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Webmedia ecommerce development. If you are selling
products or services via your website then you will
require a way to accept payments from customers for
goods/services. The most convenient way on the internet
today for both the merchant and the customer is to
accept credit card payments. There are other payment
methods which are also acceptable, such as cheque,
post office cheque, Internet banking, direct bank
deposit.
The payment methods you choose to use on your website
will probably be determined by your budget and volume
of sales.
 Low budget and/or low volume sales
Recommended payment
methods:
1. Cheque, Internet banking, &
direct bank deposit.
2. Credit card payments using:
- PayPal
or equivalent system such as Pay Mate; OR
- Manual
credit card processing.
Higher budget and/or high
volume sales
Recommended payment methods:
1. Cheque, Internet banking, & direct
bank deposit.
2. Manual credit card payments; OR
3. Real Time credit card payments
NOTE: To process credit cards you will require a Merchant
Bank Account OR if you're on a tight budget you may
want to consider an alternative credit card system
such as PayPal or PayMate.
What is a Merchant Account?
A merchant account is a special bank account that
enables your business to accept payments by credit
card either manually or in real time.
Manual vs Real Time Credit
Card Payments
1. Manual Credit Card Payments (suitable for low volume
sales)
Allows you to accept credit card payments "Manually",
ie. when a customer on your website makes an order
with their credit card, the order would be sent to
you via email and your customers credit card information
will be stored securely on the hosting server. You
would log in with a user name and password to retrieve
the credit card details, then you would process the
payment yourself by contacting your bank.
2. Real Time Credit Card Payments (recommended for
high volume sales)
Allows you to accept credit card payments in "Real
Time", ie. When a customer on your website makes
an order with their credit card, the order would be
sent via a "Payment Gateway" to your merchant
bank account, hence the payment is processed automatically
live in real time.
If you choose to use Real Time Credit Card Processing,
you may also require a Payment Gateway Solution. Some
banks offer this as part of their solution.
Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is a software program that integrates
to a merchant's website and allows real time credit
card processing (authorising and settlement) of payments
securely on the Internet to the merchant's bank account.
NOTE: Please contact your bank for merchant account
and payment gateway set up fees and ongoing fees.
(SSL) Secure Server &
Secure Certificate
If you use Manual Credit Card processing the credit
card data will transfer via your web server (rather
than a payment gateway) so you will also require a
Secure Server and Secure Certificate.
Our web hosting clients can use our world-wide secure
server and secure certificate free of charge. Alternatively
you can buy your own via your web hosting control
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