You’ve probably heard of payment gateways! As complicated as the term may sound as part of financial jargon understood only by financial gurus, you no longer need to be in the dark. It’s paramount that you learn what a payment gateway is and its functionality or role in accepting credit card payments for your products or services. Following are some important things about the payment gateway.
STEPS :
- Know what a payment gateway is. A payment gateway is a computer program that works for online business people. If you plan to sell your goods online, you must have a payment gateway.
- Learn how to use it. A payment gateway works in conjunction with shopping cart software.
- Using an online shopping cart, customers browsing through the products you have featured online can choose what they want to buy, including the color, size, quantity, etc. After the decision to purchase all the items has been made, the customer may proceed to the virtual checkout counter, where the shopping cart software not only adds up all the costs of the selected items but also adds the necessary shipping and other fees. Finally, calculate the total payment due. The shopping cart itself contains an online form in which customers enter their credit card numbers and other relevant customer information.
- Examine how it works. The card information entered is encrypted by the shopping cart software. Once the online form is completed, the customer clicks “SEND”. Then the payment gateway software encrypts the information and sends the data to the credit card processing company. The gateway then informs the customer whether his/her credit card transaction is accepted or declined with the appropriate return message. The whole process is carried out under extreme security measures!
- A payment gateway provides merchant batch processing. At the end of each business day, the payment gateway collects all the transactions that have taken place on your site and then sends them all at once to your bank. The bank then collects payments from customers and deposits them into your account.
- A payment gateway contains a reporting tool. The payment gateway software includes a reporting tool where you can view all the transactions of your online store. You can then view, correct or save these transactions on your PC. This way you stay up-to-date with your online site.
- A payment gateway screens all transactions to check for fraud. With a payment gateway, you don’t have to worry about dishonest customers using counterfeit, cloned, or stolen credit cards. It contains highly effective screening tools that exclude these fraudulent transactions.
- Use the virtual terminal facility. The payment gateway virtual terminal allows you to manually enter this information into the payment gateway software.
If you want a payment gateway for your online business, you can either buy it or subscribe to a company that offers a payment gateway program. Many companies offer this service. Choose one that suits your business style, needs, and budget.
