In an era when online shopping and marketing has been vital in promoting a product and being consumer friendly, it is noteworthy to know it is impossible without online payment gateways.

We know that a lot of transactions take place via Payment Gateways, for those who don’t know about Payment gateways:

What is a Payment Gateway?

A payment gateway could be termed as an online application that enables and authorizes payments for e-marketing, business, online retail services and shopping etc. This e-commerce service provider is an authorized system associated with the respective banks via which the transactions can take place.  When such transactions have the potential involvement of important statistics, the payment gateway enable perfect security and encrypted information for sensitive details that may include credit card numbers, ensuring that transaction details are exchanged among the customer, merchant and payment processor.

What ensures the security of using Payment Gateways?

• The most basic concern for the Payment gateway service provider to validate the IP of the requesting server in order to authorize the payment for a product. Any lack in this aspect could result in any loss of potential information. However, considering the security ensured in these services it is most trusted for transactions.

• Since these transactions involve entering personal and sensitive information, the entire process of communication of the main Transaction page is done via HTTPS [Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure].HTTPS protocol enables to provide encryption and secure (website security testing) identification of the server, which ensure proper transfer of the details and does not allow any mishap.

• Validating the request in the payment page is usually confirmed with a signed request which is usually confirmed by entering SECRET WORD which is provide to the merchant and the payment gateway.

With the advent of more usage for online transactions, certain payment gateways are improving the standards of security in the transactions. One such addition is the Visual Payer Authentication (VPA) implemented as 3D secure protocol – branded as verified by Visa. We also have an elite add-on by MasterCard: SecureCode which adds an additional security layer online payment. The system of 3D secure protocol enables to eliminate some errors faced by merchants.

How payment gateways work?

In simple terms, payment gateways enable swift, easy and secure online transaction for the service provided which is processing that links the customer, merchant and the payment gateway service provider.

• The customer selects the product and places the order as done by clicking the respective button for the site.

• When the order is done using a website, the transaction details as encrypted by using HTTPS protocol is sent from the web browser and merchant server. Secure protocol enables secure transfer of details.

• Transaction details at the merchant’s web server is forwarded to the payment gateways which is again sent to the payment processor as provided by the merchant’s associated bank account and then the payment processor proceeds the transaction information to the respective card service provider(Visa/MasterCard).

• This process is followed by an authorization request as received by the credit card issuing back and sent to processor which also mentions response for transaction request. This response also includes reasons for declined transfer if the transaction is not approved. The processor then forwards the response to the payment gateway.

• Similar to the process that started, the information as transferred to the website used to process the payment and thereby ensuring the completion of the transaction. It is not a wonder that the entire process only takes few seconds for completion.

• The merchant later submits details about approved transactions to their supported acquiring bank for the settlement, the process that usually takes around a maximum of 3 days or even sooner.

• It is notable that many service providers provide proper authorization request and tools to detect any fraud in the transaction.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Seeking for credit-card processing is a matter for online business that each industry should do, particularly smaller types that require the better earnings. Building web based payments obtainable just as one choice for the consumers is a very clever decision, just because of the total amount of individuals you are going to be opening your goods up to. Motivating quantities of individuals are purchasing online at present, and then you’ll want to be a piece of that. This contains searching into most of the several services on the market which can be found for corporations that wish to enlarge their possibility by way of the amount they’re making yearly. Credit card processing begins through finding the products you are likely to buy for the business. It is possible to get a variety of firms which will provide you access enormous persons throughout the earth with chief credit cards.

Digital credit card that develops your business

You can develop a digital credit card workstation in your site, providing your clients a spot wherever they could input all of the information and obtain it refined, so that they can buy several of your services on the net. This procedure must be a quick, simple, and competent individual for them; as a result they’ll continue recurring for their upcoming purchases. Plenty of companies are beginning to employ what known as a buying cart method for his or her web site. This includes simulating the knowledge of purchasing in a genuine store simply on the internet. Buyers can click on a key which adds a product with a digital shopping cart, after that while they’ve the all thing they need, they could thump a key to try and pay.

