Choosing an Online Payment Processor

If you’re operating a business that accepts credit or debit card transactions online, it is essential to select the best payment processor. A payment processor online is the one that handles the bulk of the transaction — from capturing the sale, to sending you a statement of payment and working with your bank to make sure you are paid.

If a customer purchases something on your site or in person at a brick-and-mortar store, their credit or debit card data passes through a gateway for payments or PoS terminal. The gateway secures the https://paymentprocessingtips.com/2019/11/15/security-and-payment-processing-services information to ensure its security. It sends it to the processor that then transfers it to the card network of the customer. The card network checks with the customer’s bank to determine if there is enough funds in the account to cover the item. If the bank approves of the purchase, then the card issuer transfers money from the account to the merchant’s bank. The payment processor will then relay this response to the merchant’s site or PoS terminal. This will notify the customer about the successful payment.

When choosing a processor consider factors like security, ease of use, and compatibility with the existing systems. Find a processor that provides APIs or plugins that seamlessly integrate with an ecommerce system or POS. You should also consider the checkout experience for your customers as well as the reporting and transaction management experiences for your team. Not least, make sure you are aware of the contract and how easy it will be to switch providers in the future.