Thread: Basics of Accepting Online Payments

Almost everybody has a credit or a debit card and uses it on a daily basis. People generally don't like carrying much cash around with them and a card is a wonderful alternative. Cards also make it very easy to pay for goods and services on the Internet.

Accepting online Payments

There are a number of different options which can be used to accept online payments. Some of these include:

• Paypal
• Paypal Website Payments Pro
• NoChex
• Merchant Accounts and Gateways

Using Merchant Accounts

In this post we're going to look at the benefits of using a merchant account and gateway instead of Paypal or other similar companies. A merchant account will be a much more professional option for processing online payments.

In order to accept online payments you will need two things. A merchant account and a gateway.

Merchant Accounts

A merchant account is issued by your bank and allows you to accept credit cards. A merchant account alone however won't be enough to make it possible to accept payments on the Internet. An example of a merchant account would be [URL="http://www.natwest.com/streamline"]Natwest Streamline[/URL] which is now part of the same company as RBS Worldpay.

Payment Gateways

Payment gateways allow you to accept payments through the Internet. Carefully choose the right payment gateway for your site. This will depend on choosing a site which has low fees and offers the right services. It's also vital that you check it will work with the software you are running on your site.

An example of a payment gateway would be [URL="http://www.sagepay.com"]SagePay[/URL] which was known as Protx before.

All in One Accounts

If you're looking for an easier option then it's also possible to choose an all in one payment gateway and merchant account. Solutions include [URL="http://www.rbsworldpay.com"]RBS Worldpay Business Gateway Plus[/URL].

Read the rest of this site to learn about the different merchant accounts and payment gateways and how they can help your business to grow. Over the coming weeks many more reviews will be uploaded so that you can make an informed decision. The site will also help you to avoid any problems by learning from other peoples mistakes.

Great post and great information. Well done. I have had several merchant accounts, but now I simply use Google Checkout, which is a merchant account is all respects. Their fees are very reasonable and if you use adwords you even get a discount.

I wasn't aware of the fact that you get a discount if you use adwords. I only used google checkout when it was free and it was quite a nice system. How much discount do you get for using adwords?

Yes, the rebate me $1.00 per transaction and reduce the transaction fees. And, they imbed the Google Checkout logo in your adwords ads...it's very nice.

Great post this has been something I've been looking into recently, what with Paypal and eBay joining forces I see little hope for those of us who sell information products. At least now I know where to start.

Iainj, I make 6 figures a year selling information products and now Google will let you sell digital products as well. I love Google Checkout!

This is great new I really liked Google checkout, I used it for a while for my mobile phone website before I sold it. Looks like I've found my Paypal alternative.

Thanks for the info.

What's Google Checkout like if a buyer disputes a payment? Are they as bad at paypal with only siding with the buyer? Also what sort of proof of delivery do you need for Google Checkout? Especially if you're working with informational products.

6 figures you say? Care to share your secret?!

Andrew

They are so unlike PayPal it isn't funny. They handle it must like any merchant account would handle it. They notify you of the dispute and you have a set time to respond. If they customer protests the purchase, again it is handled just like any regular merchant account.

Andrew, funny you should ask about my secret. I am editing a video course and will have a launch on the 15th of July. I have been doing this for a long time (since 1997) and I am fed up with all these so called Guru's that tell you how to make money on line, only to sell you a pig in a poke and leave out all the real ways to make money. All the things they have learned how to do. I have spent thousands on those courses and "how to's" and I had to learn it all by on my own. I can't tell you how many times I gave up and restarted.

While not yet complete, the website I am building to sell this course and teach people the honest truth about Internet Marketing can be see by [URL="http://www.honestworkfromhomesolutions.com"]Clicking Here[/URL]

As I have said, it's not completed yet, but will be by the end of the month. I am going to show people what I have done to become successful online and what the honest solutions are to making money.

Ed W, a moderator here, is going to be one of my first personally coached students. He has seen some of the material and can atest to it's validity.

By the way, I should break 7 figures this year...

Let me take this a step further.

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