An increasing number of companies are thinking that this really is an ideal way to drastically boost gaining potential in addition to unlock themselves around a complete fresh collection of consumers that store internet. You’ll yet be capable of receive payment from buyers using the telephone. They could input all of the credit-card or debit-card information using the telephone keys then transmit fee to your company directly. Accepting global credit or debit-card payments signifies that your company will start to feel a pointy boost in its earnings and also the sheer quantity of consumers which begin coming in.

How to make your business the best?

It would be best to ensure to select a supplier of those products that expenses reasonable charge all of which will provide you the whole thing you require with regards to e-commerce choices for your corporation. A few of these businesses will really assist you to style a technique of payment to your web page which is exclusively prepared to attract new clients. When you have found that the possibility for your company has not still been achieved, after this you will definitely desire to check out all your choices regarding getting credit cards being a type of payment to your services.

There are a variety of companies who’re planning an e-shop to improve income and produce extra traffic for his or her company. Searching into web based credit card processing is an excellent suggestion for just about any business or corporation who desires to increase the quantity of clients who’ve access their services.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

An online merchant always strives to know more about the e-Commerce business. And by now, if you are an adept merchant, you would have heard about payment gateways! Merchant newbies may be intimidated by this seemingly “heavy” word but fret not, we will enlighten you about how it works. Read on!

1. A Payment gateway is a computer program that works for online businessmen. If you plan to sell your goods online, then you need to have a Payment Gateway.

2. A Payment Gateway works in conjunction with a shopping cart software using an online shopping cart, customers browsing through the products that you have showcased online, can select whatever they would like to purchase including it’s color, size, quantity, etc. After the decision to buy all the items has been made, the customer is allowed to proceed to the virtual checkout counter where the shopping cart software not only adds up all the cost of the items chosen, but also adds the necessary shipping tax and other charges to finally compute the total payment due. The shopping cart itself contains an online form where customers enter their credit card numbers and other pertinent customers’ information.

3. The card information entered is encrypted by the shopping cart software. once the online form is complete, the customer clicks “SEND”. Then, the payment gateway software encrypts the information and submits the data to the credit card processing company. The gateway then informs the customer whether his/her credit card transaction is accepted or denied with the appropriate return message. The entire process is carried out under extreme security measures!

4. A payment Gateway offers Merchant Batch Processing. At the end of every business day, the payment gateway gathers all the transactions that occurred on your site and then sends them all in one batch to your bank. The bank then collects payments from customers and deposits them in your account.

5. A Payment Gateway includes a reporting tool. The payment gateway software includes a reporting tool where you can view all your online shop’s transactions. You can then review these transactions, correct them, or store them in your PC. This way you stay up-to-date with your online site.

6. A payment gateway screens all transactions to check for fraud.With payment gateway, you need not worry about dishonest customers using fake, cloned, or stolen credit cards. It contains highly-effective screening tools that screens out these fraudulent transactions.

7. Virtual terminal facility.With payment gateway virtual terminal, you can manually enter this information into the payment gateway software.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

We last wrote about Square here, an iPhone app that allows consumers to purchase items using their mobile devices. Square was conceived by Twitter’s very own co-founder Jack Dorsey whose visionary thinking may very well change consumerism and e-Commerce online.

As clever as his idea is, we think a serious contender in the form of Verifone’s PAYware Mobile is hot on Square’s heels. PAYware Mobile is a payment application created for none other than Apple’s iPhone and is quite possibly one of the most attractive credit card payment processing tool for small businesses. Like Square, merchants can attach a credit card swiping device to their iPhones and immediately accept credit cards on the go! PAYware Mobile is currently being promoted aggressively by Verifone and guess what? This app is being offered in Apple’s App Store too. How’s that for a rival app?

To show how serious Verifone is about PAYware Mobile going head on against Square, they launched the app just 7 days after Square announced its release. Not only that, they made a huge ad splash on New York City cabs. And if you can see it on those NYC cabs, you can see it everywhere!

Besides the app, Apple retails stores (yes, those brick-and-mortar ones!) will be selling the credit card readers to complement PAYware Mobile’s app.

