Hello.
I have a site similar to Paypal that is close to being completed, but need to set it up to accept funds from others like e-gold, paypal, etc. and to send funds to them including credit cards and bank transfers.
I was told about merchant accounts, payment gateways and needing SSL. I am totally ignorant about this.
Can someone please help me out? I need this to be as inexpensive as possible, and very soon.

I jumped into this without doing any research. Not like me.
Thanks...
NewBank

You're setting up an online fund transfering site and you don't know what you're supposed to be doing?? I would recommend not starting it then. For legal reasons mainly.

hmmm, first of all you would need to built peoples trust to use your service. I dont think they would trust you if you are clueless on what you are doing. Your best bet would be to hire professional technichians to work for your buisness.

And I'll bet this is the same kind of negative ignorance that the owner of Paypal had gotten 3 years ago. Now he has millions.
Do you really think he had a clue of what to exactly do when he came up with his idea to create Paypal? I don't think so. He asked questions, like I did. And probably got the same kind of replies, like I did. Thanks anyway. But I did hire an excellent programmer, lawyer, accountant, financial adviser, etc, etc.
Have a great day.

: That is one of the funniest posts I have ever read...

NEWBANK
You asked for help. You stated.
(quote) I was told about merchant accounts, payment gateways and needing SSL. I am totally ignorant about this.
Can someone please help me out? I need this to be as inexpensive as possible, and very soon.(quote)
You are saying you know nothing about creating a site like this. Not a lot of people do. Thats why there arn't many successful ones out there. I don't think the comments are negative ignorance. I think they are simply saying it's a lot of work and if you don't have a clue to what you are doing, you have two strikes already. But if you have an an excellent programmer, lawyer, accountant, financial adviser, etc, etc. You should be ok. Maybe your programer could help!

What it's vital to remember in this case is that there are three levels of security that websites can fall into:
1. General sites - They must be secure so they can't be hacked and changed
2. Shopping sites - They take in credit card numbers so must be extremely secure. Everything must be encrypted (both in transit and on the server) and the server must be secured to a level much higher than for a general site
3. Banking sites - These take security way beyond the shopping level. If a banking site is hacked the damage could be unthinkable. Especially in the case of systems like PayPal where credit cards and account balances are stored, a hacker in the system could not only ruin your business but could ruin a lot of other people's too. Unlike a credit card which can be cancelled, there's nothing you can do about stolen funds.

As crow said, if you've got the team to make it, this wouldn't be a problem, but I think you'll find the creator of PayPal had extensive experience in one or two areas (I haven't read the history of the company, but am assuming he was either a very good programmer/administrator or was very experienced in the banking field).

As well as an excellent team you'll need money to start up. Without money you can't afford that team. To get money you'll need a business plan which will need to show:
a) how you intend to create a system which is better than the existing ones or will be successful for a different reason
b) that you have (or have people that have) the experience and knowledge available to back the system
c) how you are going to implement the system

Once you've got that, people will start to take you seriously in this venture.

Hi,
i list my projects on <<Link Removed due to Mulitple SPAM posts>> Professional's will be able to do what you are requiring with ease, just list what you want done, good idea to list clone of paypal.