James J. Robinson asked:




Here are some helpful tips for filling out online credit card applications. The Internet makes it easy to apply for credit and to find out whether your application has been accepted. In some cases, the customer gets an answer about their credit immediately. Before you start visiting web sites for this purpose, keep these tips for filling out online applications in mind, and take some time to compare your options. These steps will ensure you get approved for an appropriate card.

Make sure the web site you are using has a secure server before you share any of your personal information. Check the URL on the web page where the application form appears to ensure that it starts with “https.” This indicates that your information is being collected in a secure manner that others cannot intercept when you click on the “Send” button.

While it may be tempting to overstate your income when you are applying for credit, it’s not a good idea to do so. Some of the companies you apply to will contact an applicant’s employer to confirm income. How much an applicant makes annually is only one factor the company uses to determine whether to extend credit, so be truthful. Besides, this will only help your finances in the long run.

It’s not a good idea to apply for multiple credit cards within a short time. Your actions will appear on your credit report, and lots of applications in a relatively short time will lower your credit rating. A better strategy is to choose the card you want to apply for carefully by considering all of your options first.

Jessie

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

wickamos asked:


I am making a website for someone who wants to accept payments online. The group already has a merchant account, so they can perform the credit card transactions by hand. They just need a secure service that will store the credit card information for later access. We don’t have a secure server, and would like to find a 3rd party service that can do this for cheap (or even free!). The group is a non-profit, if that makes a difference.

DARRYL