The world of e-commerce is growing — and fast. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have been losing ground to e-commerce for some time now. In fact, according to the National Law Review, 2020 saw overall online sales volume rise exponentially.To keep up with these trends, the best way forward is to dive into the world of e-commerce and to take your small business online. But how do you do that?This article is your guide to online credit card processing for small businesses. We will talk about how online payments differ from retail payments, how to manage online payment processing, the fees you might expect to pay, and how to get some help with the whole process.
While retail credit card processing allows you to accept major credit cards for in-person payments, online credit card processing gives you the ability to conduct transactions over the internet. You might also hear the term “digital payments.” Online credit card payments are one type of digital payment.In some cases, your online payment processor may enable mobile credit card processing as well. This allows you to accept credit card payments in-person via a mobile app, so you don't have to be at your business location with your credit card machine.
Online credit card processing is similar to retail processing, but there are differences. For retail sales, you need physical credit card machines or point-of-sale systems (POS systems). But with online credit card processing, you need a virtual system of accepting payments.To process credit cards online, you will need:
You’ll first need a place to put your hard-earned cash. You can open a business bank account with any reputable bank. Processing fees and chargebacks, if you end up having any, will ultimately come out of this account as well.
When you receive payment from a customer via a credit card, the money is held in your merchant account before it is verified and moved to your bank account.
Payment gateways are similar to physical credit card readers. They are tools that validate your customer’s credit card payment details securely, and they also make sure that the customer has enough money to pay you. In addition to credit card payment processing, payment gateways may enable you to take other forms of payment, such as debit cards and ACH transactions. They work between your shopping cart and the bank that issued the payment method being used.
Also called a merchant services provider, a credit card processor is a provider that manages the interaction between a merchant and their accounts and the customer’s credit card company. There are many credit card processors out there. The payment processor you choose should be responsive, have great customer support, offer full PCI compliance, and be reliable.Nadapayments is one of the best credit card processing companies. For one, it makes setup easy because the merchant account and payment gateway are built right in. Plus, Nadapayments enables you to take home 100% of your credit card transactions by eliminating credit card processing fees. We’ll talk more about those fees below.
Before you decide on an online credit card processing service, it’s crucial to know how much it will cost. There are two major categories of expenses when processing credit cards online: fees and rates. But there are also other related costs to doing business online that you might incur, such as web hosting or a domain name.
Credit card processing is a complex business, and there are fees associated with each of the involved parties.The three main fees are:
Different payment processing companies offer different pricing models. These rate structures will determine how the above fees will be assessed. Here are the main rate structures you might see:
Depending on your specific business needs and your current online presence, there may be other costs associated with accepting online orders and payments, such as the following:
As a small business owner, it’s important to be able to accept credit cards online in your business. To get started, you will need a business bank account, a merchant account, a payment gateway, and a merchant services provider. In addition to credit card processing costs, you might also have other expenses, such as web hosting or shopping cart software.One of the best credit card processing solutions you can choose is Nadapayments. It’s fully PCI compliant and offers great customer support. Plus, there are no setup costs, hidden fees, or long-term contracts.Nadapayments seamlessly integrates with e-commerce websites, provides the ability to accept both debt and credit cards, and uses a surcharge program. If your customer pays with a credit card, the surcharge will be automatically applied, and you will save money on processing fees. You can even use Nadapayments' virtual terminal to take payments over the phone or to send invoices via email. Plus, you can use the app for on-the-go mobile payments.If you’re ready for cost-effective online credit card processing for your small business or startup, get in touch with Nadapayments today.
