Different Options Available to Accept Online Payments

In today’s digital landscape, businesses that offer goods or services online need to setup a reliable payment system to accept credit cards and other payments online. While the process of setting up online payment processing may seem daunting for those new to the field, the reality is that it can be straightforward and simple. You may have noticed that most iScripts’ products allow you to accept online payments from your customers. We make it easy by providing multiple top payment gateways to select, right from the backend administrative panel. If you are planning to create a website from ground up, you will need to delve deeper into the world of online payments and gain essential knowledge and information needed to ensure the successful acceptance of payments for your business.

This comprehensive guide to accepting online payments aims to provide a thorough understanding of the various options available to businesses. We will address the common questions and explore the factors that determine the answer.

3 Questions to ask before selecting an online payment option for your business

1. Where are you based?

If you’re in the USA, you have a lot of options. If you are in Canada, you may have a few less options to consider. And for the rest of the world, sad to say, very limited options. If you are outside the United States or Canada, PayPal seems to be the safest bet. It’s relatively easy to open a Paypal account and start accepting online payments immediately.

2. Do you already have a merchant account?

A merchant account is basically a bank account that handles your funds received via credit card. They normally charge a certain percentage off for every transaction. This is called a “discount rate.” If you have a storefront or a retail business and you are swiping people’s cards, then you already have a merchant account.

A merchant account is a financial account that allows a business to accept payments in multiple forms, including credit and debit card transactions made online. This type of account is different from a traditional merchant account in that it enables customers to enter their credit card information directly on the business’s website, rather than through other methods such as fax, phone, or mail. This allows the business to process online credit card orders more efficiently and conveniently for both the business and the customer.

3. If you do have a merchant account, do you already have an account with a payment gateway like Authorize.net or PayPal?

If so, chances are you already know what you’re doing and you aren’t even reading this article. If you don’t, then you can read If you already have a merchant account, it’s possible that you have an account with a payment gateway such as Authorize.net or PayPal. If not, this article provides additional information on payment gateways and your options. Payment gateways typically have a monthly fee (with PayPal being an exception) and may also have a setup fee. Many require an online merchant account, but can assist in acquiring one. The two main options for accepting online payments are merchant account solutions and third-party gateways. With merchant account solutions, credit card information is entered on your site, while with third-party processors, it’s entered on their site.

Accepting Payments Online- Major Platforms

Merchant Account Solutions

If you already have an established offline business, chances are you already accept credit cards and you have a merchant account from your bank and have some kind of electronic terminal in your shop/workplace for swiping credit cards. Bear in mind that if you do have a merchant account, you will need to apply for a separate Internet merchant account. If you don’t have a merchant account, the system works like this – you have to apply for a merchant account from a bank; it doesn’t have to be the bank you currently bank with, but that is of course the more practical approach. The bank will provide you an ID or account number, and without it you can’t accept credit cards.

Here are brief reviews of major merchant account solutions:

Authorize.net has earned a very good reputation as the leader in online payment gateways for small businesses. They have great features with a no-nonsense gateway that just works. They provide a more direct solution than PayPal Standard and offer a completely branded payment experience for your customers. Their services are superb and reasonably priced. In general, Authorize.net has received positive feedback from new customers getting going with their service while existing customers are still using it. For integrating with most iScripts software you just need the account name and teh transaction key you get from Authorize.net to plugged in the admin panel.

PSiGate  provide each merchant an eTerminal for phone and fax orders, real-time online reports of customer transactions and a Fraud Shield module.

LinkPoint  Set-up is as easy as entering your Merchant ID number and they offer the lowest rates and fees in the industry.

WorldPay It is fully customizable, however, this is reflected in the signup cost.

Verisign offers a lot of solid features such as recurring billing and fraud prevention. The recurring billing feature is standard, but does offer an API from which a recurring billing profile can be created. The Verisign Payflow Pro gateway is capable of sending custom emails. You can send email receipts for customer records or send them a notice that their card was declined. Verisign’s fraud prevention services are broken into two separate packages; each having its own add-on features that enhance the level of protection. Finally, Verisign offers a Buyer Authentication program for customers who want to use Visa’s Verified or Master Card’s Secure Code features.

Other Merchant Gateways are being introduced to the marketplace with different value added services. Most of them offers a Authorize.net emulator due to the acceptance of Authorize.net. You can integrate any gateway which supports a Authorize.net emulator with single line of code change.

If you are setting up a business with iScripts and want to know all the payment gateways we provide in our inbuild payment processing system, here a list: iScripts Payment Gateways

Third Party Processors

On the other side of the coin are the third party processors. Payment processors basically allow you to use their merchant account for a fee and in most cases you can be set up in a matter of hours and start accepting credit cards right away. This by far the best option if you are just starting out in e-commerce.

