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[C1245]Credit Cards For Business

by George Meszaros, Geo

If you are new to online business, you best bet might be to outsource credit card processing. PayPal is the best example of outsourced credit card processing. Online vendors using this service don't have to worry about buying or renting credit card processing machines. In addition, they don't need to create a merchant account because PayPal is the gateway.

More established businesses usually opt for an in-house credit card processing solution. There are two basic methods of accepting credit cards online, real time processing and deferred processing.

Real Time Processing

The biggest advantage of real time credit card processing is that there is no delay in the buying process. The customer immediately knows if the order went through. This method is especially effective with companies selling downloadable products such as audio, video, or e-book. As soon as the credit card is authorized, the customer can download the product. The real time processing fulfills the need for instant gratification. If you are looking for automation, real time processing is for you. It requires more complex set up than deferred processing, but once it has been set up, credit cards are processed quickly, efficiently, and most importantly automatically.

Real time processing simplifies selling online because customers receive instant feedback. For example, if they enter an incorrect credit card number, the transaction will fail and the customer is notified instantly. Declined credit card transactions are immediately reported back to the buyer.

Secure payment gateways are the most important components of real time processing because they provide a secure connection between your website and your merchant account. Some of the largest secure payment gateway providers are authorizeNet and VeriSign.

How does payment through a secure gateway work?

?Your customer adds the product to the shopping cart.

?The connection enters secure mode, as the customer is required to complete payment information. The customer's browser encrypts the data between the web server and the customer computer.

?The website forwards the encrypted payment information to the secure payment gateway.

?The payment gateway forwards the encrypted payment information to the vendor's acquiring bank account.

?The acquiring bank forwards payment information to the customer's bank account.

?The customer's bank responds to the payment request. It either approves or declines the charge.

?The payment gateway received the response and forwards it to the vendor's website.

?Order completed or failed message is communicated to customer.

Please keep in mind that the above process is highly simplified version of the actual process. The entire transaction described above should take less that ten seconds.

The different home business opportunities you can discover online can give an additional earning for you. Engaging in business through mailing checks may not work nicely if you do not wish to waste time because of the period it needs to be confirmed and accepted. For more effective business payments, credit cards are ideal.

As a smart trader, you must know that there are actually many ways to receive credit cards. To avail of the best, read evaluations for these choices such as that of Andrew Reynolds Cash-on-Demand method. Here are a few more to widen your [selection.

PayPal. When it comes to electronic transactions, Paypal is usually utilized. It is very useful in several transactions for your stay-at-home business opportunities. It works by simply transferring to your account within 3 to five days the payment, after you obtain a verification e-mail. They have lower transaction cost of 2.9 percent and an additional thirty cents for every transaction. Its drawbacks include the fact that it isn't a federally regulated bank and some members have discussed terrible experiences with the Paypal; it may seem somewhat amateurish for some organizations to accept only PayPal (although a few customers like it); plus customers have to set up their own accounts to use it, which they sometimes oppose.

Verisign, according to any business opportunity review, is a competitor of PayPal's. They charge a flat monthly rate to join, plus a lower transaction fee than PayPal. If you're charging a higher volume of credit cards, Verisign is probably a more cost-effective choice for credit card transactions.

One of the most trusted methods of credit card payment for the home business opportunities is the merchant account. All you need to do is to affiliate to any bank and pay all needed fees. Then you set up a script you can run into your site. This script will run into your website and will permit all your customers to pay with the use of your card. Yet, always remember to never let any confidential information leak into the public. You can request your ISP to supply you with secure socket layer technology.

Other online payment alternatives are available, and they do not ask for an account. The disadvantage is that these charge more on the transaction rates. Yet, these are balanced by the added benefits one is able to avail of, for example Clickbank's affiliate program, or Digibuy's virtual shopping carts as well as order testing.

Some credit card companies like American Express and Discover can give merchant accounts to their trader clients, and you can ask them. Yet, some big credit card companies do not have that, therefore you must have a bank account first so that you can do some credit card processing.

Only if you permit credit cards for your business transactions will your home business opportunities have a very nice opportunity to make it big as well as rival with all other similar businesses in the Internet. Hence, why worry about the fees?

Article Source : Your Online Business

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Both George Meszaros & Colinmcnulty are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

George Meszaros has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Affiliate Programs and Massage. . George Meszaros's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.

Colinmcnulty has sinced written about articles on various topics from The Internet, Credit Cards and Your Online Business. Visit to find reviews of eBay business opportunities for example. Colinmcnulty's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.