Everything You Need to Know about Payment Processors
As a business owner, there are an overwhelming amount of things to check off on your to-do list before you can run your business. There are many guides and notes to help you get started with inventory and loans. Here is a handy dandy guide on payment processors and acceptable payment methods.
Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or an online eCommerce platform, arranging a way for your customers to buy and check out is not as a simple as saying it.
Instead, picking a payment processor to verify and confirm credit and debit card transactions takes time and research. So let’s get started with the basics of credit card processing.
Payment Processing: Basic Concepts
What is payment processing?
Payment processing is the process of accepting and managing electronic payments between a customer and a merchant. It is the essential component of e-commerce and enables merchants to securely accept and process payments from customers. The basics of payment processing include verifying the customer's payment information, checking for sufficient funds, and transmitting the payment to the merchant's bank for settlement.
What is a payment processor?
A payment processor is a company that handles transactions so that your customers can buy your products. That means the payment processing company communicates and relays information from your customer’s credit or debit card to both your bank and your customer’s bank. If there are enough funds in your customer’s card and it is valid, the transaction will go through. And all of this all happens in a matter of seconds.
The payment processor also checks for security measures such as making sure that the customer’s card data is correct. Fraudulent practices occur sometimes, so the payment processing company’s duty is to ensure that doesn’t happen.
In addition, if a customer argues and proves that your company incorrectly charged them, the payment processor will take care of the accidental transaction. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll do it for free. Of course, the customer will not get charged, but your company will. So if you accidentally make an error during checkout or a customer isn’t satisfied with an item and returns it, your company will incur a fee for having to transfer money from your account to the payment processor and back to the customer’s account.
What is a merchant account?
Merchant accounts are essential to businesses, especially those that accept credit cards online. Without a merchant account, you cannot accept money from a customer’s credit or debit card because you have nowhere to put the money. So a merchant account is a bank account that accepts debit and?credit card payments . Without it, a business could not accept these payment forms.
What is a payment gateway?
The payment gateway connects the payment processor and merchant account to the credit or debit card companies such as Visa or American Express. In essence, it’s connecting your customer’s financial account to your merchant account. Without a payment gateway, you would be missing a major part of completing a financial transaction. You would have all the parts needed to move your money or receive money, but without a payment gateway, you cannot receive your customer’s payment.
Payment processors and merchant accounts can be combined with a payment gateway. It just depends on if they use a third party source or have a department in-house to do the work. If a third party is used, the third party communicates with the credit card company to complete the transaction.
Who is involved in payment processing?
A payment processor helps your business conduct transactions between your customer and your business. Many players are involved, but there are about five to six key players in any transaction.
Applying for Payment Processors: The Process
Where do I get a payment processor/gateway?
You can apply for a payment processor through a bank, online providers, and companies such as PayPal.
How can I get the lowest pricing for a payment processor?
There’s no direct answer, so you’re going to have to do some research. Just as there are wholesale options for products, there are wholesale options for processing rates. But keep in mind that you typically won’t find them listed as wholesale; instead, they’ll be called?“interchange fees.”
Before you go around asking every company about their interchange fees, go look to see what the company charges normally. You don’t want to go in and ask how much they offer because you’ll end up paying more than you should. Do your research and haggle the price down to something that both parties can afford.
That said, pricing alone should not be the key criteria for selection.?Consider other aspects of their service such as making funds available quickly, batch processing times, and customer support.
Merchant Account Application: Approval Questions
What is the approval process for a merchant account?
Applying for a merchant account combines aspects of applying for a loan and applying for a job into one. A merchant account requires financial statements, processing history, and a cover letter. Explain to the bank through those three items why you should be approved for a merchant account and why you are not too high of a risk for them. While certain banks have different limits for the amount of risk they will take on, you have to figure out how high of a risk is comfortable for you, too. Higher risk means you’ll be paying more fees, and you will be earning less money.
What if I get denied? What do I do then?
Getting declined for a merchant account is similar to why you might get declined for a bank loan—you don’t have enough history. So if you’re starting your first business, the banks can’t assess what you’ve done before, so they’ll think of you as a risky investment. If you wait a bit and develop a more extensive financial history, you’ll be better off.
If you’ve been in business for some time and you still get declined, talk to the bank. Ask them to see what’s wrong. Find out if there’s anything that you can do in the short term or long term for the decision to change. And sometimes talking to them in person might help clear up anything questionable from your financial history or cover letter. Clarifying can convince them to change their decision.
