If you’re a business that accepts credit and debit card transactions online, you must select the appropriate payment processor. Online payment processors take care of all the difficult tasks, from capturing sales to sending you a statement of your bill and working with your banks to ensure that you get paid.
Payment gateways or PoS terminals are used when a client buys something from your site or in-store. The gateway secures the information to secure it, and then forwards it to the payment processor, which then transmits it to the customer’s card network. The card network checks with the client’s bank to determine if there is enough funds in the account to cover the product. If the bank approves of the purchase then the card issuer transfers money from the account to the merchant’s bank. The payment processor will then relay this message to the merchant’s website or PoS terminal. This will inform the customer about the successful payment.
When choosing a processor consider factors such as security, user-friendliness, and compatibility with the current systems. Find a solution with APIs and plugins to seamlessly integrate with your ecommerce platform or the POS system. Also, you should consider the checkout experience of your customers as well as the reporting and management capabilities for your employees. Don’t forget to ensure you understand the contract and how it will be easy to switch providers in the future.
