Accepting credit cards in your shopping cart should be regarded as a must have.
Whether it be to help close the sale of someone buying on impulse or just for convenience purposes for a regular buyer, the ability for a store to accept credit cards can make the vital difference in achieving your desired sales.
How would you like it if you desperately wanted to buy yourself that mobile phone today as your last one just broke.... your internet banking is down and your only payment method was credit card but the store you chose to buy from only accepted bank deposit? Would you simply click on to the next site who probably offers the same mobile? This is what most people do.
What options do you have
1. Merchant accounts and Gateways
There are two potential actions in setting up credit card facilities for your shopping cart through a bank. You will need to apply for a Merchant Account and possibly a Payment Gateway depending on the services you need.
a) What is a Merchant Account?
In order to accept credit card payments for your online store, you are required to apply for a merchant account. This is done through a bank of your choice and generally takes up to ten working days. A merchant account will give you the ability to receive credit card payments and deliver the money into your bank account.
b) What is a Payment Gateway?
A final option in setting up a merchant account to accept online payment is the gateway.
A gateway will run additional checks on credit cards and pass the details in the required format to the bank to authorize and validate credit card payments. These gateways provide a walkway from your shopping carts checkout to a different modem channel to check the credit card status in real-time, a very complicated process if you were to do it on your own from step one. Please ask a representative before creating an account with a gateway since it may not be required.
2. Third Party Payment Processors
A third party payment processor is an independent company which can process your credit card payments without a merchant account and gateway. They cut out the need to deal with a bank. Some examples of third party companies are PayPal and WorldPay. These are all supported by Ashop Commerce shopping carts.
PayPal has a complete and fully certified integration with Ashop Commerce with access to affiliate mass pay directly from your admin panel without logging into PayPal. You also have the option of using PayPal’s standard checkout, express checkout or website payments direct (seamless integration for US and UK customers only at this time)
You will save money on monthly fees from both a merchant account and gateway but your transaction fees will be higher, generally by more than 2.5% depending on the company you choose. The third party will accept most major card types and you will receive the funds in their trust account or a nominated account within one to two day's on average.
Fees: An example: Set up Fees from 0 plus transaction fees from 2.2%
Integration with shopping cart software
Your shopping cart software is compatible with both your Merchant account and third party payment processors. If you choose to use PayPal or WorldPay, the end result will generally lower costs if your sale volume is low (1-10 sales/day). We suggest if you are looking to grow your company quickly, to have both a merchant account and third party processor set up, this will give your customers a good selection when purchasing.
