It is essential to choose the correct payment processor if you own a business that takes credit and debit cards online. Payment processors online do all the heavy lifting, from recording sales to sending you a statement of your bill and collaborating with banks to make sure you get paid.
Payment gateways or PoS terminals are used when a customer purchases something on your website or in-store. The gateway encrypts the data to ensure its security and then passes it to the payment processor, which then transmits it to the card network of the customer. The card network then contacts the bank of the customer to see if they have enough money to pay for the item. If the bank approves the purchase then the card issuer will transfer the funds from their account to the bank of the merchant. The payment processor will then transmit this information back to the merchant’s site or PoS terminal and inform the customer that the transaction was successful.
When choosing a processor take into consideration security and ease of use and compatibility with existing systems. Make sure you choose a processor which provides APIs or plugins that seamlessly integrate with your e-commerce system or POS. Also, you should consider the checkout experience for your customers as well as the reporting and management capabilities for your employees. Make sure you understand the contract terms and how easy it discover this is to switch providers in the future.
