Internet Credit Card Payment Processing: The Complete Process

One of the most important e-commerce decisions is your choice of the right Internet credit card payment processing service, perfectly fitting your special needs. It serves as the bridge or gateway between your e-commerce website and your bank's credit card processor. A number of factors go into the decision, and you can't afford to make the wrong choice.

An Internet credit card payment processing service connects the order form on the merchants website to the customer's credit card processor so that the transaction can be automatically authorized in real-time in just a few seconds.

1. The customer fills out credit card information on the order page of your website storefront and clicks the "Buy" button.

2. The website establishes a secure Internet connection to the Internet credit card processing service with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer protocol) and credit card and sales info are transmitted from the merchant to the engine of the Internet credit card payment processing service.

3. The Internet credit card payment processing service may transmit credit card and sales info to a fraud detection system via high-speed leased secure land telephone lines. This system checks massive databases to see if the card and sale match likely patterns of credit card fraud to determine if the risk is less than a pre-determined risk point total set by the merchant.

4. A positive or negative response is transmitted from the fraud detection system the to the Internet credit card payment processing service via high-speed secure land telephone lines. If the response is positive...

5. The Internet credit card payment processing service establishes contact with the credit card processor of the customers bank via high-speed secure land telephone lines.

6. The bank's processor checks a list to see that the credit card account is...

• not overdrafted or reported stolen
  
  
• and (optionally, in the US only) that the numbers in the address and ZIP code match the billing address on the customer's credit card (AVS or Address Verification Service).

If the transaction passes these checks, the sales amount is deducted from the credit balance of the customer's account.

7. A transaction authorization number (or a negative response, if it doesn't pass) is transmitted from the bank's processor to the Internet credit card payment processing service via high-speed secure land telephone lines.

8. A transaction authorization number (or a negative response) is transmitted from the Internet credit card payment processing service to the merchant's website ordering system via secure Internet connection (SSL).

9. The merchant's website ordering system reports to the customer's web browser either the success of the order or that the authorization failed. The state of the transaction is simultaneously logged in a database for recovery. Usually the customer is notified via email when the sale is complete.

10. The merchants accounting and fulfillment systems are alerted that an order has been placed and accepted for shipment.

11. The merchant notifies the Internet credit card payment processing service that the ordered item has been shipped and to mark the transaction as to be "settled." (For digitally delivered products, transactions are automatically settled each night.)

12. The Internet credit card payment processing service "settles" the transaction overnight with the bank's processor.

13. The bank's processor transfers the money from the customer's credit card account into the merchant credit card account, and the money is now available to the merchant.

This looks fairly complicated -- and it is. Getting all this to work quickly and flawlessly is no trivial task, and mistakes can be financially disastrous. The Internet credit card payment processing service is the bridge or gateway from the merchant's website to the merchant's bank.

A state-of-the-art Internet credit card payment processing service must therefore definitely meet the following qualifications:

• reliabiltiy, i.e. 100% up-time
  
  
• bullet-proof, sophisticated fraud protection
  
  
• a single point of direct, personal contact, 24 x 7 support
  
  
• simple, secure, fast setup; seamless integration into your e-commerce software
  
  
• accomodation to special needs
  
  
• real-time, comprehensive reporting and control tools

If you are looking for an Internet credit card payment processing service, which meets all these specifications, covered for one single, low fee (no extra monthly charges for gateway fees, statement fees, etc., etc., etc.), it is highly recommend that you critically check the following offer...

Look to this newly revised resource for an up-to-date, in-depth examination of how payments are made electronically across the Internet. The second edition covers the very latest developments in this quickly expanding area, including new security techniques such as the advanced encryption standard (AES) and multi-application smart cards.