{"id":1429,"date":"2012-02-20T13:45:16","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T13:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wip2.websitespot.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2012-02-20T13:45:16","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T13:45:16","slug":"how-to-accept-credit-cards-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.websitespot.com\/blog\/how-to-accept-credit-cards-online\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Accept Credit Cards Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. \u00a0A popular provider is Charge.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

What's Needed To Accept Credit Cards Online<\/h2>\n

You'll find that there are some differences between processing credit cards online and swiping credit cards at a store.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

Fourth<\/strong>, you'll need a bank account where your money will be deposited to.<\/p>\n

Lastly<\/strong>, you'll be required to have a secure website. This will require an SSL Certificate<\/a> and a dedicated IP address<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advantages When You Accept Credit Cards Online<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Quick payment, you'll find that you generally will receive your payments within 3 business days\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Review various financing options and compare credit cards<\/a> to get the best deals.<\/p>\n

Fees Associated With Accepting Credit Cards<\/h2>\n

After reading this you'll see why you may want to start off with a provider such as Pay Pal<\/a> while you build your website and start making regular sales.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n