Starting a business on the Internet isn't as hard as starting a

traditional offline business, or expensive. However, when it comes to

eCommerce credit card processing, many online business owners are

overwhelmed and confused as to what is needed, what is required, how

much it should cost, and how to get the service that they need for

their customers. This information is designed to help you figure it all

out.

Before you can accept online payments, you need a merchant

account. This is an account used to collect credit card payments, and

then to send the payments to you. When payments are received, the money

goes into the merchant account. The merchant account provider will

usually direct deposit your funds daily, weekly, or monthly, depending

on the agreement that you have with them. They will also hold out a

portion of the payment to cover any charge backs that may occur, and

this money is released to you after a certain period of time.

Encryption

is vital for online eCommerce credit card processing. When financial

information is submitted on a web form it must be carefully encrypted

before it is sent through cyber space so that the information cannot be

accessed and stolen by thieves. This means that you not only need a

merchant account, but you also need a gateway system for processing the

payments. Typically, this gateway is provided by a third party service,

and there is a fee for this service. Some merchant accounts will

provide you with the gateway, but these merchant accounts often charge

higher rates than other services.

Typically, your account will be

set up so that your customers can put in their credit card information

when they make their purchase, during the ordering process, or you can

put the credit card information into a web form yourself in a private

'back-office' online environment. Your merchant account provider will

give you instructions for both process situations when you sign up for

the service. It is important to note that when customers enter their

own credit card information, the form that is used for this must reside

on a site that has SSL, or secured socket layer technology. Check with

your web hosting company to learn more about this.

In many cases,

you may require offline processing as well as eCommerce credit card

processing. If this is the case, you might want to go with a mobile

device that includes the ability to collect payments online. Otherwise,

you may need two different services to collect credit card payments,

and this can cost a great deal of money. There are numerous options

available for combination offline and online processing, and different

options have different price tags, of course. Before you sign up with

any service for online processing, carefully consider whether there

will ever be a time when offline processing will be required, and also

compare the cost of a simple online solution as compared to an

online/offline solution.

Do not allow the needs and requirements

of eCommerce Credit Card Processing to alarm you. An experienced

salesperson can help you with the entire process of getting set up to

accept online payments, even if you do not know a great deal about web

pages, security, and other issues that are pertinent.

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