Many types of businesses must be able to accept credit card payments online. Are you one of them?
The ways that businesses accept payments has changed a lot over the past several years. Online shopping is more popular than ever now.
The reasons are simple. Everyone likes the convenience factor of not dealing with crowds at stores.
You also don’t have to use gas, time and energy looking for something that may or may not be in that physical location. Buying online is a time and money saver!
We as customers have more trust it now, too. This is partly because we are able to research items first.
Online reviews like Google+ and Yelp give consumers insight into companies and products before purchasing. We’re able to see what our peers think and what their experiences have been.
It used to be customers took a bit of a risk in ordering merchandise or products online. There were few reliable resources for them to research the items first before purchasing.
They had to accept the fact that the items ordered might not look or perform as shown on their computer screens. They also had to accept that they might have to return the item if it didn’t meet expectations.
And of course, what if the seller was actually a scammer?
This is now a thing of the past. For the most part anyway. There will always be a slight chance they will have to return an item bought online, but the risks are far lower now because the Internet has become almost as transparent as real life.
It’s not just being able to buy with confidence now, though.
You also want the confidence that your valuable payment information isn’t ripped off! That could ruin more than just your day…
So one of the main goals for businesses online now is to ensure customers have 100% trust as well as security in the online payment process!
There are a lot of different options for setting up payment processing to accept credit cards.
Because there are hundreds of options, it can be confusing for business owners. What company offers the best ease of use, the best rates, the best security, and the best customer service?
Tough questions, but there is a solution out there for you! One that will fit your business needs best.
Traditional methods for accepting online payments are a combination of merchant accounts and payment gateways.
Most businesses have a merchant account that lets them accept credit card payments.
A payment gateway connects your business with your merchant account. It facilitates the transaction process between the card issuer’s bank and your own.
One way of describing it would be a digital version of a brick-and-mortar store’s POS.
Be aware that there will be fees for both the merchant account and the payment gateway.
But there are a lot of different options out there for you. Some of them have competitive fees for transactions and some won’t charge you fees for setting up.
To accept credit card payments online, you’ll need to apply for the merchant and payment gateway.
Once approved, you will then need to connect them. You can do this by configuring your online store with API keys, web tokens and shared secret keys.
Sounds fun, huh?! Don’t worry… in many cases (the best ones) a customer service rep will walk you through the process.
What are the benefits to being able to accept online credit card payments?
The benefit for online businesses is obvious.
What is the point of selling your products or services online if the customer has to come to a brick-and-mortar to pay for it? Talk about a recipe for total failure. I’d venture a guess that business owners know better than to attempt something so foolish.
You have an online business.
You want your customers to get through their shopping experience without a problem, right?
Ensuring that they can navigate through the transaction process with no problems is important. Making it easy and intuitive is essential.
So is making it secure.
Setting up your “shopping cart” to be user friendly is an important aspect of the transaction. The cleaner its appearance and more simple it is to use, the better.
Explore all your options and find the solution that works best for your business type. There are a plethora of options out there for you to choose from, each with their own features and price points.
Be sure to check reviews and legitimate, objective articles if you can find them.
Learn more (free) by calling us at (888) 510-9871 or visiting www.redfynn.com.
