Gone are the days of strictly in-person shopping and swiping cards at physical point-of-sale (POS) systems.
Are you a business owner struggling to find reliable and secure ecommerce payment processing options? Do you feel frustrated navigating the complex world of financial requirements, compliance, and uncertain costs?
Or maybe you’re overwhelmed by the complexity of e-commerce payment processing regulations and unsure what solutions will work best for your business.
You’re not alone. Many business owners struggle with these same issues.
We’ve created this guide to help small businesses understand ecommerce payment processing so you can find solutions that work for your unique business needs.
In this article, we will dive deep into ecommerce payment processing—how it works and how to choose the best payment solution for you.
What Is Ecommerce Payment Processing?
Ecommerce payment processing is the process of securely accepting payments from customers online. Businesses can use specialized terminals or ecommerce payment gateways, from credit card payments to online wallets.
Payment processing services streamline ecommerce transactions by connecting customers’ payment details with your business’ bank account, making receiving money in exchange for goods or services much easier and faster.
There are no set-up fees, monthly fees, or long-term contracts like traditional merchant accounts—making it easy for online business owners to get started quickly.
Over 70 percent of ecommerce shoppers abandon shopping carts due to slow or limited payment options. With ecommerce payment processing, businesses can offer customers a wide range of options, including debit cards, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), online wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), and other digital payment methods (Amazon Pay).
Ecommerce payment processing also adds a layer of security (and complexity) to online transactions since it takes payments through a digital ecommerce platform like Shopify or own ecommerce site.
Transactions are encrypted using secure socket layer (SSL) technology, so personal information is kept safe. And when purchasing online, customers can also use two-factor authentication (2FA) for added peace of mind.
How Does Ecommerce Payment Processing Work?
Here’s how ecommerce payment processing helps business owners provide a smooth checkout experience for online shopping:
- You link your ecommerce store with a trusted payment processor.
- Customers enter their personal and financial information into a secure form on your website.
- Their card details are encrypted and passed to the processor via a secure third-party gateway called a Payment Service Provider (PSP).
- The processor requests the consumer’s bank to verify customer identity, whether sufficient funds are available, and whether purchase limits exist.
- If everything checks out, the PSP processes the transaction and sends you and your customer confirmation that the purchase was successful. The customer’s account gets deducted.
Make sure that your ecommerce store has all of its security measures and functionalities in place, including SSL certificates, and fraud prevention steps such as data encryption and verification steps at checkout.
Payment Processor
A payment processor facilitates all communication between the customer’s bank or credit card company and the merchant’s account.
The payment processor verifies that the customer has sufficient funds before transferring them into the merchant’s account. A payment gateway makes this possible as it securely sends customer information across multiple layers of encryption to protect the customer and merchant from data theft.
Payment processors also offer features such as fraud detection, dispute management, and compliance solutions, ensuring customers get secure payments every time they shop with you.
Payment Gateway
The payment gateway is an intermediary between your ecommerce store and the payment processor. It securely transfers data between the two entities.
The payment gateway facilitates authorization or decline information to be sent back to the customer-facing website, allowing customers to check out quickly and securely.
Payment gateway encrypts sensitive credit card information over an SSL connection—protecting customer data from cybercriminals and malicious actors.
Ecommerce merchants can choose from various payment gateways depending on their needs. Some of the most popular options are PayPal Payments Pro and Stripe.
You may also need to integrate additional features to ensure smooth checkout processes, such as fraud protection tools and loyalty programs.
Merchant Account
This is an account that your online store sets up with a bank so that you can accept digital payments from customers.
To set up a merchant account, you must partner with a merchant services provider that offers solutions like virtual terminals and digital accounts.
A payment processor and gateway authorize and settle the funds, then deposits them into your merchant account. The funds will transfer to your business bank account in one to two business days.
Security software then encrypts every transaction to ensure maximum data protection for all parties—merchants, banks, and customers. Banks also use fraud detection services to monitor transactions for potentially fraudulent activity, which helps protect merchants and their customers from unwanted activity.
Merchant accounts may require additional levels of verification from customers before completing the transaction to ensure all payments being processed are legitimate.
High-Risk Merchant Accounts
High-risk merchants may face more stringent requirements when applying for a merchant account. Businesses in the gaming, entertainment, healthcare, and travel industries are considered high-risk due to their increased propensity for chargebacks, fraudulent transactions, or higher volumes of returns.
As a result, they may be charged higher processing fees than other merchants or need to provide additional documentation to support their application.
High-risk payment processors like Von Payments provide secure platforms to accept payments from shoppers without exposing merchants to financial risk. Von Payments offers various services designed specifically for high-risk merchants looking to improve their chargeback ratio and increase customer satisfaction.
Von Payments’ Chargeback Management enables businesses to address disputes before they become chargebacks with real-time monitoring and alerts. This service also provides helpful data analytics on customer behavior so merchants can identify potential issues before escalating into costly chargebacks.
What is Tokenization?
Tokenization ensures that online payments are secure and efficient for buyers and sellers. It allows businesses to store customers’ sensitive data—such as credit card numbers or bank account details—in an encrypted form.
With tokenization, businesses don’t have to store payment information in their databases. Instead, they can save an encrypted token pointing to the customer’s details.
Even when the business suffers a data breach, the stolen information will be useless as it shows no real credit card or bank account numbers.
Tokenization also allows customers to quickly check out without needing to enter their payment information every single time.
How To Choose the Right Ecommerce Payment Processor
Here are three things you need to consider when choosing the right ecommerce payment processor:
Security
Security is essential in protecting your payment system with an SSL certificate, which encrypts communication and card transactions.
You’ll want to ensure that your processor is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and that it follows the regulations set out by credit card companies to ensure your payments are secure.
Types of Payments Allowed
Select a processor supporting various payment methods like credit and debit cards, PayPal, Google and Apple Pay, Venmo, etc.
Also, look for processors supporting international currencies, bank accounts, and tax systems in multiple countries.
Pricing and Fees
When selecting a payment processor, look into the most common fees:
- Set-up costs can be free, but the paid ones usually range from $250. Monthly subscription fees cost $10 and $50.
- Transaction fees are a percentage of each transaction plus a flat fee, typically no more than 25¢ per transaction.
- Some processors may also charge additional fees, such as costs for PCI compliance or additional software integrations.
Von Payments Is the Answer to Your Ecommerce Business
At Von Payments, we understand how important it is for businesses to have reliable payment solutions that meet their needs.
Von Payments offers comprehensive ecommerce payment processing solutions, giving you access to various features such as fraud prevention and secure checkout. We also allow customers to pay with multiple currencies and major credit cards, giving them the convenience they demand from an online purchase.
Von Payments’ simple setup lets you get up and running quickly and easily so you can start accepting payments immediately!
Discover our easy setup process and take advantage of the many benefits of using Von Payments!