Posts Tagged ‘processing credit card payments online’

When shopping online, the primary method of paying for the item you purchased is through a credit card. You can also use virtual debit cards or virtual money accounts, such as Paypal. However, even these are linked to a credit card. That being said, it can be observed that one of the factors that make the online market function well are credit cards.

Years back, most businesses use the web as a mere method of advertising and promotion. They display pages that talk about current promos and facts about their company. As the years went by, technology enabled these companies to actually conduct business transactions online. They started to accept credit card payments online.

If you are a beginner and want to sell something online, it’s very much recommended that you enable your buyers to pay through their credit cards. Accepting online credit cards payments could boost your sales because of the convenience in using it. This is the common method of conducting business online, and it is actually a must if you want your business to prosper. In order to do so, you need to avail of services offered by companies. You can attach these services as part of the checkout process. You can observe this when you try to buy something from Amazon or other e-commerce sites. Another way is to have an account in Paypal and set it up in such a way that buyers can pay for merchandise through their Paypal accounts. Whenever you avail of such services, it is recommended that you read through how-to guides, FAQ, terms, and other relevant documentation. Take advantage of the professional help provided, such as 24/7 phone or chat support, especially if you are paying for their services.

Paying Credit Card Bills Online

From a cardholder’s perspective, it’s convenient to pay online purchases using a credit card. Now, the problem is how to pay these credit card bills. You don’t want to use a credit card to pay another credit card’s balance. It’s just absurd.

To do this, there are banks that also offer online services. If you have a checking or savings account in a bank, you might want to inquire if you can manage your account online. Most of the large banks nowadays, particularly the top banks in your local areas, allow online account management. Typical features include transfer of money from one account to another, change of PIN or password, manage personal information, enrolling third party accounts, and paying bills online. Such bills include your phone bills, electricity bills, credit card bills and others. If you don’t have any account yet, you might want to open an account in a bank that offers online services for bank account management.

Processing credit cards online is possibly the most convenient method when a person wants to have a credit card. There is no need to go out and face the hassle of walking, joining rush hours, waiting for long in a queue, and running back and forth from one destination to another. All you need now is a nice internet connection, and you can set off the credit card processing online with just a few clicks.

In most cases, the information required when applying for a credit card online is almost the same compared to the traditional in-person application. The online form will require details from you such as personal information (name, birthday, gender, nationality, social security number, etc), contact information (current address, permanent address, home phone number, office phone number, mobile or cellular phone number, email address), employer information (employer name, employer address, employer contact number), and income information (annual income, etc). Other credit card companies require more information.

Aside from the information typed into the fields, there are some requirements that need to be sent to the credit card issuer. Such requirements include proof of income, proof of billing, proof of address and one or two identification (IDs). You can fax these information to the number provided in their site. Other companies will allow you to email a scanned copy to them. A few companies will require you to mail it to them or submit it personally.

What’s basically automated is the application process and a small portion of the credit card processing procedure. Typically, when applying for a credit card in person, you will fill-out a paper form. This will then be submitted to a department that will validate the application and its corresponding requirements, encode it in the system, and route to succeeding approval and processing. When the credit card is processed online, what’s eliminated is the manual completion of the form, physical routing of the paper application from one person to another and encoding of the information taken from the paper form into the system used by the credit card company. As a result, there is somewhat a reduction in processing period for the credit card.

A Note on Security

Given that the information to be submitted online are personal and confidential, you need to make sure that the credit card application and processing online runs on a secured channel. Here are a few tips that you need to check:

• The URL is valid and matches the title of the website. (ex. Amazon is displayed in the browser but the URL shows www.xyz.com)
• The website displays logo of trust and security, like Verisign
• The URL starts with “https” which represents a secure connection