5 FACTS TO KNOW ABOUT AN INTERNET MERCHANT ACCOUNT SERVICE
Internet Merchant Account
To qualify for an Internet merchant account, you must take orders online. It is this method of taking orders and not the mode of transmitting the credit card transaction details that determine the type of account.
Rates and Terms
An Internet merchant account is a card-not-present merchant account. The absence of credit cards in card-not-present transactions makes it easier to commit credit card frauds. Anyone who has stolen a credit card or credit card details can easily place orders online and enjoy the product or service purchased before the actual owner realizes and reports the fraudulent activity on his or her credit card.
As such all card-not-present merchant accounts are deemed to be riskier. Consequently, the rates and fees charged on an Internet merchant account is slightly higher. The processing procedures are also more stringent on the merchant account.
Real Time Processing VS Non-Real Time Processing
A credit card transaction can be processed in the following two ways:
Real Time Processing
- Once your customer submits the credit card information online, it is transmitted to the credit card processor immediately via a real time Internet payment gateway. An authorization from the credit card company is requested and received almost instantaneously.
Non-Real Time Processing
- Once customer places an order online, the merchant can obtain the customer’s credit card details via a secure payment form on the merchant’s website
- If the merchant is using a credit card processing software that is not real time Internet payment gateway, the information will be stored until the merchant submits the transactions to the credit card processor.
- If the merchant is using a virtual credit card terminal, the transaction will be processed at a time when the merchant manually keys in the transaction and transmits the information to the processor. For an example of virtual credit card terminal http://www.paynetsystems.com/Equipmentsoftware/virtual_terminal.htm.
- Whichever way the merchant prefers, the transaction is not processed at the moment the order has been taken but later.
For more information, please go to http://www.active-venture.com/credit-card-processing/batch-creditcard-processing.htm
Shopping Cart
If you have an Internet merchant account, you would have to select a suitable shopping cart for your website. Your customers will use the shopping cart to select the products or services they want to purchase from your website. If your products or services can be customized, the shopping cart allows your customers to do that.
For example, they can select the colour or size of the product they want using the shopping cart. The shopping cart also provides billing information such as the total cost of the products or services purchased, inclusive of any tax or shipping charges. A user friendly shopping cart will ease the process of placing online orders, make your website more favourable and minimise any shopping cart abandonment. For a great introduction to shopping carts, please go to http://www.earlyimpact.com/productcart/shopping-cart-software-101.asp.
Customer Support & Services
All Internet merchant accounts claim to provide customer support and services. However, as the one on the receiving end, you will have to ensure that the merchant account provider you eventually choose to work with provides customer support 24/7 and short waiting-on-line-for-response period. An easy way to check on this feature is to obtain reviews and referrals of the merchant account provider from current or ex-clients.
Internet merchant accounts also provide you with monthly reports or 24/7 online reports of all credit card transactions processed. This makes your accounting process a whole lot easier. Compare the range of such services provided by different merchant account providers before selecting one that best fits the needs and nature of your business.
For further reading: http://www.designerwebpages.com.au/articles/merchant_account.html
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