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Credit cards are fast replacing the cash payment mechanisms. With online shopping a way of life now, it is imperative that businesses are able to accept credit cards. Today, an average citizen has at least four credit cards, and they are ready to shop using cards for anything, be it online or in shops.
With such good penetration of credit cards, any business owner, even if the scale of business is not too big, should not miss out on implementing credit card payment gateways at their business establishments or websites.
Implementing the Credit Card Payment System:
There are three important parts of a credit card processing system. The first part is a secure form; one that is S.S.L. enabled and will be used to take the credit card details of the customers. This form will capture the details of the customer's credit card and the total payment will be made.
S.S.L. is short for Secure Socket Layer, a way to encrypt the sensitive credit card information, and is supported by all major browsers and ISPs.
The second thing is getting a merchant account with the bank where all the money will be deposited. For that, you will have to get in touch with a bank that will set up the account etc.
Thirdly, you need payment-processing software, which will connect you with the bank and help you accept payments.
If you want, you can bypass all this and implement a third party account as well, which will take care of all these hassles while you get all your money. However, they charge on a per transaction basis, so on every transaction that they process, you will need to pay a fee. Some may also charge a one time account setup fee as well.
Benefits of Accepting Credit Card Payments:
Accepting credit cards is quite beneficial for all merchants, be it small business owners or large sellers. If a small business owner does not accept credit cards, he/she may lose on the huge crowd of customers in the market, as people prefer more and more to shop with cards.
Next, all the international customers like business travelers, or tourists, prefer to use credit cards when shopping. Tourism and travel are on an all time high, and any merchant who does not offer the facility to accept credit card payments will lose out to them.
There are many facilities which small business owners can derive from such a payment system. Visa has come up with a new cash and credit management product for small business owners. Most credit cards in the world are Visa cards.
Since online purchases can be safely and quickly made using credit cards, most people prefer card payments only. If a small business owner has not implemented the credit card facility for online customers, he/she may lose out to a large number of online shoppers.
Many customers are impulsive buyers. Such customers will buy whenever they see something interesting, wherever they see it. They may not have cash on them at the time, but if they like something, they will buy it with their credit card. So to harness such customers, small business owners need to put a credit card payments system in place.
Some customers may not have enough cash reserves to shop, but may choose to buy now and pay the credit card company later.
Checks cannot be used as a reliable method of accepting payments, as they may bounce due to insufficient funds. Credit cards relieve the merchant of the concerns whether he will get his money or not.
Small business owners can make money as well as save money, as credit card payments are faster modes of payment especially if the business is run online.
PayPal today is one of the safe, secure and tested ways to transact business online. However, if you are a business owner who accepts PayPal as a mode of payment, then you are in for a surprise. A recent survey indicates that more and more users are finding paying through their credit cards a much more convenient and more feasible as compared to paying only via PayPal. As a business seller online if you are restricting your incoming payment to only PayPal, you are essentially losing out on a major chunk of customers.
When more is better!
Many online sellers have found that the more flexible their payment options are the more sales and customers they get. Why? Simply because the more payment options you provide the easier are customers going to find shopping and paying on your site. For example, maybe you have specified PayPal as mode of payment and given no option for payment through credit cards. Imagine if there is a customer who is genuinely interested in your product and wants to buy immediately and the only thing holding him or her back is the absence of a PayPal account! Now, do you think this customer is going to actually go and create a PayPal account just to buy from your website? It might be… But it might also decide not to buy. The customer will simply go to another site that accepts payments through credit card and shop there. Maybe the customer will continue shopping in the other site for many years to come! Just one single mistake on your part can restrict your sales and target shopping audience. This is why it is always better to also include credit cards as another mode of payment on your ecommerce site. In today's age of fierce competition where ecommerce sites come and go by the minute it is imperative that you go all out to accommodate multiple payment options instead of just PayPal. It is only when you are flexible enough to appeal to customer payment preferences that you will achieve better sales and brand success online.
Flexible payment gateways: the best solution!
If you want to diversify your payment options on your site and truly reach out to a much larger target audience then your best bet lies in accessing a high quality payment gateway provider. There are established and emerging payment gateways that facilitate payment through not just PayPal but also credit cards like American Express, Visa, MasterCard etc. These gateways even allow your customers to pay through Moneybookers, Google Checkout and many more. Many of these even allow your customers to deposit credit card payments directly to an Authorize.net account or a Worldpay account. One such established merchant system that provides all the above mentioned payment options is called Click2sell.EU (http://www.click2sell.eu). This site offers a wide range of payment options like Google Checkout, Moneybookers, PayPal etc. and also facilitates credit card payments and deposits directly into Worldpay or Authorize.net accounts. This way, by leveraging their service you can diversify your customer base, reach out to a larger target audience and dramatically see your sales rise by the day!
Egidijus Andreika is a creator of Click2Sell.EU Affiliate Programs Network. Click2Sell allows you to sell products online and run your affiliate program. Accept payments via Paypal, Google Checkout or direct credit card payments. Get paid instantly, provide easy payment options for customers, recruit affiliates. Visit Click2Sell affiliate marketing network.