Selecting E-commerce Payment Processing
All online stores need reliable and fast e-commerce payment processing to be able to finalize a customer’s order. It is usually thought of as the most important part of an online retail store. Without good merchant processing, your business will result in a loss of customers and sales revenue. Selecting the right payment processor is therefore crucial for the overall success of your business.

The purpose of e-commerce payment processing is to collect payment from the customer for verification, and if approved it will deduct the total amount of the order from the credit card and credit your business merchant account. It acts as an intermediary between your online store and the various financial institutions that are involved in the transaction. There are a number of important factors to look for when selecting a payment processor. One of the most important is its customer service. If you should ever run into the problem of credit card fraud or customers claiming not to have received their packages, the payment processor customer service is the first step in resolving the issue. Good customer service is needed to guarantee a quick and objective resolution. The remaining details include price and a lot of information found in the fine print, which includes:

*Application fees
*Setup fee
*Monthly minimum
*Transaction fees
*Monthly fees
*Terms of payment
*Fraud management
*Discount rates
*Chargebacks

There are also two major types of e-commerce payment processing that is most often used by popular e-commerce solutions. They are known as direct integration and third party e-commerce payment processing. Direct integration is the more common of the two, it seamlessly integrates your store checkout with the payment processor. The customer stays on your site while the payment is being processed. With third party merchant processing, the customer has to leave your website to complete the transaction on the payment processor’s site and as soon as the payment is approved, he or she will be redirected back to your site.

There are different reasons for selecting one kind of e-commerce payment processing over another. For the most part, major e-commerce businesses normally use direct integration, because it appears more professional to let customers stay on your site, and it also allows for more growth. Third party merchant processing is better suited for online stores that are just starting out, have only a few products or only sell e-goods. With this option, not a whole lot is required and it is definitely less expensive. Third party payment processors usually do not charge for monthly services, therefore it is recommended for businesses that are just starting out and do not have a lot of capital.

An e-commerce solution must have the ability to work with all of the major payment processors. In addition, it should also use SSL for full protection of credit card information and can accept other forms of payment such as checks, money orders, purchase orders and CODs. Choosing the right merchant payment services with the right ecommerce solution is your winning combination.