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ACCEPTING ONLINE PAYMENTS
FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS
There are many different
ways for payment processing for your
online business. This article will
explain some options that are available
in the market. You can make your self
aware of all the options and choose the
best one for your business.
If you are the owner of a
retail store and you are setting up the
website to expand your business so that
your customers can now see and place
purchase orders for the products
available in your store, online, then
most probably you will already have a
credit card merchant account to accept
credit card payments. In such a case,
you will not require an online merchant
account for your business. You can just
have a form that should be filled up and
faxed to you by your customers, which
can be processed by typing the details
manually in to the credit card terminal
used in the store. But, if you like to
beat the competition and stay ahead then
you should accept credit card payments
on your website. There are different
methods to do the same.
The most efficient way
for internet merchants is to sign up
with any 3rd party processor
like PayPal. It is a very simple process
where you sign up with a 3rd
party processor and they give you an
account. Then, your website will have an
ordering form which will be processed by
the 3rd party processor so
that you get your payments.
However, there is a
transaction fee that is charged for
every transaction, by the processor. It
ranges between 2 and 15 percent, which
depends on the processing company and
also the volume of your transactions
each month. These processing firms can
also process recurring bills.
A few of the 3rd
Party Processors can also process your
customer’s orders through the automated
telephone system. In this method, the
customers of your business should call a
specific number and place the order. The
customer is asked to key in a secret
code, known only to him. Once the goods
or services is delivered the amount due
will be charged in the phone bill.
A few other 3rd
party merchants also offer the option of
online check payment. This allows your
customers to enter their routing and
account number of the checking account
in the form and debit their checking
account electronically. This is a good
option to offer to the customers of your
business, as every body will not have a
credit card. This option will also help
your business to make more sales.
While choosing a 3rd
party processor, be sure to check the
service record of the processor. If you
find that there were several system
failures in the past 5 years then don’t
open an account with that processor, as
every minute during the system failure
will cost your business dearly. If you
have enough funds, you should set up a
merchant account of your own and hire a
programmer to create an order form of
your own. |