A little more competition won’t hurt. Let’s see who else jumps on to the iPhone-cum-credit card processing solution bandwagon now, shall we?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Online credit card processing providers are an online merchant’s best friend. They exist to direct your customers once they add items to the shopping cart and guide them to a secure payment gateway, completing the transaction in a flash and giving customers the satisfaction of doing business with you. And when your credibility is of the utmost importance, it pays to select the most reliable. Here are ideal properties of a good online credit card processing provider:

1. Reliable - Make sure the entire process is consistent or you will have a hard time retaining customer loyalty. Customers are happy with consistency, knowing that time and again, the transaction was completed smoothly

2. Versatile - You should be able to accept various forms of payment whenever you want, wherever you want!

3. Secure - What puts customers’ minds at ease, other than peace of mind knowing that it is safe and secure to complete transactions at your site? Without the security they need, customers will not readily transact using their credit cards for fear that sensitive information will be compromised.

Some customers quickly found out that they have outgrown PayPal and Google Checkout, and wish to obtain their own credit card processing providers. They searched high and low for the ideal provider, not knowing that they can indeed negotiate a better pay structure that would comply to their business budget. Some fees that are deemed negotiable include gateway fees, statement fees as well as the percentage of fees to be paid for each transaction completed. Some companies offer a fixed price per month, and merchants may opt for this solution if it suits their needs.

Watch out for Part 2 in our next post, where we will shed light on some of the best payment processing providers in the industry.,

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Credit cards and you
How many times have you looked at an ad that promises “great financial freedom while working in the comfort of your own home” only to quash that belief and dismiss it as a marketing gimmick? While it is true that most of these dodgy-sounding ads are actually sneaky marketing ploys to get you to buy their e-Book or other “e-products”, attaining financial freedom can actually be done in a home office when you start your very own small e-Commerce business.

Once you have your small business up and running, be prepared to tackle another issue that’s hot on your heels – credit card acceptance. To accept credit cards, you must enlist help from a credit card processing company in order to build a successful business.

Merchant accounts – Comparing tricks of the trade
In order to start accepting credit cards, you should look into setting up your own merchant account. Merchant account providers are a dime a dozen especially when you deal with online businesses. Hundreds of companies are clamoring for your business, so how does one choose the right provider? Merchant providers offer many different packages but it is essential to pay attention to those that offer a price that’s reasonable to the quality of service you will be enjoying.

What you do is sit down, draw up a list of possible merchant providers you’d like to enlist help from, and on a separate piece of paper, jot down a basic outline of your transaction data. If you have a very high amount of transactions with small dollar values, you may lose out if you sign up with a provider that charges a high fee for every dollar spent. Analyze your average transaction size and help you determine which merchant account provider plan to go with.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Everyone is selling something on the Internet these days – and for a good reason too. Forget the time when the dotcom bubble burst, budding entrepreneurs have learned from mistakes long gone and are now more savvy when it comes to making a living selling tangible and intangible goods online. If you are an e-Commerce merchant, what better way to supercharge your business than having your own online merchant account so that you can start accepting credit cards? Some of the known benefits include these wonders below:

1. Increase in sales – Once you start accepting credit cards, there’s no turning back. Your earnings will soar and that is a fact – most merchants reported an increase of up to 75% in profits once they take on a credit card processing service.
2. Real-time sales, real-time data – With Internet credit card processing, you have no worries of letting time get the better of you. Real-time Internet processing facilities lets you see everything being done immediately, sans delay!
3. Cost- and time-effective – Don’t want to spend time and money making trips to the bank just to deposit cheques? Then don’t! Online credit card processing gets everything done for you, without needing to lift a single finger off the mouse
4. Secure servers – Do you know that most customers are hesitant about buying online because they are most concerned about safety and security? When you choose a merchant account provider with good, secure servers, you help alleviate their worries – and increase your profits!
5. Round the clock support – As an online merchant account owner you and your customers get to enjoy 24 hour technical support, with professional customer service staff at your disposal
6. Payment Gateway - What better way to smooth the transactions between a customer and a merchant than a full featured payment gateway? Insist on one that lets customers pay via different electronic means

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

As a continuation to the first part of “10 Tips to Minimize eCommerce Fraud Exposure Part 1″, let’s dive into the second part.

