Electronic Credit Card Processing

The success of an online business depends on the process of accepting credit card payments. This type of payment permits you to attract both impulsive buyers and casual surfers alike. It also guarantees that you get timely payment.

Electronic credit card processing facilities handle orders directly through the Internet. This is normally a complex deal that needs the coordination of many things such as your website, your consumer?s credit card company, a payment gateway, and an account into which credits are deposited. Electronic card processing is safe and secure, and it provides the best customer service.

Three major types of electronic credit card processing are available. The first type uses a virtual machine that allows manual addition of mail. The second type involves a simple integration technique that links your site directly to the credit card and bank system. The third type uses a means for custom-linking your system to other more complex systems using a transaction gateway server.

Credit cards can be processed either in real-time or in a collective manner (batch processing). Electronic credit card processing generally has excellent real-time processing speed. The business is processed instantly and the consumer knows whether or not his card is accepted. But real-time processing has greater risk of fraud, since anybody can use a stolen card before it is reported stolen. Another disadvantage is that you cannot accept any order when the electronic credit card processor's server fails. Batch processing is ideal for smaller businesses. Here, many credit card transactions are processed jointly at a later time. The risk of fraud is moderately low.

Today, many companies offer fast, reliable and safe electronic credit card processing services. Each will work with almost all major credit cards, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover.

Credit Card Processing provides detailed information on Credit Card Processing, Online Credit Card Processing, Credit Card Processing Software, Wireless Credit Card Processing and more. Credit Card Processing is affiliated with Wireless Credit Card Terminals

Small Business Credit Card Processing

Credit card payment is one of the most popular payment options on the Internet. If you own a small business and do not have a merchant account, you might find it difficult to accept credit cards. However, it is advisable to find a means to accept credit cards on your website because it is the best way to expand your customer base. Moreover, the money transaction will take place within a week.

Small businesses can accept credit cards through 3rd party processors, who will handle the entire processing. For the small business community where cash flow is less or sometimes tight, this is a most welcome alternative. Credit card processing is not very cheap. A standard fee schedule for a small-volume account with less than 1,000 monthly transactions would be a start up fee of around $200, and monthly processing fees of $20.

If you have your own website, secure and encrypted connections are the foremost requirement you need for safe credit card processing. You should also have fraud prevention tools to prevent credit card scams.

Credit card processors whom small business owners can rely on are of several types; banks are the most dependable though. Third party credit card processing companies, independent sales organizations, financial service providers, etc. act as credit card processors. While there are several credit card processing companies, the two important factors that one should look at before setting up an agreement would be "price" and "customer service potentiality" of the credit card processors.

The merchant account provider you sign up with, might require an assurance that you have a thorough knowledge of your business environment, can identify the possible risks, know how to prevent or reduce fraud etc.

Credit Card Processing provides detailed information on Credit Card Processing, Online Credit Card Processing, Credit Card Processing Software, Wireless Credit Card Processing and more. Credit Card Processing is affiliated with Wireless Credit Card Terminals.

Paynet Systems - Credit Card Processing & Merchant Account Services for less!

Paynet Systems, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a registered Merchant Service Provider of Wells Fargo Bank, NA. Paynet Systems has assisted over 15,000 customers with their electronic payment needs. Our services include access to Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card, Diners Club, checks, and every major ATM card nationwide.

Paynet Systems affirms our dedication to our clients by combining our experience, services, and promise of Consumer satisfaction into a package providing overall savings without compromising the high quality service your business deserves. Our promise of Consumer satisfaction, achievements, and experience make Paynet Systems the clear choice.

Paynet Systems, Inc provides Credit Card Processing Services and Merchant Account Services to retail, wholesale, mail order, and E-Commerce businesses. By servicing all business categories, Paynet Systems is able to custom-tailor a program best suited for your specific business needs. Paynet Systems can enable your business to accept every form of payment available including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Carte Blanche, Diners Club, checks, and every major ATM card network nationwide.

Merchant Services at Paynet Systems include access to all major credit cards and regional debit networks, cutting edge Check Guarantee Services with electronic deposit, and point-of-sale solutions that are priced not only to be competitive but also unbeatable!

