Accepting credit cards on your website
If you plan to see things on your website, you will probably find a way to accept credit cards on your site. This article will provide basic information on adding credit card payment facilities to your website.
How to accept credit card payments
There are actually two ways in which you can accept credit cards on your site.
- Using your own merchant account. To do this, you will need a bank that allows you to open a merchant account. Check with your local banks for more information on this.
- Through a third party merchant. There are numerous companies around that are willing to accept credit card payments on your behalf in exchange for various fees and percentages. These are also known as “payment gateways”.
Which type should you use?
Like most things, the answer to this question depends on what you plan to do with your site. The initial costs of opening your own merchant account is usually higher than through a third party merchant. But, the transaction fee is much higher when you use a third party as compared to when using your own merchant account.
A third party merchant is usually easier to use if you aren’t sure how much money you will make with your product or service. It is also helpful that the merchant does all of the work. You just get paid at the end of each payment period (if you have earned enough) and that’s it.
It might cost a little more up front and require a bit more work in the beginning to set up a merchant account, but the transaction costs are usually much lower. However, you have to be careful to minimize your credit card risks since you’ll be processing the credit card payments yourself.
List of third party merchants
I have provided a list of some third party merchants that you might want to consider if you’re looking for ways to accept credit card payments. Remember that these are just pointers, so use them at your own risk.
Also, don’t take my word for the prices listed. Although I try to monitor their prices, they might have changed since the time of this article. Make sure that you check the current information from their site before making any decision.
The list is arranged alphabetically.
PayPal: They let you to set up a Premier or Business account (you can’t receive credit card payments using a Personal account). The charges range between 1.9% plus 30 cents to 2.9% plus 30 cents for each transaction. Non-US users are charged different amounts according to the country.
Amazon’s WebStore: Amazon allows you to create a virtual store front that accepts processes credit card transactions for you. And as long as you have a domain name, you can use this “store” as your website. The first month is free, and there is a charge of $59.99 per month after that. You can choose to have your goods sold on the main Amazon site, in addition to your own store for a higher monthly fee of $99.98 after your first free month.
CCNow: This is only for people who ship physical products. There is no setup fee, and they charge 9% per transaction except in the November and December where the fees are 8% per transaction.
Google Checkout: This also is only for people who ship physical products, but you can also use it to charge for services and subscriptions. Charges range from 1.9% plus 30 cents to 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, depending on the volume of sales in the previous month. If your buyer is not from your country, there is also another 1% processing fee.
ProPay: Depending on the type of account you sign up for, you have to pay an annual fee (starting from $34.95) as well as transaction fees of 3.5% plus 35 cents. However, to accept cards like American Express and Discover, you have to use their more expensive plans.
How to place an order form or shopping cart on your website
Once you sign up with a vendor, you will be able to put an order form or shopping cart on your site. Each vendor should have premade forms that you can customize for your product or service pretty easily.
If you use PayPal, you might want to read the following article, Placing an order form on your website using PayPal.
on October 14, 2011 at 4:29 pm
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Payment processing is all about security. You seriously cannot beat Paypal when it comes to support. 3% 4% 5% does not matter to me as long as I am working with a company that I know I can have my private information secure. You are really paying for security.