Most business owners want the option of processing credit card payments online, but many do not understand what they need in order to make it happen. The process is really quite simple, but it is easy to get confused by simply browsing merchant services websites. This article will serve as an outline of requirements for setting up online credit card processing. Everything you need to do is included here and can be used as a checklist for moving forward.
The first thing you will need is a website with a domain name which is hosted on a server. This website must have some sort of shopping cart system that allows customers to choose their purchases or pay their bills. The shopping cart should calculate the purchases automatically. A variety of shopping cart systems can be purchased online, or a web developer can be hired to design a unique shopping cart system. This system should also include an order form for customers to enter personal banking information. This form will usually include an area for entering the customer’s name, card information, billing address, and possible shipping address.
Because this personal information is important to customers, it must be kept on a secure server. Order forms that are not on a secure server are subject to hacking and other problems. Any information a customer enters into their order form is sent to the server hosting the website. With a Certified Secure Server, the information is sent using SSL encryption. This prevents any data interception so that there can be no unauthorized decoding. SSL is a military grade encryption, so customers can rest assured that their identities and banking information are completely secure.
A payment gateway makes credit card processing possible. Gateways are basically tunnels that allow authorization, processing, and management. This is the actual mechanism that transfers a customer’s information to be processed. In conjunction with a gateway, the final required element for online processing is a merchant account. This is the actual payment processor. Merchant accounts can be set up through independent processing companies or banking institutions and provide the actual processor for authorization, capturing, and credit card settlement. A shopping cart uses a payment Gateways to send the customer information to a merchant account, and the payment is then instantly processed.
Once you have all of these elements in place, you are ready to begin processing payments online and enjoy the convenience and speed of credit card transactions through your website. This is the ultimate in efficiency reducing the amount of physical man-hours needed to take payments and process orders.