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Nodus Technologies Makes Credit Card Process Automation Affordable for the SMB Market

Claremont, CA, November 06, 2006 - Nodus Technologies, the leading provider of credit card process automation, state of the art Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) e-commerce solutions, and retail chain management solutions, launched two new credit card packages for the Microsoft Dynamics market and announced a merchant services agreement with Comdata. The new packages, Credit Card Advantage Essential, and RMS Charge, provide credit card process automation at a dramatically reduced price.

Credit Card Advantage Essential is the first ISV product specifically designed and priced to support the new pricing announced by Microsoft for their Dynamics GP products. Companies that take advantage of the new Microsoft Dynamics GP pricing will get the benefits of Nodus' acclaimed Credit Card Advantage software for as little as $995.

RMS Charge is designed to extend the number of payment gateways and processors that Microsoft RMS/POS can support. With this low cost RMS Charge, customers can choose from a wide range of processors for their merchant account services.

"Nodus recently signed an agreement with Comdata that allows us to offer Microsoft MBS customers a no-hassle way to set up merchant account services at a preferred rate," said Simon Lam, COO of Nodus Technologies, Inc., "With the launch of these new products, Nodus is making the benefits of electronic payment automation available to small and medium size business which may have, in the past, found it difficult to justify the expense."

Nodus is the only "one-stop-shop" for credit card business process automation needs in the SMB market using Microsoft Dynamics GP. Recently, Nodus also launched a Merchant Account Challenge campaign to demonstrate how the company can save Microsoft MBS customers' money on merchant account services.

Nodus Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of electronic payment automation software for small and mid-size companies. Nodus leverages Service Oriented Architecture and web services technologies to provide cost effective, comprehensive: e-commerce, electronic payments and retail chain management solutions for Microsoft Dynamics. For more info please visit http://www.nodus.com

The Credit Card Debt Consolidation Process

Credit card debt consolidation is a process of taking all your bills and consolidating them in one lower monthly payment. Debt consolidation simplifies things because you no longer need to manage each individual payment. It also cuts down your interest payments, fewer late fees and miscellaneous charges. This process can also improve your credit rating. Your household budget also becomes a lot easier to manage. Credit card debt consolidation is definitely helpful if you know how to do it the right way.

For those who have never consolidated debt there are some tips that may save your time and money. The tips can be used as guidelines for credit card debt consolidation.

The first thing to start with is there are two types of credit card debt consolidation. One type is through a credit-counseling firm. These firms will help you by adding up all your monthly payments, then they have you pay this one payment to them. They then separate this money and pay it to creditors until you are debt free. When choosing you a credit counseling service you must be careful. They are companies in this field that will charge fees that are not necessary and you will end up in worse shape than before

A good way of selecting the right credit-counseling agency is to talk others who have already gone through debt counseling. The simplest form of debt consolidation is through a home equity loan. This is done by exchanging a secured debt for an unsecured debt. It is important to only take a loan only from single creditor because it is easier to pay one creditor instead of several creditors.

Credit card debt consolidation will save money in long term and will make your life easier to pay credit card debt...Continue

Ecommerce: Merchant Account and Credit Card Processing

Having an online business that takes in money over the internet requires the ability to accept credit cards directly from your website. This is commonly known as “ecommerce”, or electronic commerce. This tutorial will help explain all there is to know about processing credit cards over the internet.

The Basics

Terms to Know:

  • Shopping Cart: An online application that collects all your products and gets them ready for checkout, passing the information about the transaction to the payment gateway.
  • Merchant Account: The bank or financial institution that actually processes and handles the transaction of debiting one account and crediting another.
  • Payment Gateway: The program or application that communicates between the website and merchant account, verifying the credit card information and executing the transaction.
  • Web Hosting: Serving your website or web page from a web server to any requesting client browser.
  • Secured Socket Layer (SSL): The process by which information is securely exchanged between the web server and the client browser. 128-bit encryption is the most secure.
  • Secure Certificate: A certificate of authentication that assures website visitors that the website being used is safe, secure and tested and up-to-date.
  • IP Address (internet protocol address): The physical, numerical address that is associated with the domain name. There are two types of IP addresses:
      1. Static IP: There is one IP address that is associated with a domain name, and it never changes.
      2. Dynamic IP: The IP address can change at any time, depending on the need and whenever necessary, as determined by the hosting company.