And if all else fails, try a different bank that will take on higher risk. Just keep in mind that there are many negatives such as higher fees every month or year that come with a high-risk merchant account.
Payment Processors: Getting Started
What types of payment methods do payment processors accept?
Depending on the company you use will determine your answer for what types of payment methods payment processors accept. As a general rule of thumb, the typical Visa and Mastercard will be widely accepted while American Express might not be. Different cards have different fees and risks, and payment processors look at those factors. Research which cards your payment processor accepts before locking yourself into a deal that doesn’t accept what you want it to.
Debit cards and various other methods will also be generally accepted, but the type of card that businesses accept determines how much they have to pay the payment processor. The cheaper the card fee, the more likely you’re going to use them in your business.
What types of fees might I encounter when using a payment processor?
Fees, fees, everywhere should be the phrase of the payment processor. According to About’s Business and Finance section, there are?10 widely known fees that occur when using a payment processor .
How do online payments work?
Now that you’re familiar with the parts involved, you may be curious about how an online transaction works.
An average online payment process goes like this:
In essence, that’s the process of how merchants accept credit cards online instantly. The steps are usually the same, with some variations. For example, some customers fill in their payment details?directly on the merchant’s site, while others are?redirected to the payment processor’s site. There may be instances when the transaction doesn’t get approved, in which case the merchant receives a negative response for the transaction. This happens when the payment details provided are incorrect or when the customer has insufficient funds.
The entire flow takes place in a secure environment, to ensure protection against fraud. After all, what could be more enticing to predators than?payment data moving across the internet ? To protect against malevolent online practices, transactions take place with the use of encryption, with subscription payments and recurring billing protected by even more protocols and compliance standards in place.?We will discuss more about security compliance to come.
What happens if I already have an eCommerce platform selected?
Leading eCommerce platforms such as Magento and Shopify support a whole host of payment gateways and processors.?Keep in mind though that if you want to use the same payment processor as you use with your brick and mortar store, you may have to resort to a 3rd?party payment gateway such as authorize.net.?Your payment processor may not be supported directly by the eCommerce platform. This will mean more fees for processing credit cards.?It is not uncommon for businesses to switch payment processors when getting onto a new eCommerce platform.
Alternative Methods: Further Options
What if I don’t use a payment processor? How can I accept payment?
If you avoid payment processors like the plague, you’ll be avoiding fees from payment processors and gateways. However, you might be deterring some of your customers away. If your customers can’t use widely popular payment methods such as credit and debit cards, what else can they use? Well, typically there are four options: cash, check, money order, or store credit. If you live in a town where credit and debit cards aren’t widely used, then maybe a payment processor isn’t right for your store. But if you have a brick-and-mortar store in a large town or have an online platform, you may need to rethink the idea of not using a payment processor.
What types of payment can be processed?
Within an online payment process, you will have the option to accept a variety of payment means. The most frequently employed by shoppers include the following:
Armed with this knowledge, you now have all the most relevant information to set up online payments for your business, and choose the best option for your company. Choice of an actual partner greatly depends on your payment means, so be sure to review available options from as many aspects as possible.
Keep in mind that this article has covered the basics of payment processing?and, depending on the position of your company, your needs may be beyond these basics. Subscription payment processing, for example, requires more complex features to support recurring billing and ensure security for each periodic transaction.
Choose a professional and experienced partner for your payment needs, and your business will be able to seamlessly process eCommerce transactions and give your customers a speedy, pleasant shopping experience, which in return, will lead to?better conversion rates .
"Top 10 Payment Gateways?Around The World"
1. PayPal
Paypal is an eCommerce payments platform designed to help people and companies to send and receive payments without providing financial information. It is one of the top-rated payment gateways that allow users to send or receive payments across the globe with just email address instantly.?It is very easy to buy or sell using your mobile phones on any merchant website or app. Paypal operates in 203 countries and it supports widely used credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, Citibank, American Express, etc.
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2.?GETTRX
GETTRX powered by Global Electronic Technology , Inc. is a premier financial technology platform provider. We provide businesses high-quality financial solutions including credit card, debit card, online check processing systems, and next-generation payment engines.
Whether your business accepts payments in-person, online, or needs the capability to split a transaction between multiple entities on your platform, we have the right solution for you. GETTRX serves both low-risk and high-risk merchants.
