Online Payments: A Cost-Effective Way To Grow Your Business

By: Jeffrey Lewis | Posted: 24th February 2010

As more and more businesses go online to reach increasingly savvy consumers, many face the same dilemma; how can I accept credit card payments from my customers in a way that inspires confidence and improves their shopping and brand experiences? After all, with credit card fraud on the rise, consumers may be reluctant to give you their details unless there's the reassuring presence of a well-known online payment provider. If you're thinking about accepting online credit card payments for your business, here are a few things that you need to know.

1. Think about the needs of your business. The internet is international, so shouldn't you be? Choose an online payment system which can accept multiple currencies.

2. How are you expecting your business to grow? If you are likely to accept credit card payments over the phone, or even face-to-face, make sure that you choose an online payment provider that can deliver these services.

3. You'll be asking your clients to hand over some extremely personal information, so make sure your online payment provider is a brand that people will recognise and trust.

Once you've chosen your online payments provider, you now need to open a merchant account. This is like a current account for your online payments. Once your merchant account is in place, you'll then need what's called a "payment gateway". This is the system which allows you to actually accept credit card payments. Typically, you'll pay an initial fee according to how many online payment transactions you are expecting, with additional transactions incurring a small fee.

There are a great many providers out there, so make sure that you shop around. RBS WorldPay, for example, has recently merged seven leading retail payment solutions to become the largest acquirer in Europe, and one of the largest globally. Their Business Gateway product offers 350 transactions for £19.95 a month, with additional transactions for just 28p. For more information on this product visit Business Gateway.

Merchant Account

Merchant accounts are the means by which businesses can accept credit and debit card online payments. Remember that, without a merchant account , the major credit card providers will not be able to transfer funds to your account, nor will you be able to automate your payment process.

Payment Gateway

A payment gateway is the system that actually permits online payments for businesses. As well as offering the security of encryption, the payment gateway is linked up to the card-issuing banks, who release the credit and debit cards.

The process

To clarify, here's how your online payments will be processed:

1) When purchasing, the customer is taken to an order form where they submit their payment information.

2) When the customer clicks "submit", the payment information becomes encrypted and sent to the vendor's payment gateway.

3) This information is then re-encrypted and sent to the vendor's merchant account.

4) The data is again forwarded to the card-issuing bank for authorisation.

5) An authorisation code is then sent back along the chain (merchant account, then payment gateway) so that the transaction can be completed. The money then leaves the buyers account and arrive in the seller's, via the merchant account.
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Tags: dilemma, credit card payments, merchant account, credit card fraud, confidence, payment gateway, currencies, rbs, acquirer, payment solutions, current account, savvy consumers, initial fee, payment transactions