There are 3 things required for credit card processing:
  1. A web hosting account with a static IP address
  2. A merchant account with a reputable company
  3. A current, secure SSL certificate

Web Hosting

There are many web hosting companies that operate online, and choosing one is not too difficult. However, there are a couple requirements that you need to look for when choosing your company. The hosting account must have a static IP address because a secure SSL certificate is required when transferring confidential information over the internet through the payment gateway.

Merchant Account

A merchant account is required for credit card processing because this is how the payment will be processed; money must be taken out the buyer’s account and deposited into the seller’s account. The merchant account is the generic name for the process by which all transactions are handled. This is explained in detail:

  1. The website visitor selects the product or service to purchase and initiates the sale.
  2. The website takes the visitor to secure area of website (with gold lock on bottom of browser) and requests payment information (credit card info).
  3. The visitor completes the required information and clicks ‘submit’.
  4. The information is sent securely through the payment gateway for the information to be verified as valid or invalid.
  5. After verifying the accuracy of the credit card information, the transaction amount is debited from the buyers account (bank or credit card) and deposited into the seller’s bank account.
  6. The buyer receives a payment confirmation via the website.

Account Fees & Charges:

There are two basic charges associated with a merchant account. These are:

  • Administrative Fee: This is usually a monthly fee that is assessed for all administrative fees.
  • Discount Rate: This is a fee (percentage based) that is imposed based on the total amount of the sale.
  • Per Transaction: This is a payment gateway fee that is charged with each transaction that comes from your website.

The way this fee system works is the same, no matter what merchant account provider you use. For instance, let’s say you have a transaction rate of $0.25 and a discount rate of 2.5%. If you have a product that you sell for $10 from your website, each time the product is purchased you will receive $10 deposited into your account. You will also be charged $0.25 for the transaction, and $0.25 discount rate (computed at the end of the month). That’s a total of $0.50 in fees for the $10 sale of your product.

Most merchant account providers will impose a monthly base (minimum) fee for the account. Let’s say the base fee is $15. This base rate is an either/or charge, meaning you are charged that amount unless your discount rate and per transaction fee amount to more than the base amount.

For example, through the course of business, you sell your $10 product to 20 buyers. At the discount rate and per transaction rate used above ($0.25 transaction and 2.5% discount), your fees amount to $10 on $300 ($10 x 30) in sales. Since this amount is less than the base rate ($15), you will be charged the base rate for the month. However, if you sell your $10 product to 90 buyers, your fees amount to $45 dollars for the month. Since your fees amount to more than the base rate ($45 vs. $15), you will be charged $45 on $900 in sales.

Types of Transactions

There are two basic types of transactions when purchasing goods or services online:

  1. One-time Purchase
  2. Recurring Subscription

Most online stores and catalogs deal with ‘one-time’ purchases, meaning you find a product online and purchase it. After confirmation of sale, this ends the relationship between buyer and seller.

The other type, ‘recurring subscription’, is based on interval billing. This type of purchase can be for membership fees, or for any other type of fee that is billed on intervals.

Payment Gateway

The payment gateway is an application that you integrate into your website. Most payment gateways have an API that allows for easy, seamless integration into your website, meaning the user’s experience on your website remains consistent, even through the credit card processing phase. The payment gateway is responsible for validating the credit card information provided, such as address verification and security code matching. There are many payment gateways available on the market, but to ensure compatibility, it’s recommended that you use the one provided at the time of your merchant account setup.

SSL Certificate

The secure digital certificate validates the site as being secure, letting the buyer know that the information exchanged over the internet will be sent using the best possible encryption. In other words, the personal, confidential information sent will be scrambled to avoid interception by a 3rd party and used fraudulently. An SSL certificate requires a static IP address, but does not have to be associated with your website. You can link the transaction to another website (sharing a certificate) to handle the transaction. However, it is recommended that your website have its own static IP and secure certificate to maintain site continuity. Think of it this way; you're at the supermarket, and when you go to checkout, you are either taken across the street to handle the transaction, or the transaction can be handled at the store you're currently at. Basically, it looks more professional to process the transaction immediately, rather than take the buyer somewhere else.

