Payment gateway for Iranians

8 replies
Hi
We are a start up company based in Iran and we sell handwoven carpets and rugs. We are planning to take our business one step further and enter online market. As you might know companies like papypal are not offering their services to Iranians, so all I want to know is that are there any other companies like paypal who offer online payment services to Iranians?
It would be appreciated if u can give us a hint on how to deal with this problem. By the way, I think it is so unfair that Paypal is not giving services to us!
Thank you so much.
#gateway #iran #iranians #payment #paypal
  • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
    Are you serious?

    Originally Posted by Arash Nahandian View Post

    By the way, I think it is so unfair that Paypal is not giving services to us!
    1. Paypal is a US-based financial company.
    2. In 1996, the U.S. government placed sanctions against Iran affecting the energy, military, and financial sectors.
    3. Last month, those sanctions were extended for an additional 10 years.

    I am not personally familiar with the specifics of those sanctions, but it is likely that Paypal cannot legally provide services to Iranian companies at this time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Arash Nahandian
      Originally Posted by Sid Hale View Post

      Are you serious?



      1. Paypal is a US-based financial company.
      2. In 1996, the U.S. government placed sanctions against Iran affecting the energy, military, and financial sectors.
      3. Last month, those sanctions were extended for an additional 10 years.

      I am not personally familiar with the specifics of those sanctions, but it is likely that Paypal cannot legally provide services to Iranian companies at this time.
      Thank you for the answer. I think you misunderstood my point. Here in Iran, people has nothing to do with the government, and most of these sanctions are affecting our lives not those in the office, to tell you the truth, sometimes it is even a better situation for them when there are sanctions on Iran. That is why there are so many government people here who don't like joint comprehensive plan of action and just want all of the sanctions to be back.
      All I'm saying is such sanctions should be on those companies that belong to government not on people like me. I don't know maybe it would be better if such companies run a background check on people like me before deciding to give service or not.
      And by the way, a lot of European companies are not giving service to us Iranians either. US government just threatens European banks about working with Iranians. That's just plain bullshit.
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  • Arash,

    Where are your customers based? In Iran, or worldwide?

    If worldwide, then you can take a closer look at Stripe Atlas (not sure if they take in Iran-based merchants), or look for private third party payment processors (it's better to go with a provider that you know or have a trusted contact to vouch for, which is what I do when looking for private third party payment processors for our client companies that operate in high risk, non-illegal industries like outbound telemarketing and online gambling verticals), or use bitcoins (I know where you can point your customers to conveniently buy bitcoins online using PayPal and any other payment method supported by PayPal), or incorporate in Hong Kong (or in in any other country that allows Iran-based merchants to register an offshore company and set up your Iran-based operations as a supplier of your offshore corp) ...

    If Iran-based, then you're better off with a local provider like any Iran-based bank or third party processor that offers an online payment gateway - That's because I don't know any bank, merchant account provider or third party payment processor outside Iran that can accept payments from customers in Iran ...
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    • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
      Hi Arash,

      Originally Posted by Arash Nahandian View Post

      I think you misunderstood my point.
      You're probably right, and I probably sounded judgemental - but I was only trying to make the point that it is not Paypal's decision. The sanctions are a part of U.S. law, and they have no choice in the matter.

      Originally Posted by Marx Vergel Melencio View Post

      ...or incorporate in Hong Kong (or in in any other country that allows Iran-based merchants to register an offshore company and set up your Iran-based operations as a supplier of your offshore corp)
      I think this alternative is particularly worthwhile for you to explore.
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      • Profile picture of the author Arash Nahandian
        Originally Posted by Sid Hale View Post

        Hi Arash,



        You're probably right, and I probably sounded judgemental - but I was only trying to make the point that it is not Paypal's decision. The sanctions are a part of U.S. law, and they have no choice in the matter.



        I think this alternative is particularly worthwhile for you to explore.
        Thanks Sid, I am actually looking to this option. Will let you guys know about the process.
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    • Profile picture of the author Arash Nahandian
      Originally Posted by Marx Vergel Melencio View Post

      Arash,

      Where are your customers based? In Iran, or worldwide?

      If worldwide, then you can take a closer look at Stripe Atlas (not sure if they take in Iran-based merchants), or look for private third party payment processors (it's better to go with a provider that you know or have a trusted contact to vouch for, which is what I do when looking for private third party payment processors for our client companies that operate in high risk, non-illegal industries like outbound telemarketing and online gambling verticals), or use bitcoins (I know where you can point your customers to conveniently buy bitcoins online using PayPal and any other payment method supported by PayPal), or incorporate in Hong Kong (or in in any other country that allows Iran-based merchants to register an offshore company and set up your Iran-based operations as a supplier of your offshore corp) ...

      If Iran-based, then you're better off with a local provider like any Iran-based bank or third party processor that offers an online payment gateway - That's because I don't know any bank, merchant account provider or third party payment processor outside Iran that can accept payments from customers in Iran ...
      Hi Marx, thanks for your good and detailed answer.
      - Our customer base is worldwide, otherwise we would not have any problems as there are online payments inside the country.
      - I've already contacted Stripe, but they aren't offering services to Iranians.
      - I must take a closer look at third party payment processors, never heard of it and it sounds like an option, thanks for your good advice.
      - About bitcoin, I've considered it as an option, but as you know it is not so popular around the public and we may have some difficulties convincing customers to pay with bitcoin.
      - About setting up an offshore company, I think this may be the best option we could have. I will surely check this out. I really wanted to thank you about this. By the way do you have any suggestions about which country is the best for incorporating? I've checked some of them and it looks like they are allowing Iranians to register offshore companies. I was thinking about UAE as it is so close to Iran. Would like to know your opinion about that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Originally Posted by Arash Nahandian View Post

    It would be appreciated if u can give us a hint on how to deal with this problem.
    Hi Arash,

    It is tough enough in any business but add the restrictions you face it must be hard.

    You could try having a talk to the iranian Community of Western Australia.
    Business Policies Iranian Community of Western Australia

    They say they use Eway which is one of the payment processors my business uses in Australia.

    I don't know whether Eway is an option for you but if you talk to groups like the organisation mentioned they may have some recommendations or be able to point you in the right direction.

    Best wishes for a prosperous future.

    Kind regards,

    Ozi
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    • Profile picture of the author Arash Nahandian
      Originally Posted by Oziboomer View Post

      Hi Arash,

      It is tough enough in any business but add the restrictions you face it must be hard.

      You could try having a talk to the iranian Community of Western Australia.
      Business Policies Iranian Community of Western Australia

      They say they use Eway which is one of the payment processors my business uses in Australia.

      I don't know whether Eway is an option for you but if you talk to groups like the organisation mentioned they may have some recommendations or be able to point you in the right direction.

      Best wishes for a prosperous future.

      Kind regards,

      Ozi
      Thank you Ozi, I don't know if they can do anything to help me, but I will take a look into it and talk to them. Actually I have lots of family and friends in Europe and US, but I'm not sure if there is a way they can help me.
      By the way, I have lots of Aussie friends too, especially in Tasmania, and you guys are awesome!
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