You should choose the right payment processor if you run a business accepting credit and debit cards online. An online payment processor is what handles the transactional heavy lifting that includes everything from capturing the sale, to sending you a bill statement and working with your bank to make sure you get paid.
When a buyer purchases something from your website or in person at your brick-and-mortar store their credit or debit card data passes through a gateway for payments or PoS terminal. The gateway encrypts the information to protect it and then forwards it to the processor that processes payments, which then transmits it to the customer’s card network. The card network then checks with the customer’s bank to see if they have enough funds to pay for the item. If the bank agrees to the purchase, then the card issuer transfers money from the account to the merchant’s bank. The payment processor will transmit this message to the merchant’s site or PoS terminal. This will notify the customer of their successful payment.
When choosing a processor take into consideration security and ease of use and compatibility with the existing systems. Look for a solution that offers APIs and plugins to seamlessly integrate with your ecommerce platform or POS system. You should also assess payment processing services the customer experience at checkout and your team’s reporting and transaction management experience. In the end, make sure you are familiar with the contract terms and how easy it will be to switch providers in the future.