In Conclusion

That is what merchant accounts are all about. All merchant accounts operate on the same guidelines, and determining which merchant account you want to conduct business with is up to you. The main things to consider are the per transaction fee, discount rate and base monthly rate. Make certain that the merchant account provider you are going to use is a top-tier provider, meaning the company is the actual processor, and not a reseller of another provider. This is important when it comes to the fees and customer service for your account.

This article was written by Gus Garcia, owner and operator of http://www.merchantaccountchoices.com, a free-to-use merchant account comparison website.

Click here to see the top credit card merchant account providers in the industry.

Up to Here with Credit Card Processing Limits

When a merchant signs a contract with a credit card processing provider, said business owner must indicate the anticipated monthly volume, average ticket and highest ticket. Invariably, merchants (especially new ones), have an exceedingly difficult time with this speculation process. It’s not easy forecasting one’s volume of business, let alone how much will be secured through the use of credit cards.

Despite the arduous task of predicting limits, it is always best to OVER-estimate the volume. While the merchant needs to use reasonable assumptions in arriving at these figures, an overinflated amount may preclude a problem in the future.

Suppose a merchant indicates that the highest anticipated amount will be $1,000 for any given transaction. If this merchant unexpectedly makes a sale of $3,000, this transaction will be red flagged and funds will not be released. The risk department of the processing company will verify the validity of the transaction, holding up this merchant’s funds, jeopardizing needed cash flow. Subsequent transactions may be held as well, even if they fall below the highest threshold amount.

While some companies expedite the process in confirming the authenticity of transactions, other processing firms place indefinite holds on merchant accounts, refusing to release funds for weeks or even months! This is especially problematic during a merchant’s busy season where monthly volume can accelerate and reach much higher levels than anticipated. Here, too, the processing companies can put the kibosh on the merchant’s account until further notice (i.e., when transactions are verified). Serious funding delays may materialize and the merchant may very well be out of business (literally) as funds are not released on a timely basis.

While it may appear to the merchant that the processing company does not gain any commission from held transactions, there exists a very sound reason why processors engage in such a business tactic: to protect their financial interests. Credit card processors worry that such transactions may be charged back to the merchant and that the merchant will not have sufficient funds to cover these chargebacks. Who must then issue credit to the merchant’s customer? The credit card processing company must then return the deemed ill-gotten funds.

So what is an honest, hard-working merchant to do to avoid interminably held transactions – aside from signing up with a reputable credit card processing company that does not indiscriminately freeze accounts or takes an inordinate amount of time to verify transactions? The merchant should initially request limits that are higher than anticipated. Of course, with higher limits, credit card processing application approval becomes a little more challenging. However, a merchant’s good personal credit score should be more than sufficient for the underwriter to approve the account. (Those that do not possess favorable credit may be able to get a cosigner that does have good credit.)

As time progresses, merchants can request a merchant limit increase as well. Those in good standing (e.g., those that have not incurred chargebacks) can easily have their limits increased. As business grows, it seems logical that such limits should increase from the initial forecast.

Merchants need to know their credit card processing volume limits and attempt to expand them when necessary. In the scenario that the merchant knows that a given transaction will exceed one of the limits, a phone call to the processing company is in order. The merchant may have to provide an invoice and even business bank statements but the holding time will be less as the processor is then included in the loop from the start.

There is no guarantee that funds will never be held. Indeed, a company that suddenly takes in $1,000 per day when formerly taking in $100 per day will be under scrutiny from the credit card processing company. This company may very well have to explain the set of circumstances to the processor and share business financials. But if the merchant takes a more proactive role, keeping an all-important eye on limits and maintaining open communication with the processor, problems may be avoided.

Andy Lax is an account manager with IntelliCollect, a merchant account provider that enables business owners to accept credit cards and electronic checks from their customers. Please visit this site, http://www.intelli-collect.com to learn more about the merchant account field and examine the payment processing programs of this reputable merchant account provider.