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Sheila Callahan

Guide to Online Payment Solutions

Use cost-effective, secure online payment methods to boost your sales

By Sheila Callahan, Freelance Journalist

No matter what your business, the sooner you set up to accept payments online, the more quickly your sales will accumulate. If you sell products or services through your Web site you can use a service such as PayPal to accept payment or you can make a shopping cart available. On a more basic level, you can even invoice customers via email.

No matter what your setup, you'll need to take these three steps to shore up your online payment strategy:

  1. Calculate your average monthly transaction volume. If you anticipate a small number of transactions, your needs might be quite simple. However, they'll be more complex if your transactions number in the hundreds or thousands.
  2. Determine how much money you can allocate toward an online payment budget. Some online payment solutions involve monthly fees, startup and cancellation charges.
  3. Assess your risks. Online and credit-card fraud could wipe your business out. Look into services like chargeback protection.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done


If your needs are simple, keep it simple

If you accept payment on your Web site through PayPal, your customers can use credit cards and debit cards, even if they don't have a PayPal account. PayPal has several plans including ones with no annual commitment, monthly, startup or cancellation fees. Transactions fees start as low at 1.9 percent + $0.30 USD.
I recommend: Compare Paypal's various plans to traditional merchant accounts and gateways.

Get yourself a shopping cart

Shopping-cart software converts an existing Web site into an e-commerce store capable of handling multiple purchases and processing credit-card transactions.
I recommend: Go Earlyimpact.com for helpful information on choosing the best shopping cart for your business.

Starting from scratch?

Online store-builder software creates e-commerce stores with features such as Web space, shopping carts and credit-card processing, so if you don't have a Web site and don't want to develop your own, consider a software package with lots of bells and whistles.
I recommend: Yahoo, GoEcart, and Fortune3 provide several store-builder packages.

Merchant accounts and gateways

A merchant account is an account you establish with a bank to accept credit cards. Unless you use PayPal, you'll need a merchant account to accept credit cards through your Web site.
I recommend: Check out companies like Charge.com and Discountcreditcardmachine.com for Internet-based credit-card merchant accounts.

Cut risk and minimize loss from fraud

Cutting-edge security, fraud prevention and chargeback protection are a must in online commerce.
I recommend: Use Clearcommerce.com for real-time screening of transactions without slowing the purchase process for your customer.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

  • Appearances count, so keep in mind the customer interface your e-commerce store presents.
  • Include shipping choices and multiple payment options for buyers.
  • Remember, the faster the transaction, the happier the customer.

The official source of Online Payment Solutions is
the Online Payment Solutions page at Business.com

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Recommended Solution Providers

PayPal.com: Website Payments Pro
Provider of all-in-one online payment solution.

GeoTrust: SSLCertificates
Provides SSL Certificates for secure online transactions.

ABC Payments: Online Payment Gateway
Offers credit card transaction and online bank transfer processing.

PaySimple: Online Payment Gateway
Provides a gateway for processing electronic checks and credit cards.

Yahoo: Merchant Solutions
Offers three levels of hosted merchant solutions.

SecureNet: Shop
Hosted ecommerce company that offers a shopping cart, merchant account and web site builder products.

Best Sites to Learn More

ECommerceGuide: Secure Payment Processing
Articles and news on secure payment processing.

About.com: Payment Processing
Collection of articles on selecting a payment processing system.

Top Ten Reviews: Shopping Cart Software
Comparison chart of shopping cart software.

Best Blogs and Forums

Webmaster-Talk: Ecommerce Forum
Discuss general ecommerce and payment processing.

WebmasterWorld: Ecommerce
Forum for discussing ecommerce and online payments.

SEO: Ecommerce Development Forum
Development forum addressing all aspects of site design and development.



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