So you are a merchant with a website and you wish to process because you are aware that credit card processing is the most convenient and most common mode of payment on the internet. Well, first of all, besides your website or online store you need to have a merchant account provider, engage the issuer of the credit cards that you plan to accept as payment, and use the payment gateway services.
Let's see what actually happens when credit card payments are accepted online.
Now, in order to sell your goods online, you, the merchant, need to have a merchant account and a payment gateway account. When a customer visits your website and decides to buy something he will type in his particular credit card details. The billing information and order details are immediately dispatched to the payment gateway secure server by the online store administrator where they are processed and then sent to the merchant's acquiring bank. The bank then sends the information to the bank that has issued the credit card in order to get the transaction verified.
Once the verification is made the payment will be either approved or rejected. This response is then forwarded to the merchant's acquiring bank by the credit card issuing bank and the bank then forwards these transaction details to the . If a payment has met with approval, the payment will be deposited into the merchant's account. The details are then sent back to the website or online store. Then the same information is then presented to the customer, and he is informed that his credit card was charged. If a payment has not met with approval, it will be rejected or denied and the customer will be informed of this, too.
Although this sounds as if it is a lengthy process it is streamlined and takes only a few seconds to be performed.
How much a merchant account and a payment gateway costs can be different depending upon the provider. Of course, you will be expected to pay a one-time set up fee, and you may also be obliged to pay a discount rate for each payment, as well as a minimal fee for each transaction. Again, fees could also be charged on the transaction total, at various processing stages of an online payment. All this normally adds up to but two to three percent of the total charges.
Practically all experienced webmasters all over the world realize the value of online credit card processing and use it to their advantage as it helps to optimize their business. Why don't you join them?