Paypal is known for its rapid growth and use on Ebay, it is also the simplest and fastest payment processor to setup and use. The system includes a handy “button maker” so you don’t have to know or learn any of the intricate ins and outs of how to use it. For the more techy savvy, it does have all the powerful back end systems to communicate with your database through the IPN system. Recently Paypal junked their system of only allowing customers to make credit card payments after they had authorized their account. This means that customers have to wait till their credit card statements have been received before they could purchase anything. Now that this has been scrapped, Paypal is the ideal choice for e-commerce users and most of all their rates are comparably cheaper.

2checkout or 2Co is ideal for those who are not ready for a merchant account, but need a way to process online payments from customers. With 2Co, you don’t have to sign a contract nor do you need a software to get started, everything you need is provided right from their website. You will receive free technical support online, a free shopping cart, and free website codes as well. There are a couple of fees, but not as much as with other payment processing services. You have to pay a one time fee of $49 for signup as well as fees per sale which are currently $0.45 and 5.5% of each sale you make and payment processed.

PayLeap  Their single service enables your company to manage payments made by wireless or online through an e-commerce web software.

BluePay is a premier credit card processing service that utilizes cutting-edge technology and encryption security throughout the transaction. In just three easy steps, you can be receiving credit cards at your business within hours of finishing the online application. You can then access your account online to check transactions, manage your account, and organize your records. BluePay provides a wide variety of merchant accounts for you to choose from, each designed to fit and grow with your business needs.

Google Checkout is an online payment processing service that allows users to store their credit card and shipping information within their Google Account. This service provides fraud protection and a unified platform for tracking purchases and their status. With Google Checkout, users can easily make online purchases and keep track of all their orders and shipping in one location. The fraud protection feature provides coverage against unauthorized purchases made through Google Checkout, and ensures that purchase history and credit card numbers are not shared with sellers. Additionally, users can keep their email address confidential and block unwanted emails from stores where they have previously used Google Checkout.

Brain Tree is a Paypal company that includes support for debit/credit card payments, Apple Pay, Android Pay, PayPal, Bitcoin and many other forms of payment. Brain Tree gives merchants the ability to create methods for direct payment, subscriptions, marketplace and contextual commerce. Partners include Uber, TaskRabbit and StubHub. Brain Tree is currently available in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, UK, Greater Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

Ogone Ingenico  They began processing merchant credit card payments in the 1990’s and it is now one of the leading eCommerce payment providers in the world. They have regional offices in France, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, UK, US, Switzerland, India and UAE.

Paymentwall  Payment methods include all major credit cards, bank transfers, Mint, PaySafeCard and many more options from around the world.

PayFlow  It’s integrated with almost every payment processor and allows businesses to accept payments overseas in 22 currencies and in 190 markets around the world.

Paytm is aneCommerce site based in Noida, India. Much like Amazon, Paytmallows merchants to sell on their platform. Paytm is accepted in retail stores and online all over India. Paytm truly is a one stop shop. It allows online shoppers to pay their gas bill, buy a bus ticket, shop for clothes and pay your tuition fees all from one website.

RuPayIndia is a debit card created by the National Payments Corporation of India that competes with MasterCard and Visa and is accepted by businesses in India. RuPay is part of an initiative set forth by the Reserve Bank of India. Aside from helping millions of merchants, RuPay also enable rural farmers to be paid for their agricultural products quickly and have access to ATM’s. It is also accepted at automatic teller machines in India and to international companies through Discover Financial Services.

SagePay is a payment platform based in the United Kingdom and is used by 55,000 businesses. Payment processing methods include online, in store POS, over the phone and by invoice. They accept payments in over 25 currencies worldwide including PayPal and UnionPay.

Skrill, formerly Moneybookers, is a payment processing site that stands out in the crowd by specializing in online betting and gaming. Their website states, “Trusted by millions to make all kinds of global payments simple, safe and quick. From betting to trading, from shopping to gaming.”Skrill is based in London, but has offices in Stockholm, Vienna and New York.

Stripe is located in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. If you’re looking for a payment gateway specifically created for developers, then Stripe is a great choice. Simple and easy copy and paste coding allow users to integrate attractive and user friendly shopping carts and checkouts that work seamlessly with existing websites. Use API’s like Java, Curl, Python, Ruby, PHP and more. Stripe is available for businesses based in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,

Square, They have the capabilities to take NFC payments like ApplePay and has issued a new square device that reads cards with chips.

WePay It was originally created for multiple parties to come together and fund projects and trips, and it now helps startups, marketplaces and crowdfunding platforms run their business.

Wirecard They have since expanded into several countries including New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Turkey and South Africa.

Worldpay one of the leading omni-channel and multi-currency payment processing companies in the world. They work with small businesses and multi-national corporations alike. Their website states they process approximately 31 million transactions on an average day and process around 42% of all UK transactions. They are primarily located in the UK, United States, India and Canada, but also have offices in Mexico, Japan, Sweden, Brazil, the Netherlands, Singapore and Argentina.

Xsolla One of their payment system products, appropriately called “PayStation”, allows players to make in-game purchases. Xsolla integrates over 700 payment systems from all over the world, including bitcoin, PayPal and Amazon Payments.

These are the options which easily solve your doubt about, How to accept online payments. Choose the right online payment gateway for your business.