You probably think it’s so easy – with just a few mouse clicks, you can turn your website into a full-blown payment gateway. At least, that’s how your favorite retail websites make it look.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It only LOOKS that easy! In reality, online credit card processing is a lot more detailed that that! However, if you set everything up correctly, your customers will think it’s an absolute breeze!
So, if you’re setting up a brand new website (or trying to turn that old website into a money-maker), you need to start by finding the right ecommerce merchant account.
A word of advice before you begin, though. Don’t assume that any ol’ credit card merchant account can be used out on the world wide web. Not all processing companies understand what goes into creating a successful ecommerce merchant account. Unless you want your website to be a complete disaster, you need to look for a company that specializes in online credit card processing. (Oh sure, they may specialize in brick and mortar payments, too. And that’s fine. Just be sure they’ve got the web side of things covered.)
Once you’ve got a list of companies that can handle an online payment gateway, it’s time to separate the “somebodies” from the “wannabes”. After all, every ecommerce merchant account is not created equally! Some processing companies will do an amazing job; others won’t.
The first thing you can do to weed out the losers is to look at their security features. After all, online credit card processing isn’t worth the bandwidth it takes up without the right security! If your potential companies don’t offer encryption and fraud monitoring, kick them to the curb.
Remember, people are going to be looking for a safe place to do their shopping. If your website doesn’t feel secure, people will simply head to the one of the millions of other websites that offers similar products and services.
The next thing you can do to weed out online credit card processing companies is to look at their technical support. Simply put – if they don’t offer technical assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, they’re not worth your time.
After all, if your payment gateway isn’t working properly, your customers can’t spend money – even if they really, really want to! And, since the world wide web never closes, you don’t have the luxury of waiting until “normal business hours” roll around to get the problem fixed. You need everything up and running perfectly, at all times of the day or night.
In short – you need an ecommerce merchant account that makes everything look flawless to your customers!
At Charge.com, Payment Solutions, Inc.knows how to make your website payment-friendly!
