Sean P Jones asked:




Credit card payment is the most common way of online transaction, yet when it comes to understanding how credit card processing works most of us are quite confused.

When a retail store cashier swipes your credit card through credit card terminal, the following process takes place: credit card and payment details are sent electronically to merchant’s acquiring bank, which contacts credit card issuing bank; in case transaction is approved, funds are deposited on the merchants account.

Online credit card processing in ecommerce adheres to the same processing steps, except the physical credit card terminal that swipes your card in a retail store is substituted by payment gateway (Authorize.Net, 2checkout, CHASE Paymentech, etc.) – a service that processes online payments in a secure way.
The overall credit card processing scheme in an online store usually looks like the following:

A merchant needs to have a merchant account and a payment gateway account in order to set up credit cad processing in his store.

Let’s follow the steps from the time a customer types his credit card number in an online store to pay for his order till he receives a response whether the payment went through:

1. A customer places an order and types his credit card number on a secure site of an online store. Store administrator sees the shopping cart details, which include order and billing information.

2. Shopping cart details along with merchant account are sent to payment gateway secure server for processing.

3. Payment gateway forwards transaction information to merchant’s acquiring bank.

4. Merchant’s acquiring bank forwards transaction information to the credit card issuing bank for transaction verification.

5. Credit card issuing bank verifies transaction and sends response code (Approve, Deny, and reason for denial if applicable) back to merchant’s acquiring bank.

6. Merchant’s bank sends credit card transaction details and response back to payment gateway. If payment is approved, the bank will deposit funds on a merchant’s account at the scheduled time.

7. Payment gateway sends transaction details and response back to merchant’s online store.

8. Payment information is displayed to the customer; i.e. “credit card was charged”, “credit card was denied”, etc.

At certain processing stages fees will be charged from the transaction total. The amount of fees depends on a payment gateway used, merchant account, credit card type, and other factors; it usually adds up to be two to three percent of total charges.

Chester

Rita Lowman asked:




Since the early 19th century, businesses and consumers have made use of credit in the place of currency. But credit stretches even as far back as ancient Babylon. History has recorded individuals who set up payments in exchange for goods that they could not afford to purchase outright.

Predecessors to credit cards were charge coins or plates. Coins were issued in the mid-1800s and made of copper, aluminum, steel or other types of metal. Credit coins were most often issued by department stores of hotels with the customer’s number and an image of the business displayed on the coin. Charge plates, used into the early 1960s, were made of aluminum or white metal and were inscribed with a customer’s name and address. These were offered mostly by department stores in an effort to attract loyal customers. Each of these cards could only be used at the store that issued them. However, by the 1930s, some stores began to accept one another’s cards and third-party payments were established, which has served as the primary method of operation for bank credit cards.

In the later 1940s, a banker in New York City developed the first bank card. A customer of the issuing bank could use the card to make purchases and the bill was then forwarded to the bank. The bank then made payment to the business for the purchase and then billed the customer for reimbursement. The bank card was only honored at local businesses. The first actual bank credit card was introduced at a bank in New York for its loan customers and was also only available to the bank’s account holders.

The following evolution of the credit card came with the introduction the universal credit card. Used mainly for entertainment and dining purposes, the card could be used at a variety of businesses, unlike its predecessors. At first, payment for any purchases were required to be paid in full when billed to the customer, but this eventually gave way to a system that allowed customers to repay the bill over time. With a favorable reception from the public, the cards were held by 20,000 cardholders shortly after being introduced to the marketplace.

A decade later, the value of plastic credit cards was being recognized by banks and merchants. Businesses in particular noticed that card holders tended to do more business with them than their counterparts who paid by cash or check. The interest rate paid by a cardholder to the bank created additional revenue, as well as the loan coverage fees that were paid by the merchants.

The birth of two of today’s major credit cards came about by a group of banks in California who joined together to create an association. The two major credit cards were operated through a network of banks who were required to be a member of either of the credit cards. Eventually, changes to this requirement gave banks the ability to issue both types of cards to its customers. These associations set regulations and processing systems handling the exchange of money, as well as an arbitration procedure to settle disputes between members.

With the advent of online banking, alternative forms of payment are becoming more prominent as cardholders discover the ease with which they can pay bills, make purchases online and access cash – all with the use of the credit card.

Frances

Ernest Paul asked:


So you are a merchant with a website and you wish to process credit cards online because you are aware that credit card processing is the most convenient and most common mode of payment on the internet. Well, first of all, besides your website or online store you need to have a merchant account provider, engage the issuer of the credit cards that you plan to accept as payment, and use the payment gateway services.

Let’s see what actually happens when credit card payments are accepted online.

Now, in order to sell your goods online, you, the merchant, need to have a merchant account and a payment gateway account. When a customer visits your website and decides to buy something he will type in his particular credit card details. The billing information and order details are immediately dispatched to the payment gateway secure server by the online store administrator where they are processed and then sent to the merchant’s acquiring bank. The bank then sends the information to the bank that has issued the credit card in order to get the transaction verified.

Once the verification is made the payment will be either approved or rejected. This response is then forwarded to the merchant’s acquiring bank by the credit card issuing bank and the bank then forwards these transaction details to the payment gateway. If a payment has met with approval, the payment will be deposited into the merchant’s account. The details are then sent back to the website or online store. Then the same information is then presented to the customer, and he is informed that his credit card was charged. If a payment has not met with approval, it will be rejected or denied and the customer will be informed of this, too.

Although this sounds as if it is a lengthy process it is streamlined and takes only a few seconds to be performed.

How much a merchant account and a payment gateway costs can be different depending upon the provider. Of course, you will be expected to pay a one-time set up fee, and you may also be obliged to pay a discount rate for each payment, as well as a minimal fee for each transaction. Again, fees could also be charged on the transaction total, at various processing stages of an online payment. All this normally adds up to but two to three percent of the total charges.

Practically all experienced webmasters all over the world realize the value of online credit card processing and use it to their advantage as it helps to optimize their business. Why don’t you join them?



OLIVER