Accepting Credit Cards

A Must If You Want To Sell Online

Accepting credit cards is a key capability you must have if you have an eCommerce business (a website that sells goods or services). Numbers suggest that over 95% of online transactions are conducted using credit cards.

Not having the capability to accept credit card payments can seriously hurt your business. If you check the eCommerce stores today, I can guarantee you that 99 out of 100 will accept payments through credit cards.

In fact, there is just a small group of websites left that still accept payment through check, money order or wire transfer. These methods are simply "extinct" and "primitive" within the Internet world.

It’s critical to be able to accept as many kinds of credit cards as possible. When I first launched my eCommerce website back in 2005 I did not accept American Express. This is because AMEX charges a higher fee to the vendor.

On the other hand AMEX offers the best service and protection to its customers. I received an overwhelming number of requests and eventually had to sign-up with AMEX as well. The increase in sales was definitely worth the added effort and expense.

Your customers feel more secure using credit cards. Customers today have recourse against businesses if their needs are not satisfied.

Additionally, the growing popularity of credit card perks (points or miles received for every dollar spent) encourages more and more customers to charge purchases to their credit cards.

Paying with a credit card is also quick and convenient for your customer. There are more companies today than ever before that are willing to accept credit card payments for you online. These companies are called “Merchant Account Providers”.

You can go through one of these merchant account providers, who will set up a payment system for you through their or a third party “Gateway” system (an online module that will accept your payments).

Merchant Account providers take your orders for you and deposit the funds straight into your bank account after collecting a small fee (typically between 1-3%). The good thing about this is that you don’t have to worry about getting the credit card equipment.

All you do is review your monthly statement that you receive from your merchant account provider.

Accepting Credit Cards with Charge.com

Charge.com will enable you to accept credit cards through your website instantly. Just apply for a merchant account and you can begin collecting credit card payments within 24 hours. Same day approvals are available and the application process is free !

Charge.com will collect your funds from your customers and direct deposit them daily into your bank account. You can view your entire account activity through monthly transaction statements that Charge.com will send you.

Charge.com is easy to install and has great customer service that can help you set-up your payment system easily. The best part is that you don’t even need the equipment to swipe credit cards.

Always look out for promotional offers. Charge.com runs generous offers from time to time. Specifically, browse their website for a free $300 give away package.

Charge.com will give you a free shopping cart software, search engine submission service, Internet check software and technical support if you sign-up to accept credit cards online.

Accepting Credit Cards With PayPal

PayPal is an excellent credit card payment solution for someone new to online business.

I strongly recommend PayPal because it is simple to set-up and install on your website.

It is a free service to sign-up with and the credit card fees they charge are competitive, similar to a merchant account provider.

With PayPal you don’t have to pay a fee for a monthly statement.

Your statement can be viewed online when you login to your account. PayPal requires that you have an eMail address and a bank account to begin using their services.

The best thing about PayPal is that your customer can make a payment in three different ways. They can choose to pay with a credit card, wire funds to you directly from their bank account or from their PayPal account if they have money in it.

Another very good feature of PayPal is its money market account. You can leave the money you collect from your customers in your PayPal account to earn competitive interest rates.

PayPal invests your money for you in a money market account every day that you are not using the funds and earns you extra interest on your funds. There is no risk of loss with this type of investment and the service is provided for free.

Read more about PayPal and what is has to offer to an eCommerce business.