Accepting Card Payments Online
If you are a business owner then there will come a time when you may want to sell your products or services online using a website. An e commerce payment system allows people to make an electronic payment on your website for purchases they make online. E Commerce payment systems become popular with website owners because of the growth and widespread use of online shopping and banking over the last few years. According to a survey carried out by The Telegraph in 2009, 54% of people in the United Kingdom believe that it is now safe to shop online which is an increase from 26% in 2006.
Being able to accept online payments from credit cards, debit cards and paperless direct debits opens up a new area of business and a new source of revenue stream. By being able to provide an e commerce payment system that allows your websites visitors the ability to purchase online may also result in increased sales. This is due to the fact that customers can make an impulse purchase, since they can pay for stuff instantly. Another benefit of accepting credit and debits cards online is that the payments are instant and no payments clearing issues because if the visitor does not have sufficient funds then they will not be able to buy anything from your website.
Some how does a website owner go about accepting online payments? Well first your need a merchant account. This will be the account where card payments will be deposited. Most businesses that have large sales volumes will use one of the main banks because percentages per transaction work out to be cheaper. However if you have a low turn over then a third-party provider like PayPal can work out to be cheaper due to the absence of any monthly fees. Which merchant account you use will depend entirely on your specific business circumstances so I would suggest researching into this a bit more to see which type of merchant account is best for your business.
Once you have decided upon and set up your merchant account, you will then require a method of actually accepting card payments on your website. This is when an E commerce payment system is required. You will need to set up a card payment gateway integrated into a shopping cart. This will then provide the most convenience for your customers and allow them to purchase your goods or services online. By using an E commerce payment system will result in fewer lost sales because client will feel more secure as they are not taken off your website to another website to make the purchase. Everything is done on your website in the style of your website look and feel.
Be aware that there are a variety of companies who can provide you with a safe and secure e-commerce payment system. Take the time to shop around until you find the one that is best for your specific needs.
Accepting credit cards and debit cards isn’t all that difficult after all and I hope my article has proven this. The increased sales volume and many other benefits that come with being able to take payments online far outweigh any fees that business owners will have to pay for this ability to take payments online.
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