Essential Advice on Taking Payments Online
Take the big step.
There is nothing more convenient for a consumer than being able to browse, choose and pay online for items and almost every business can benefit from being equipped to accept payments through their website. However, in order to protect both yourself and your customers from any potential security risks it is essential that you use a reputable card payment service provider that offers an ecommerce or payment gateway solution.
The Best Deal
There are many card payment service providers offering a verifiable and trustworthy method of securing your customers payments and forwarding them safely to your bank account. Your bank may offer this service but you are also free to choose a payment processing specialist who may be able to offer a more attractive solution with different options and features.
To simplify things, you may want to opt for an integral package that includes an Internet Merchant Account (IMA). An IMA is necessary for you to trade online, but banks can be wary about allowing unproven companies to open one. Specialist card payment providers can offer a secure payment link to an IMA of their own.
Security
Having a card payment service provider is fundamental to most businesses as they offer much more than a simple cash transferring service; generally, they have state of the art protection, fraud prevention and detection software and IT support to help integrate their ecommerce solution into your web site. Your business will be in safe hands and well-looked after, without you needing to lose any time that could be better spent on growing the business.
Take credit.
Benefits
Your card payments provider can also supply you with detailed reports enabling easy financial management, to keep track of sales and funds. In addition they will be able to link the protected payment site seamlessly onto the shopping cart order process of your website, leading the customer to their secure area, protected by SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption, and returning them to your site at the end of the payment process. Dependent on the needs of your business a card service provider can also offer you the opportunity to accept payments over the phone, or even through the mail.
How it Works
For companies that do need to make use of a card payment provider’s IMA, there will be a short delay before the customer’s funds are forwarded on to your bank account. This brief delay allows for security measures to be undertaken and allows a little extra time for the issuing bank to authorise the withdrawal of funds. Once the system is up and running, you will quickly become accustomed to the time-frames involved with your particular supplier as they can vary from company to company. Indeed, prices that a card payment service provider quotes usually depend on how many transactions are processed through the site each month and whether or not the provider’s IMA is used in the processing. Make sure you are aware of any hidden monthly costs in addition to the fee payable per transaction.
Opening up your business by allowing customers to make payments online through your website is a great way to both establish and reach a new customer base. A little research and discussion with a card payments service provider will set your mind at rest and enable you to keep up with all the latest technological advances.
About the Author
This article was written by Edward, a payments processing specialist at First Data Merchant Solutions. You find out more about payment processing at www.firstdatams.co.uk.
Image Credit: Creative Commons image source
Image Credit: Creative Commons image source