Based in Torrance, CA, GETTRX has over a quarter century of expertise in the?payment processing ?industry. The GETTRX team is committed to setting the standard by delivering the most advanced technological packages in payment processing, which makes our team one of the most knowledgeable in the industry.
GETTRX is also committed to pioneering new business opportunities for owners by delivering daily data that can improve a company’s competitive position in the marketplace. Our vision and technical prowess is reflected in GETTRX’s vigilant focus on innovative solutions for the payments processing of today and tomorrow. With solutions for every business at the best rates GETTRX will help save your business money.
Eliminate 100% of your processing fees
Only $29 Per Month
GETTRX ZERO ?is a cash discount program that will include the below 4 products:
Terminals/POS
Subscriptions
Invoicing
3.?Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay is a payment gateway designed for Amazon merchants and shoppers. It is an easy, fast and secure payment solution that helps people in 8 countries as of now. Amazon payments come with two different packages – login and pay for shoppers, and pay with Amazon for merchants.This payment gateway is designed to provide a smooth shopping experience for both online retailers and sellers. Amazon pay is loaded with great features and tools that attract customers and encourage them to shop more, make their shopping process streamline and improve customer engagement and loyalty via saved payment details for faster checkouts.
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4.?Skrill
Skrill is one of the well-known payment gateways around the world. Skrill understands modern payment demands when it comes to payment processing and money transferring. Skrill started in the year 2001. Now, Skrill has many top companies as their customers using their innovative solutions in their businesses.Skrill is recognized and awarded by many top companies such as Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award, B2B EGP Award and several others. It is one of the successful UK-based payment gateways that supports over 30 different currencies, that enables customers to purchase products and services worldwide.
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5.?Stripe
Stripe is a cloud payment gateway platform that helps to accept and manage online transactions anywhere in the world. It provides complete solutions to process online payments and also offers great features like custom UI toolkit, embeddable checkout, consolidated reports and much more.Stripe is a robust payment gateway that ensures a smooth moment of funds in your business while connecting with the application interface that enables you to prevent frauds with great security, manage revenue and drive sales globally. It also provides an open API that helps in integrating with your business ecosystem.
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6.?2Checkout
2Checkout is a popular global payment gateway that allows businesses to accept online payments from buyers around the globe. It has many features and localized payment options that help both merchants and customers to make the payment process streamlined.It is the US-based payment gateway that supports multiple payment methods and transactions worldwide. It is secure and reliable, More Than 50,000 merchants using 2Checkout payment gateway worldwide. It supports 8 different payment methods, 15 languages, and 87 different currencies in global markets.
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7.?Authorize.Net
Authorize.Net is a global payment gateway that provides strong infrastructure and security to ensure smooth, fast and secure transfer of transactional data. It handles the routing of transactions, albeit in an online setting without software installation, just like the card swiping machine.It has the merchant base of over 370,000 around the world. It helps to accept payments securely, providing a streamlined experience, enables scaling and number of other value-adding features. It’s a fully integrated electronic check payment system that accepts and processes payments from other bank accounts through the user’s website or the Authorize.Net’s virtual terminal.
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8.?Payza
Payza is a very convenient, fast and secure payment gateway solution for businesses and people to accept and send money throughout the world. There are multiple account types for different customers like personal account for personal use and business account for business with bigger and complex requirements.Payza payment gateway is available in 190 countries and supports 22 different currencies. It is one of the best payment gateway solutions available in many countries and bridging the gap when it comes to sending and receiving payments globally.
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9.?SecurionPay
SecurionPay is a payment gateway that provides secure online and mobile payment solutions that support multiple operating systems like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. It is one of the best platforms that provide a one-stop solution for companies that require online payments and offer paid subscriptions.It’s a standalone payment gateway solution that provides fast and secure integration to your business ecosystem, like embedded payment forms, advanced checkout feature allows immediate payment processing that helps to increase conversion rate. It offers flexible API so that you can integrate your business ecosystem with it and control from your side.
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10.?BlueSnap
BlueSnap is the global payment gateway designed to help businesses to accept payments easily. This gateway enables businesses to scale globally and accept payments from local to international customers. This platform is highly secure and builds with the fraud prevention system to minimize risks.Bluesnap has a network of over 30+ acquiring banks, this ensures customer trust, increases conversion rate and improves revenues. It operates in 180 countries and connects automatically with acquiring banks globally. It supports 110 different payment types, 100 currencies, and 29 different languages.
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