Choosing an Online Payment Processor

If you’re a company that accepts credit and debit card transactions online, it is essential to select the right payment processor. Payment processors online do all the difficult tasks, from capturing sales to sending you a bill statement and collaborating with banks to ensure you get paid.

When a customer buys products on your website or in person at a brick-and-mortar store the credit or debit card data passes through a gateway for payments or PoS terminal. The gateway encrypts the data to keep it secure and then transmits it to the payment processor, which transmits it to the card network of the customer. The card network checks with the customer’s bank to determine if there’s enough funds in the account to pay for the product. If the bank accepts the purchase then the card issuer transfers money from the account to the merchant’s bank. The payment processor will then relay this response to the merchant’s website or PoS terminal that will notify the customer that their payment was successful.

When selecting a processor, consider payment gateways factors like security, ease of use, and compatibility with existing systems. Find a solution with APIs and plugins to seamlessly integrate with your ecommerce platform or the POS system. Also, you should consider the checkout experience of your customers and the reporting and management experience for your staff. Don’t forget to make sure you are aware of the contract and how it is possible to change providers in the future.