot more. It may cost $202.50 to add $200.00 to your account.
From our end, we’ll send you a Wise Invoice worth $200.00. You can click the invoice link and complete the payment. It takes less than 30 seconds to complete the process.
For details, please read our article:
Wise- A New and Exciting Way to Pay
3. MoneyGram
MoneyGram is another excellent payment method. On the pharmacy side, we can get the money instantly and ship your order faster. MoneyGram also has fewer restrictions, and one person can receive many MoneyGrams at a time. On the Pharmacy side, we can assign one person to pick up several transactions.
On the customer side, it is also very safe. There are two ways to process MoneyGram– Online and Offline. You can use your credit card to pay via MoneyGram Online. Your statement will only show that you paid Moneygram and no more. Where you are sending the money or to whom won’t appear. That makes it safe for customers without prescriptions.
You can also process MoneyGram offline from an agent location and Walmarts.
If you choose to pay using MoneyGram, we send you a receiver name and a step-by-step guide on how to process the payment. We also offer a 15% discount for MoneyGram payments.
4. Western Union
Our fourth favorite option would be Western Union. It is also a very reliable method. Customers can process it online or offline just like MoneyGram. Yet, one reason it ranks lower than MoneyGram is that on the pharmacy side, one person can’t receive multiple Western Union at a time. If we pick up one, the other one would get canceled so we have to assign different people to pick up different transactions.
From the customer’s point of view, it is not that hard. Just like Moneygram, Western Union agent offices are everywhere so that you can process it offline. You can also go to www.westernunion.com and create an online account.
You may pay online using your credit card, debit card, or bank transfer. Your account statement will show “Western Union” so customers without prescriptions are safe.
We also offer a 15% discount, and we send a very easy step-by-step instructions mail if you choose to pay with WU.
Mainstream Payment Methods (MPMs)
5. Credit Card
More than 60% of our customers prefer this method. It’s really easy on the customer side. All you have to do is input your credit card number and press “Pay” and you are good to go. The reason online pharmacies don’t prefer this method is that the risk is both on the customer and on the pharmacy.
In order to process credit cards online, we need a “Credit Card Merchant (Processor)”. It’s fine. Most banks offer it. Yet, before clearing all the transactions, and transferring the money to our bank account, we must provide them with invoices. That means every sale will have a record.
It’s still not a problem for us, but if the customer has no prescription, we can’t produce the invoice for that particular sale. That’s why we sometimes have to fake it. That is a risk on our part. That is also the reason, we can’t attach the payment gateway to the website itself (Like other online stores when you choose Credit Card as your payment option, it brings you directly to a payment page). If we do that, the CC merchant will know exactly what medications you ordered because that software has the ability to generate the invoice of sale right there and then. So we send the invoice separately via email after the order has been placed.
Additionally, it can take months before we receive the money. On the customer side, you have paid, and you expect your shipment. On our side, we have shipped your order, filed the invoices, and will wait for a month to get that money.
Also, there is a thing called “Chargeback”. A customer can file a chargeback if he/she is not satisfied with the product. This is probably the reason why most customers like credit cards. It provides them with some sort of guarantee. What the customers don’t know is that if they file a chargeback, we have to provide the credit card merchant with all the details of the order.
We may even have to disclose the content of the package. It puts the customers without prescriptions at a bigger risk with the law enforcement. When a bank or a Credit Card merchant finds out that you have purchased prescription medications without prescriptions, they are legally required to report it to the local authority such as the DEA. That’s why we recommend that you choose “credit card” as your payment option if you have a valid prescription.
On our side, for safety purposes, we may inform the Credit Card Merchant that it is a “Service” and not a “Product“. That way, we can produce a safer invoice. However, the merchant just won’t take our word for it so they may ask the customer (via email) if indeed it was a “service“. If you get a mail like that, we request that you reply with a “Yes“. It will help us process your order easily and we don’t have to provide the merchant with your order details.
Since a lot of customers order via credit card, and the money remains “on hold” for a long time, we have recently adopted a policy. We won’t ship until the money is released and in our hands. We hope you understand our situation. If 100 customers order via credit cards and we ship 100 packages with thousands of medications, our company will surely go bankrupt as we have to pay for those medications, the postage, and yet, we don’t have the money in hand.
On the guarantee part, we have a pretty effective refund and reshipment policy. In case you are unsatisfied with our products, you may file for a refund or reshipment request directly to us. As a matter of fact, you agree to those terms and conditions when you place an order. Kindly read our “Terms and Conditions” well.
6. PayPal
The last of all the online payment services is PayPal. Although it is very secure when you make the payment (It has a secure payment page), the transaction itself is not very secure. Any government, government subcontractors, and even some non-government organizations can see the transactions.
PayPal allows backdoor access to them. We have literally experienced it where a government sub-contractor called LegitScript gained access to our PayPal transactions. When we asked PayPal about it, they didn’t give any explanation. They froze 6 of our accounts with thousands of dollars in them.
If not to family members, PayPal to Paypal transfers take a long time. Once a customer has paid, it will take at least 21 days for us to get that money. Not only that, PayPal won’t release the money to us until we have provided PayPal with the tracking number of the shipment.
Although PayPal doesn’t know the content of the package, it tracks the packages. That’s why, for safety (with customer permission), we inform PayPal that the transaction is for a “service” and not a “product” to avoid providing them with the tracking number.
And finally, just like “Chargeback”, PayPal has “Dispute”. If you file one because you are unsatisfied with the product, we have to disclose everything to PayPal, which may involve the content of the package.
Therefore, we recommend having a prescription when you order using PayPal, and if you are really unsatisfied with our products, please follow the refund and reshipment policies. We’ll refund your money. Just don’t take the risk of filing a “Dispute”. It’ll put you in the same kind of problem as CC merchant and may bring the law enforcement down on you.
Also, just like credit cards, we have recently adopted the rule that until the money is released, we won’t be able to ship. Please check out our Terms and Conditions page for details.
Final Thoughts
There you have it. Now you know why online pharmacy payment systems are different than a regular online store. It is what it is, and we deal with it by protecting ourselves and our customers. One thing we can say is that at EuroMeds One, we’ll do our best to make the experience easy for you.
We encourage you to try any of the Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) rather than the mainstream methods. It’ll save you and the pharmacy a lot of fo trouble.
Our customer support is top of the line, and they are well-oriented on all the payment systems. If you encounter any difficulties, just let us know and one of our agents can guide you through the process over the phone, via email, or on the OnSite Chat.
I am able to pay thru western union