The
3 Steps to Accepting Credit Cards
Accepting credit card orders on the Internet is easier said
than done — credit card transactions are a complex process,
and hundreds of companies offer products that claim to handle
the details for you. Choosing the best one for you is not
easy. Regardless of the companies or services you enlist,
there are 3 basic steps to accepting credit cards: 1) Getting
the customers credit card number from the user's browser to
you securely, 2) Processing the credit card information and
authorizing the transfer of funds to a merchant bank 3) A
merchant account with a bank that underwrites the risk
involved in your transaction processing.
Taking
Credit Card Information.
The most popular way to accept credit cards securely over the
Net is the secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol. Whether you
gather customer credit card information from a form or a
shopping cart, you will want it to happen on a secure server.
In order to make a server secure using SSL, a digital
certificate is required. The digital certificate identifies
you as a legitimate business and allows all information to be
encrypted for travel over the web. Sound confusing? Well, it
can be a hassle if you don't know what you are doing.
Fortunately most web hosting providers can help you with this.
And many integrated service providers such as Bizhosting.com
take care of it automatically.
Getting a Credit Card Merchant Account
You'll need a special bank account in order to accept credit
card orders. Most banks offer merchant accounts — the problem
is figuring out which one offers the best price, usually as a
percentage of each credit card order that you submit. Most
banks charge higher fees for what they consider risky
accounts, such as those with large numbers of charge-backs or
fraudulent charges. Usually a U.S. business checking account
and good credit are required to get approved for a merchant
account.
Processing Credit Cards
This is where things get really tricky. Dozens of companies
offer transaction processing software that sends the right
information to everyone involved in the sale — your bank, the
customer's bank, the bank issuing the credit card and so on.
But most banks work with a handful of the biggest companies,
including Authorize.net. Some processors lease their services
to you for a monthly fee, while others take a percentage of
your sales. Some processors will help you get a merchant
account if you need one, and many have deals with ISPs that
provide everything you need to build an online store. Be sure
before you make any commitments that your processor is
compatible with your merchant bank and your shopping cart
software if you plan to do real-time processing.
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