Online Payment Awareness

Online Payment tips

Tim angele

May 28, 2008

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Cash-on-delivery system is out for a long time now. Credit cards are definitely in. Most online businesses have explored this means to augment their income from online payments. This system has also made the the collection and tracking of payments easier and faster. This system has encouraged more merchants to try their luck in the cyberspace.

As more and more online shoppers and stores flock the Internet, more and more payment systems have been devised. If you are considering to accept credit card payments online as your sole payment acceptance method or you want to add it to other systems to reach a wider base of potential customers, you need to first know how it works.

Credit card processing is composed of three main components: the payment gateway, merchant account, and website.

The payment gateway is like the supervisor or manager of your client's credit card fund transfer to your merchant account. It is responsible for a secure fund transfer. Here, a software interface acts as the intermediary between you and your client. This collects credit card information from your client and is also the one to inform him/her if the credit card has been accepted. This service will charge you transaction fees and also discount rate for your activities. However, these fees are reasonable as you get the advantages of scalability, reliability and security.

They have scalability, as they can handle large and various transaction volumes. They are also reliable as their serves provide 99.9% uptime, and they are secure as they have different anti-fraud features like Address Verification Service and SSL or Secure Sockets Layer.

After going through the payment gateway, the payment will then go to your merchant account. A merchant account is your account with a bank to allow you to accept credit card payments online. To do this, the gateway will pass the billing information to the merchant account provider. Funds from your client's account will then be collected and transferred to yours. You can obtain a credit card merchant account through a known bank, a broker or intermediary or a third party.

Still, all of these will go to waste if the business doesn't have a website that sets up a place where sellers and buyers can meet. These websites are like grocery stores that showcase all the merchant's products. Despite the different worlds, the same rules apply. The more interesting the store looks, whether online or in the real world, the more customers it attracts.

However, all of these won't be possible if there is no website where the seller and the buyer meet. If you don't have this means of advertising, displaying and selling your products online is also not possible. If you want to purchase a merchant account, some providers offer website templates, while payment gateways can put shopping carts on your site. Integrated payment system and website design are essential for an integrated and effective online payment system for your net business.