Taking Payments Online

February 19, 2011

In a nutshell, accepting credit card payments online involves setting up definitive prices for a service and inserting the pay button(s) on your site.

You'll need a pay button or a pay link for each different price a client might have to pay

The basic components for accepting online credit card payments are:

1. Merchant account - These are best obtained through your bank for your business account. You must specify that you will be accepting online payment and "card present" payments and affirm that they are providing you with the right product.

2. Payment gateway - These are companies that handle exchanging currency between banks. These companies provide various services like a secure connection and other technology that might be needed.

3. Shopping cart - Only required if a merchant is offering multiple for purchase at the same time. This is special software that is designed to communicate with the payment gateway.

4. SSL Certificate - This is a software feature added to your site for the purpose of encrypting sensitive information from web forms. It is a separate purchase obtained through your hosting provider. The proper set up of an SSL certificate is critical. Having your hosting company perform the set up is wise and worth any additional set up fee.  

PayPal eliminates the need for four separate components which is why it's so popular. PayPal has serious drawbacks in that people who inadvertently set up a PayPal account while making a purchase with their credit card will not be able to purchase your goods using that credit card. Instead, they will be prompted to use that long-forgotten PayPal account.