There are many reasons why one might want to accept payments online. Perhaps you sell a couple of products, but not enough to spend the time and money necessary to set up a full-fledged shopping cart. Maybe you are running an event and need to let guests register. Or you are driving a fundraiser campaign and want to anonymously accept payments online. Regardless of the situation, there are three main ways that you can begin to accept credit cards online.
All methods will require two things. A payment gateway allows you to take credit cards via the Internet. This will most likely be provided by a third party. The second thing you need is a merchant account. This lets you receive money at your merchant bank. Often times the payment gateway provider will help you set this up.
The first method of accepting online payments is through your own website. This way allows for the most flexibility with branding and design of the payment form. Once they fill out the form, you will send their info to the payment gateway provider and begin the process of accepting credit cards. While it allows for a lot of flexibility and branding, this way takes the most effort.
The next way to accept payments online is via a third party payment page. This is very similar to creating your own, except that the page will be hosted on a third-party website. This relieves you of the security requirements necessary to take payments from your website. It also limits your flexibility. Depending on the third-party provider, you may or may not be able to customize the online payment page.
Finally, you can accept credit cards online via a virtual terminal. This is very similar to a cash register terminal where you have to type the credit card information manually. This way does not provide a way for your customers or guests to sign up themselves, but lets you directly control the transactions.
Regardless of your needs, accepting credit cards online can be an easy and painless process. Finding the right third-party online payment system is key to smoothly accepting online payments.
Chiranjit Kumar Das is an Internet marketing specialist and I suggest Payolee They provide an easy way to securely accept payments online. They handle everything from the merchant account services to providing a payment gateway.
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