Key Points - Payment Services
3rd party site vs. your own
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What is an internet merchant account? Why do I need one? A merchant account gives a business the ability to accept credit cards as payment for the company's goods and services sold via the internet. . It provides your customers with an extremely popular payment option, beyond cash and checks. This is usually done via a 3rd party provider.

What is required To Accept Payments Online?

• A web site where payments can be accepted from
• A bank account to accept payments. This provides the destination for funds to be deposited, usually by the next business day.
• A Payment Gateway - A Gateway is the link between your Web site and a credit card processing service.
• Gateway software takes the place of a card swipe terminal by automatically capturing credit card data off the Web site and securely forwarding it to your account. Your merchant account provider can often bundle this with your merchant account.
• A Merchant account - This allows you to process credit card transactions.

One of the requirements of processing payments through the Internet is a Secure Payment Page. This page is typically identified by the "s" in https:// instead of http://. A Secure Payment Page ensures your customer that their payment information is being encrypted for privacy before it's sent over the Internet.

If you need a Secure Payment Page, most gateway providers can provide you with a secure page hosted on their Gateway, which can be customized with your logo. A couple gateway providers are listed below:

• AuthorizeNet
• VeriSign Payflow

As part of the service, you will pay a per transaction fee usually calculated as a percentage of the sales price.

Another alternative is to use a 3rd party site such as PayPal which will allow your customers to go to a different web site (not integrated into yours) to send a payment to you.

• Paypal
• Verisign