Checks Out At Check Out

Checks Out At Check Out
Word Count:
400
Summary:
Jason Schwartz looks at ways of expanding your online customer base and streamlining your accounts processes.

Keywords:
online,check,processing,checks,payments,merchant,payment,

Article Body:
As businesses providing services and goods that can be purchased online, ask yourselves this question: am I doing everything I can to enable my visitors to buy my products?
Are you offering them a complete range of payment options? Or are you, like some many online businesses, making the mistake of assuming everyone has a valid credit or debit card? They don't.
In fact, over 11% of the population of the United States doesn't have a credit or debit card and, of course, millions more are maxed out at any one time. Do you really want to ignore 30 million plus potential customers? No? Didn't think so.
The solution is to offer check payments to customers.  With the increased availability of online check solutions for all sizes of business, problems normally associated with accepting checks - such as delays in receiving payment, bad checks and the additional banking time - are largely a thing of the past.
ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE CHECK PROCESSING
A complete online check processing service will include check verification, so you can determine whether an account is overdrawn or closed before dispatching goods; the ability to accept checks by fax and phone as well as online; fast, automated transfer of funds from the customers account to yours and even electronic check recovery.
As well as increasing the number of potential customers, there are other advantages of such a solution for any online business. These include :
Eliminates "the check is in the mail" syndrome.
Allows faster access to funds than waiting for check payment by mail.
Reduces labor costs associated with physical check processing.
Cheaper than accepting credit cards and lower risk of credit card charge backs.
Saves on expensive invoicing and mailing costs.
CHOOSING AN ONLINE CHECK PROCESSOR
There are a number of companies offering third party online check processing services, many of whom also provide integration with your current shopping cart. The smaller online business would be well advised to choose a service that takes a small percentage of the value of each check with no monthly minimum number of transactions. On the other hand, companies dealing with larger check values may find that a transaction processor offering a flat fee per check is a better option.
Whichever option you choose, online check processing can both increase your customer base and streamline your current billing processes. It maybe time you asked your customers to get their checks out at checkout.

Accepting Credit Cards on your Website

Accepting Credit Cards on your Website
Word Count:
517
Summary:
If you are building an online shop, you will need to address the question of taking payments for orders. You can, of course, request that a check payment be sent to you in the mail. Most shopping basket software allows you to select this option when you are setting it up. If you already have an offline, bricks and mortar business, you may simply wish to accept credit card payments over the phone.

Keywords:
online shop, credit cards, merchant,

Article Body:
If you are building an online shop, you will need to address the question of taking payments for orders. You can, of course, request that a check payment be sent to you in the mail. Most shopping basket software allows you to select this option when you are setting it up. If you already have an offline, bricks and mortar business, you may simply wish to accept credit card payments over the phone.
However, there are some basic problems with these solutions and it all comes down to the way people shop on the internet. Customers expect to be able to add items to their basket and proceed to the checkout to pay. If they then find they must telephone you or print out and send their order, they may simply abandon their order and hop over to another website. Shopping online is all about convenience and if you are unable to provide this, you may be losing customers without even being aware of it.
So, what are your options and what is it all going to cost? Well, the good news is you can do it all very simply and cheaply. Paypal does not have a set-up charge and is a large and trusted online payment processor servicing 78 million accounts worldwide in 56 countries. Your only cost is a small percentage on each sale; a transaction charge. Payments from your website go straight into your Paypal account from where you can transfer amounts to your bank account with the click of a button.
Once you sign up with a payment processor, you can either link to their secure server from your shopping basket facility or build 'add to basket' buttons via a simple web query form. The html generated is then pasted next to items on your web page and your customers will be transferred to a secure server when they go to checkout.
Traditional merchant accounts are normally set up through your own bank and will become integral to your business account. Having your own merchant account gives you the choice of many different online payment gateways. Most, however, do charge a set-up fee, monthly fee and transaction charge. Just as you would offline, do make sure you research any company you sign up with on the internet. Print out and read their terms and conditions. Take particular notice of where they are operating from, their fees, when and how you will receive your money into your account.
Another point to consider is the question of chargebacks. This happens when a buyer requests a refund of an amount already paid to you. Reasons include not receiving goods ordered or items arriving faulty, damaged or not as described. Sometimes requests are made if the buyers card was used fraudulently.
If the chargeback request is successful, your merchant payment processor will charge you a processing fee. However, some companies will now provide you with insurance against chargebacks inclusive in your monthly fee. It's certainly worth shopping around for the right solution for you but knowing you have done your research will give you some peace of mind.