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PC_Doctor_Guide_21_Accepting_Credit_Cards_on_Your_Website
| PC Doctor+ Guide 21 Accepting Credit Cards on Your Website
Accepting Credit Cards on Your Website If you're running a
business producing any kind of product or service then you
really should have a website. The reasons for saying this are:
At the lowest level, web sites allow you to advertise your
product or service at costs which compare very well against
conventional advertising methods. In addition, merely having
your own domain name adds status to you business while a domain
based e-mail address adds credibility to your business. I don't
wish to be unfair to Freeserve or any other general ISP but if
you are using a Freeserve e-mail address for your business then
you are hardly conveying the impression of a main player
business. Which looks better to you? sales@yourcompany.com or
jkl501@fsnet.net Once you have a web site you may consider at
which level you wish to operate it: A simple site which
advertises your product or services. Remember even a simple
site, optimised correctly, will allow people searching the web
to find your business. Even if your site only provides details
of your product/service and contact details this is still a
significant plus and far more flexible (and cheaper) than
placing an advertisement in Yellow Pages A site with the ability
to accept orders by telephone or e-mail and receive on-line
payment. A full e-commerce site where people can order on-line
using the customary 'shopping basket' and on-line payment. Here
we will deal with the second level - a fairly simple site but
one which has the facility to accept on-line payments by credit
or debit card. Many people think that this must be a complicated
task with many serious considerations - not least of which is
security - but not so. If you have a product or service to sell
then you can be accepting credit/debit cards on-line in a matter
of hours. Merchant Accounts High Street stores which accept
credit/debit cards have what is known as full merchant accounts
often now known as PDQ accounts because of the card swiping
machines that are connected by telephone to the clearance system.
To qualify for a PDQ account a business will generally have had
to have been trading for 18 to 24 months and be able to supply
signed off accounts for the qualifying period. If accepted, the
service involves a monthly subscription payment - allegedly for
the use of the PDQ machine - and it will also deduct a
commission, typically of between 1 and 3%, on each sale. Most if
not all of the high street banks offer full merchant accounts.
For smaller retailers and for SMEs which sell products and
services direct or on-line the banks have come up with
alternative solutions. These involve setting up an on-line
account with the merchant account providers through which all
transactions take place. In this way security issues are handled
by the provider and with organisations such as The Royal Bank of
Scotland and the National Westminster Bank potential buyers can
feel secure with their transaction. With each, the business user
visits the providers website and creates a 'BUY' button which
is then copy/pasted onto the business users website. When a
visitor clicks on the button a payment window opens and the
visitor enters details of their credit card/debit card. Money is
then transferred into the user's online account. The provider
will make a charge on each transaction. The business user can
view the account status on-line to see when monies have been
received but the providers generally also e-mail the user so
that he knows when monies have been cleared and goods can be
safely despatched.
E-commerce has revolutionised global trade. Market size
projections from technology research company Forrester
(http://www.forrester.com/) indicate that more than $133bn of
sales were made on-line during 2002. What's more, by 2006 annual
sales will increase to more than $560bn. Here we highlight three
of the better known examples of on-line merchant facility
providers:
PayPal World Pay Fastpay Generally speaking, it costs nothing to
set up an on-line merchant account with all three and actual
operation is fairly simple. Charges are made against
transactions and are not excessive although they do vary - this
is how the providers earn their money. It's worth doing a quick
comparison between providers before choosing one. PayPal PayPal
is owned by eBay and recently launched its UK site. At the same
time PayPal have either reduced eliminated withdrawal fees for
its UK members. Withdrawals of under Ł50 to a UK bank will cost
50% less or Ł0.25 and fees will be eliminated completely for
withdrawal amounts of Ł50 and above. Founded in 1998, PayPal
enables any individual or business with an email address to
securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online.
PayPal's service builds on the existing financial infrastructure
of bank accounts and credit cards and utilizes the world's most
advanced proprietary fraud prevention systems to create a safe,
global, real-time payment solution. PayPal has more than 31
million account members and is available to users in 38
countries around the world. World Pay An important part of The
Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the 5th biggest banking group in
the world, World Pay payment solutions are trusted by thousands
of businesses, big and small. Customers accept payments over the
internet, by phone, fax and email. They accept Visa, MasterCard,
Diners, American Express, JCB and all the major credit cards.
Not forgetting debit cards and local payment schemes like
Switch, Laser, Electron and more. Bank transfers, instalments,
standing-order and direct-debit style payments. Even mobile
payments! All in the customer's currency and language - wherever
they are in the world. FastPay FastPay is a relative newcomer to
the market but comes with the backing of one of the UK's leading
High Street Banks the National Westminster Bank. FastPay is a
quick, easy and secure way to send and receive money by email or
mobile phone. Sign up is free, and you can start using FastPay
immediately.
To take a look at whats on offer cut and paste the following
links into your browser. PayPal:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/mrb/pal=NX9AXM2JALHP2 WorldPay:
https://secure..worldpay.com/app/splash.pl?Pid=71739 FastPay:
http://www.fastpay.co.uk
PC Doctor+ Guides are targeted at people relatively new to
computing. They may be reproduced and used as additional content
on web sites provided they are not altered in any way and a link
back to the Driver Site is included.
http://www.thedriversite.co.uk
About the author:
Steve Latimer is Web Administrator of The Driver Site
http://www.thedriversite.co.uk
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