Integrate with PayPal Express Checkout for Subscriptions

PayPal Express Checkout is a payment method for PayPal-to-PayPal transactions. Express Checkout differs from Payments Standard in that it allows greater integration via PayPal APIs vs. solely using IPN. It requires only a business account with PayPal and no additional fees. PayPal considers Express Checkout to be the companion to Website Payments Pro to allow the merchant to accept both credit cards and payments from a PayPal account. 

PayPal data shows that merchants who add Express Checkout to their order forms see an average 15-18% increase in sales.

An integration specifically with Express Checkout - as has been done by InfusionSoft in 2014 - would allow ONTRAPORT merchants the ability to offer recurring subscription payments paid with a PayPal account. Paying with a PayPal balance is trusted, common, and often preferred, particularly within B2C industries dominated by women. It is also preferred by international customers of US merchants who can reduce exchange fees by paying with US dollars from a PayPal account. 

Concerns about a merchant's need to switch gateways should not supersede the imperative for a merchant to meet its customer's very reasonable needs. (It can be stated in the Knowledge Base that recurring payment profiles via this payment method could never be moved to a different gateway.) Additionally, concerns about the need for manual intervention upon cancellation should be moot given that open orders from ANY gateway in the ONTRAPORT system currently require manual intervention by the merchant. The primary goal should be helping merchants get paid, even if there are current limitations.

There are certainly many great options for accepting recurring payments with a credit card, but this PayPal integration would add flexibility and additional growth potential for ONTRAPORT's merchants.