For many types of businesses the ability to accept payment from clients online is a major benefit. In some cases it may even be vital.
It was not long ago that the amount of effort, resources, expertise and risks involved with enabling a web site for secure online transactions and payment processing was prohibitive. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. There are a number of elements involved with the integration of a secure online system into a web site. The key aspects are summarized below.
Internet Merchant Account: An account with a bank that allows you to accept credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc) as a form of payment, over the web, from your customers. NOTE: Traditional Merchant Accounts, those used in face-to-face transactions as in a bricks-and-mortar business, are generally NOT authorized for use in online transactions.
Click here to inquire about enabling your web site to accept credit card payments from your customers.
Payment Gateway (Processing) Service:
An online system for real time charging/processing of credit cards
when your customer places an order. The processor then deposits the
funds collected from your customer's credit card into your Internet
Merchant Account(s). You require an Internet Merchant Account for
each of the credit card types you wish to be able to accept (Visa,
MasterCard, etc.).
If you already have your Internet Merchant Accounts set-up but do not have a gateway service, we can help. Click here to ask us how.
Recurring Billing:
If you need to automatically bill customers on a regular/periodic
basis we can help. With recurring billing you can provide your customers
with the convenience of having funds automatically withdrawn from
a bank account or apply a charge to the credit card of their choice.
Receipts can be automatically sent by email (to you and your client)
with each transaction. This functionality is an excellent tool for
membership and subscription based services. This service is available
as an add-on to real-time payment processing. If you are interested
in this functionality, let us know.
Off-Line Payment Processing:
You may wish to have the ability to accept credit card payments for
orders placed over the telephone, face-to-face or by means other than
the Internet. With a fully featured payment processing solution you
will be able to turn your computer into a credit card terminal to
handle these types of transactions. This elimates the need to have
a duplicate set of traditional merchant accounts and payment processing
solution. If you already have a traditional credit card processing
solution in place for your business, you may be able to replace it
and enjoy considerable overall savings. Ask us about off-line payment
processing.
Security and Encryption:
In order protect sensitive information that must be communicated during
an online transaction a very high level of data encryption must be
used. The system of choice is a protocol known as Secure Socket Layers
(SSL). SSL is available in various strength levels with 128-bit being
the most highly recommended. We have partnered with GeoTrust, one
of the premiere providers of online security solutions. Please contact
us with any questions you have about this often mystifying subject.
Our Payment Processing Partner
Facilitating secure, efficient and seamless online credit card transactions
is much easier today than just a couple of years ago. This is largely
due to the efforts of companies that specialize in bringing together
the areas of bank relationships, merchant accounts, electronic processing,
security. They streamline the administrative process for getting you
set-up and provide fully-featured technical solutions to enable easy
integration of your payment processing solution into your web site
and online shopping cart.
After extensive research we have selected the experts at Payment Services Interactive Gateway Inc. (PsiGate) as our partner to provide payment processing solutions. You can learn more about PsiGate by visiting their web site or email them