Online merchant services: Selling without cash

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Business )



Technological revolution has made life easier for almost all of us. For both sellers and buyers of services, goods, and other commodities, doing business online has become a necessity. With the fast-paced world, online merchant services have indeed proven their importance to ecommerce traders.

With only a few clicks, a buyer can now order and have the products and services he or she had always wanted without going to the store. Traders can dispose of their goods swiftly without waiting for payday. So, how does online shopping permit security to both sellers and buyers? The answer is simple, through online merchant services.

Online merchant services vary due to diverse needs of online merchants. There are basically hundreds of online merchant services but there are only a few that fit your needs. Whatever their features are, online merchant services are created to help you avoid, identify, if not mitigate, fraudulent transactions and also to facilitate fast payment.

Transactions are made secure by the verification system being used in online merchant services programs. With this, the system authenticates and compares the information supplied by the online buyer and that of his or her credit card. The system, for example, checks if the billing address your customer enters on your Web site matches with the one stated on his or her credit card.

Best of all, most offer online backup services so you want have to worry when the Internet server is down. Besides the Internet, some online merchant services offer transactions via paper, personal digital assistant, phone, or fax. Transactions via online fax services are also being offered.

But to avail of these services, you must first have an online merchant account. Generally, this account is set up by a bank and permits you to accept credit cards as payments. Collected funds will be deposited into your business checking account every 24 hours by your merchant account.

Real time processing has allowed this fast method of credit card charging at the time of purchase. However, online merchant services do not come for free. Ecommerce merchants who avail of these services are charged with a corresponding statement fee, transaction fee and monthly processing minimum fee, among others.


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