So you have finally finished your e-commerce web site, hired the best web publisher, added all the bells and whistles, outstanding graphics, and great merchandise. Now, how does your prospective customer pay you for your products? Clearly, it is necessary for your site to accept, and process credit card payments, in real time. Failure to do so, would result in a failing enterprise.
Before you can begin the application process, there are several standards that all credit card processors have set. Follow this checklist and you will save yourself a significant amount of time, and aggravation.
1) The checkout, and transaction pages must be secure. This protects the customer from credit card, or identity fraud, which has become epidemic. You achieve this security by installing a secure socket layer certificate, or SSL. SSL encrypts information being entered on your site as it is sent across the Internet, so hackers are unable to steal the transmitted information. This Certificate has become very common, and any web host would be able to assist you.
2) A robust Shopping Cart software that utilizes the highest degree of security, and is compatible with the credit card processor. This program must be able to receive, and process orders. Collect personal data, and securely transmit the credit card data from software to the credit card processor. Most importantly, the software should provide the building blocks for a complete, successful customer experience.
3) Your server must have a firewall, especially if you plan on storing the credit card information on your server. Basically, a firewall is a combination of software, and hardware, that inspects incoming data, and filters unwanted, or potentially destructive packets of information. This firewall will not allow hackers to enter your server, and steal sensitive information.
When all these conditions have been met, you are ready to contact your bank to open a credit card merchants account. Once your account is opened, your bank will suggest a credit card Gateway. A credit card Gateway receives the customers credit card information from your web site, approves or declines the charge, and ultimately transmits money to your bank.
Credit Card Processing
Does your company need credit card processing? It does if you can benefit from the following:
Credit Card Processing Enhances Your Professional Status. When customers know that you accept credit payments, they often are more likely to pay more, return often, and tell their friends if the service is good. This is because a company that makes credit payment options available to clients is telling the world that they care about customers and they are professional enough to invest in systems that will enhance the shopping experience for guests. No one likes that disappointed feeling when, afte ..
Although the process appears to be very complicated, it is quite straightforward when you know what you are doing. Plan ahead, avoid frustration, and provide your customers with an easy, secure experience that will make them come back for more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Choosing The Right Credit Card Payment Processing ServiceAccording to charge-it-now, one must choose a payment processing service, only after evaluating ones needs. For that, we have two types payment services for credit card processing. Those are manual payment processing and real time payment processing. The process where the credit card number is submitted through the phone is processing manually. This is done either by contacting the payment processing company to verify the validity of the card or by keying the card manually at the sales terminal.
The expenses stated will vary between different Merchant Accounts provider. Number of companies h ..
Ted Roxan is a contributing editor of Internet Credit Card Processing Resource
For more details on Internet merchant accounts and Credit Card processors go to: http://myinternet-credit-card-processing.com/
