Credit Card Processing: How To Accept Credit Card Payments Online

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If you have a business that operates over the Internet, you must be able to accept credit card payments. This is the safest and most convenient way to pay, and not offering this facility will make you look unprofessional and doom your online business.

These are the necessary steps you will need to go through with online credit card processing:

Set up a merchant account:

These are set up with your bank so you can accept credit card transactions over the phone or Internet. It is known as a MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order) despite it also applying to the Internet. It’s also referred to as a Card Not Present (CNP) transaction, and it is the merchant not the bank who is liable for any fraud arising as a result of the transaction. The merchant will be charged a fee by the credit card issuer – Visa, MasterCard or Bankcard – for credit card payments of the CNP variety, typically 2% to 4%. The bank or online payment service will also charge. American Express and Diners Club are different and you will need to talk to them about their own processes.

Authenticate the transaction:

As the actual card is not present with credit card payments made online, there is a risk that the details may not be true. It is the merchant’s responsibility to check that the purchaser is the rightful owner of the credit card being tendered. It does not take a great deal of ingenuity to make a fraudulent online purchase with a credit card. You could check with the card issuer to make sure it has not been reported stolen, or chase up the details provided in an online telephone directory. A delivery address that is different from a cardholder address may suggest something fishy, especially if the delivery address is a PO box. However, it is perfectly feasible that someone is using their own credit card to purchase goods or a gift for delivery to another person. Expensive orders may also sound alarm bells. Your online order form should request all the credit card information, including credit card type, card number, customer name, card expiry date, the 3-digit code on the reverse of the card, and the issuing bank. HNC Software’s Falcon Fraud Manager is credit card payment verification software that is used by larger companies, but others are available.

Credit card processing:

This is the part where you get the money transferred to your account. Banks and other companies can carry this out at a cost, but credit card processing done by the merchant needs to be secure. The customer’s details should not be accessible via the Internet, in case of hacking. Instead, they should be stored on a separate system unconnected to the Internet. You can also choose to process credit card payments in one batch, or as they occur in real-time. The most popular real-time service is the Camtech E-Commerce System.

• Comparison of Top 10 Credit Card Offers

Editor's Choice: Our Top Credit Cards

Credit Card	Card Details	Interest Rate (p.a.)	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Interest free days (up to)
HSBC Credit Card	Editor's Choice: 0% for 6 months Balance Transfer & No Annual Fee Featuring a $0 annual fee for life, and 0% p.a. balance transfer for 6 months, the HSBC Credit Card was voted the Best Transactor Credit Card for 2010.	16.99%	20.75%	0% for 6 months	$0	55
Suncorp Clear Options Standard Visa Card	A great 12 month balance transfer offer, combined with a low annual fee and a good interest rate on purchases.	12.24%	17.99%	1.9% for 12 months	$39	0