Hello,
I have far less field experience with OpenACS in general (specially in the ecommerce module) compared to you two so I might not be the best person to help decide.
Nevertheless, I have done some research on Payflow Link. Please allow me to highlight some points that I have gathered below.
- Payflow link is much cheaper compared to PayflowPro. Depending on the options enumerated below, you may not need to get SSL.
- It's ideal for websites who do not want to go through the trouble of developing an order form and storing payment information.
- Payflow link allows the storefront to either have its (1) own order form or (2) utilize the order form provided by verisign.
- Option (1) is as close as you get to PayflowPro (at least in the way it works now in ecommerce) because the storefront will have to gather billing and payment information and then http post it to verisign. The verisign payflowlink website will process the information and can be configured to post back results to the storefront. This option is more expensive because in addition to payflow link you will need to acquire SSL as the store front gathers payment information and posts it to verisign.
- Option (2) is where the order form is hosted at Verisign's servers. The customer upon clicking checkout will be redirected to Verisign's website where he/she will continue the checkout process by filling up the order form. The order form can be configured to post back information to the storefront to confirm an order. The information being posted back is customizable, you can choose which information will be posted back to your storefront. The order form's look and feel is also customizable.This option may be the cheaper option because if you decide that you don't need the payment (credit card) information posted back to your storefront, you may not need to get SSL.
Some thoughts :
If an ecommerce site opts to go with option 1 of Payflow Link, then it might just be a minor modification to the existing payflow pro service contract.
If an ecommerce site opts to go with option 2, then I beleive we would not only need to create a separate service contract for Payflow Link but also modify/add checkout pages specifically for payflow link.
Regards and Enjoy the Weekend.
