How To Accept Credit Cards Online
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David
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February 20th, 2012
Accepting credit cards online is an important part of selling products online. This allows you to sell your products via credit cards rather than just using 2nd tier providers such as Pay Pal. A popular provider is Charge.com.
There are literally 100's of options available for setting up a merchant account but you really need to research this before making a decision because you'll find that many have hidden fees as well as the fact that just their standard processing rates are higher than many of their competitors. Hopefully this page will shed some light on accepting credit cards online.
What's Needed To Accept Credit Cards Online
You'll find that there are some differences between processing credit cards online and swiping credit cards at a store.
First, you'll probably never see the credit card or the person that's using it so fraud protection is a must. When you sign-up with a program you'll receive material regarding fraud protection, be sure to read it because it can save you a lot of money.
Second, you'll need a Gateway which is the technology to connect your website to the actual bank that verifies and puts a hold on the funds. By far the most popular Gateway provider is Authorize.net. Just so you know, when you setup a merchant account it generally will setup the gateway for you.
Third, a shopping cart that is compatible with your gateway. Like I mentioned, Authorize.net is the most popular option so majority of the shopping cart providers will already be integrated to work with Authorize.net.
Fourth, you'll need a bank account where your money will be deposited to.
Lastly, you'll be required to have a secure website. This will require an SSL Certificate and a dedicated IP address.
Advantages When You Accept Credit Cards Online
You'll find that one of the biggest differences is the professional image that this will portray about your website. Although Pay Pal is a popular service, not everyone has it so being able to accept multiple forms of payment is a must.
Another benefit is that your per-transaction fees are generally lower than services such as Pay Pal, just make sure that you do your due diligence before committing yourself to a specific credit card processor.
Quick payment, you'll find that you generally will receive your payments within 3 business days once the sale is made. This may vary between processors plus the payments are generally sent from banks so keep in mind that if it's a national holiday that you may not receive that days payment because the banks are generally closed.
Review various financing options and compare credit cards to get the best deals.
Fees Associated With Accepting Credit Cards
After reading this you'll see why you may want to start off with a provider such as Pay Pal while you build your website and start making regular sales.
There are quite a few different fees that you need to keep in mind when you decide to accept credit cards online. I'll list the most common fees and give a brief explanation. I mention that I'll list the common fees because some providers will nail you with hidden fees so just be sure that you're fully informed before committing to a merchant provider.
- One Time Setup - Generally this is a fee that you won't see. The merchant providers have become so competitive that you aren't charged for setup. Please keep in mind that this differs from the Gateway, you will still most likely see a setup fee from them.
- Monthly Gateway Statement Fee - This fee is applied monthly and is basically a fee to provide you with your monthly transaction statement.
- Monthly Merchant Statement Fee - Much like the Gateway statement fee, this is charged monthly to provide you with your statement and is different than the Gateway fee.
- Per Transaction Fee - Your merchant provider will charge a per transaction fee. This is going to vary but every time you make a sale you pay this fee.
- Discount Rates - This is a per transaction fee as well but rather than being a fixed fee it's based on a percentage of the total sale.
- Termination Fee - If you should decide to cancel your merchant account before your contract is up you will be subject to termination fees, let me say, they aren't cheap.
As you can see the fees can and will add up fast. The monthly fees are regardless if you sell anything or not.
IMPORTANT: Another thing to ask your potential merchant provider is the Discount Rates for premium credit cards. When a customer uses a credit card that offers them points or travel it's actually you that's funding those benefits and those types of credit cards will come with higher discount rates than their standard rates advertise.
Reliable Credit Card Processing Companies
I'll just make a short list of credit card processing companies that either I've used or a few of my peers recommend.
- Fast Transact - Another popular provider that has affordable rates.
- Charge.com - They have released their own gateway but you may consider requesting that they set you up on Authorize.net because of it's shopping cart acceptance. They may try to talk you out of it but insist that you be setup with Authorize.net.
- Chase Payment Tech - A well recognized name and excellent fraud detection.
- Merchant Express - Free setup, free authorize.net account and low rates.
Webmaster Forum
I invite you to visit my webmaster forum, it's a great place to discuss websites and ask questions to fellow webmasters regarding topics that you may still have questions on.