Credit card Processing is widely integrated over Internet connections. The benefits of accepting credit cards online include the fact that you can access all your orders, transactions, and reports from any computer in the world with Internet access. You do not need a separate transaction terminal either.
Processing credit card transactions online may be accomplished using a virtual terminal, which allows you to manually process mail and telephone credit card transactions, as well as issue credits. You may follow the simple integration method in which your website can be directly linked to the system to accept credit card payments from customers in real-time with complete automation. Thirdly, there is the advanced integration method that provides a mechanism to link more complex web sites with the transaction gateway server; this requires custom programming.
Taking credit card transactions over the Internet is a three step process:
- Opening a merchant Account: You need a merchant account to actually start accepting credit card payments. This involves signing up with a bank credit application and getting set up to have funds transferred into your account. There are several merchant account providers out there willing to open up your account. You need to evaluate the choices available to you by comparing their rates and fees, and the requirements for the application process of each. Finally, get price quotes from up to three different merchant card providers, and apply for a merchant account. The application and approval process follows. Once you have your merchant account, you can immediately start accepting credit cards for your products and services.
- Setting up Internet Transaction Processing: With a merchant account in place, it’s time to set up the mechanism needed to process transactions. Internet payment processing involves transaction processing over an open Internet connection, potentially even on the Web server itself. Internet transaction services typically provide an API, an HTML type input terminal for manual entry and full online reports of transactions and batches.
- Integrating the Transaction Processing into your site: Once the logistics are set up and you begin to process credit cards online, you would also need to integrate the software into your application. Most providers have an API that allows code access to processing functions. API architecture also varies from client server pieces and pure server pieces. Client server pieces are more difficult to set up as the client site needs to be configured with secure keys and requires the server to be configured to match. Pure server side APIs typically require no client setup and are more flexible as you can use HTTP tools of your choice.
You may acquire the above services from a separate merchant account provider , and a separate transaction processor. However, to make your job easier, there are services which combine the merchant account and Internet processing into a single service. But for this privilege, the rates tend to be higher. Be cautious when you shop around. Most of the providers work with agents that work on commission. They sell you a service at their own markup rates, for their own profit - prices can vary widely.
