UK E-tailers Cite Transaction Costs as Biggest Frustration

68% of Online Retailers Believe Payment Charges and Technical Glitches are More of a Problem to Their Business Than Fraud

LONDON, July 6, 2010 - The high cost associated with payment acceptance charges has become the
biggest single pressure point for UK e-commerce, ahead of website technical
glitches and card fraud. At least, this is according to the E-Business
Benchmark Report, an annual survey of over 2,000 UK-based internet retailers
conducted by payments services provider, Sage Pay.

With payments fraud unexpectedly not making the top spot, the findings
suggest that most online businesses are confident that they can keep fraud at
bay.

Joe Robey, Sage Pay's in-house Fraud Specialist, comments, "The findings
demonstrate that payments fraud is no longer the number one concern for
online retailers. Merchants are becoming increasingly familiar with the tell
tale signs associated with fraudulent activity and, provided they have the
right tools and processes in place, they now have the confidence to tackle
fraudulent activity and keep card crime at bay."

This report correlates with findings from the British Retail Consortium
(BRC), as it calls for the UK government to intervene and reduce payment card
acceptance fees charged to retailers by the banks. Figures from the BRC show
that accepting a payment by debit card costs the retailer 4 times more than
if a customer uses cash to pay for a purchase. The report also identifies
that the banks' debit card handling charges have almost doubled in the past
five years.

With the cost for face-to-face retailers under scrutiny, it won't be long
before e-tailers join the debate.

Sage Pay customer Mark McKenzie from GuitarGuitar.co.uk, the UK's largest
dedicated guitar retailer, says "With online card acceptance fees, how do you
know the rates you're paying aren't through the roof compared to your
competition? If you already have an established business and are moving
online for the first time, your rates should be comparable to what you are
paying for face-to-face transactions. You really need to shop around and
negotiate to get the best deal. Sage Pay has saved me thousands of pounds in
transaction costs."

Other frustrations cited by internet retailers in the E-Business
Benchmark Report include losing customers during the checkout process, 3D
Secure and payment card industry data compliance (PCI DSS).

Sage Pay offers payment processing to businesses of all sizes, from small
start-ups to established brands and has just hit their 30,000th customer mark
- textile designer Celia Birtwell's online store.

To talk to Sage Pay about keeping the cost of payments down visit us at
www.sageworld2010.co.uk

About The E-Business Benchmark Report

In March 2010, Sage Pay carried out a survey among its UK customers, as
well as non-customers, with the aim of benchmarking what factors were
contributing to above average performance in ecommerce terms. Over 2,000
online businesses contributed to the report. The results of the survey have
been incorporated into The E-Business Benchmark Report. To download a
complimentary copy of the findings, please visit -
www.benchmarkyourebusiness.com

About Sage Pay

Sage Pay is a division of FTSE 100 business software company Sage. It is
the UK's fastest growing independent payment service provider (PSP) and is
one of the most trusted e-commerce brands. Sage Pay processes millions of
secure payments for its 30,000 customers each year and makes the process of
accepting payments simpler, faster, safer and more profitable for businesses
of all sizes.

For more information, please visit www.sagepay.com

For more information, please contact: Amy Monro, Email: amy.monro at sagepay.com, Tel: +44(0)7595-607-556