6. Report “phishermen” who are out to benefit from spoof sites
Recently more and more phishing scams have been reported, especially from online banking customers. Imagine a scenario where a chunk of money unknowingly vanished from your account. Well, the fact is that you could very well have helped the scammer transfer YOUR own money into THEIR accounts. What happens is that the account holder receives a fraudulent email containing a link that redirects to a fake website. The site may look authentic but it’s not. So when a customer enters his or her own username and password in the spoof site, the scammer uses that information and helps himself to the money. What’s important is to NEVER click on these phishing links and report them immediately to the authorities. A good guide on how to prevent phishing scams can be found here. eCommerce store owners should also be vigilant and regularly check if spoof versions of their sites can be found online.

7. Protect your business with the best security solutions money can buy
Industry standard computer systems security is very much sought after these days and for a good reason too. You should not scrimp on this integral part in keeping your company safe from fraudsters, so when shopping for a good firewall and virus detection solution, know what you’re buying into and take the initiative to learn more about how things work.

8. Download discriminately
And that means only download files from sources you trust, not from dubious sites where files are laden with spyware and malicious viruses out to destroy and bring mayhem to the organized structure of your business.

9. Empty your USPS mailbox
You can prevent mail theft and identify theft if you made it a point to clear your mailbox. Don’t leave anything in the mailbox that could compromise your business’ security. Remember to update your addresses each time you move so that old mail with sensitive information will not be left in the mailbox.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

In a move that is being lauded by many concerned consumers, the US Federal Reserve has beat the 22nd February 2010 deadline to put new credit card rulings in place. For parents, this is indeed a much appreciated move that makes it more difficult for youths below the age of 21 years old to apply credit cards. This means that banks can only issue credit cards to teenagers if the applicants are able to remit payments or obtain signed permission from parents or guardians. This move will hopefully eliminate teenage debt, a problem is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society where credit cards are so readily available for high school youths. Although these credit cards are called “teenage credit cards”, all it does is incur debts between parents and financial institutions.

The new ruling set by Fed also protects consumers from sudden increases in interest rates and credit cards fees. This is definitely good news for many who are afraid to take on new credit cards or even maintain their existing ones for fear of a hike in interest rates. Outside the United States, it is interesting to note that the Malaysia government has set a new MYR50 credit card tax (US$15) which is imposed for every credit card held by consumers. Supplementary cards are charged less.

In related news, the Federal Reserve Board also released a new “What You Need to Know” guide that will help shed light on credit card issues experienced by most consumers. The concise guide is broken down into different sections such as:

• What your credit card company has to tell you – When they should or should not send the 45-day advance notice, and other issues
• New rules regarding rates, fees and limits – New rules include no increases for interest rate for the first year, ceiling rates on high-fee credit cards and regulations concerning minors under 21 applying for credit cards under their own name
• Changes to billing and payments – No double-cycle billing is allowed

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Supermarket champs
Once upon a time, credit cards are applied over bank counters. Today, consumers can walk up to a supermarket and apply for a co-branded credit card. Apparently, customers of these credit cards are so happy with them that satisfaction for these supermarket credit cards have surpassed levels of that from major banks’ credit cards. Telegraph.co.uk reported that supermarket credit cards are now rated the highest amongst all card products in the market, triumphing over cards issued by big names like Halifax, Lloyds and NatWest.

Just who are the ones who dared topple the traditional banks in their bid to provide more satisfaction to credit card users? Supermarket giants Tesco and Marks & Spencers, that’s who. A survey done by comparison and switching service entity uSwitch.com last year revealed that Tesco as well as Marks & Spencer emerged the people’s credit card champions while Halifax and other traditional bank cards were at the bottom of the satisfaction meter.

Satisfaction matters
10,000 cardholders were questioned and asked what cards they preferred in terms of categories that include:

• Best value for money credit card
• Most satisfying customer service
• Best payment service
• Best recommended card

Out of the group, 89.4% of Tesco and Marks & Spencer cardholders were happy with their current cards while the percentage of satisfied Halifax, Lloyds and NatWest cardholders only made up between 62% and 64%.

Other findings
Based on the surveys, uSwitch.com also reported that one in three cardholders are clueless about how their interest rates fared in comparison with other cards. More worrying is the 8% of consumers who have known all along that their credit card rates are not satisfactory but are not acting proactively to obtain better rates.

All is not lost
Some good came out of this survey. A Halifax representative said: “We take customer service very seriously and are always looking at ways to improve our offering. We are committed to listening to our customers and improving wherever possible.”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.