Customer loginProcessing payment in an online store. Part I
Most online merchants like to offer their customers a number of payment options to choose from. The most common and preferable by both customers and merchants is payment thru Internet. Merchants choose it as an alternative to cash payments, checks and money orders, though these forms of payment are still offered in online stores. Payment thru Internet is performed via a payment gateway – an e-commerce service that provides quick and secure transfer of funds between a buyer and a seller bank accounts. Such names as Authorize.Net, 2checkout, LinkPoint, CHASE Paymentech, and many more are examples of major and reliable payment gateways. Though there are certain differences in their services, all payment gateways allow debit and credit card processing similar to the mechanism depicted on the picture below:
To accept credit card payment in online store, a merchant is required to have a merchant account and be registered with some payment gateway (choose payment gateways according to your liking; one of the major differences between payment gateway companies is pricing - sign-up price and comission that they charge per transaction).
Setting up payment thru a payment gateway in Shop-Script based online store is a straight forward process and does not require any knowledge of HTML or programming skills. Shop-Script supports payment processing thru many payment gateways.
All Shop-Script payment modules are designed according to payment gateway integration specifications (each payment gateway company provide its own integration workflow). Many modules are certified by payment gateway companies, e.g. Authorize.Net, PayPal, 2checkout, CHASE Paymentech, and others.
Each payment module can be installed and configured from your store backend (listed on the Modules -> Payment Modules page). A module can be easily installed and added to the list of available payments. A store administrator only needs to enter payment gateway account details in module settings (e.g. login and password), so that payment gateway can authorize payments made by customer to merchant’s account.
Once a module is installed in the store, it needs to be tied to a payment type, which is done in a store’s backend area on Configuration -> Payment page. A payment type will be offered to a customer when placing an order and information on the associated payment gateway. Beside an associated module, an administrator needs to indicate shipping options, which will be offered to a customer with the payment type. Tax calculation option is enabled by default. A store administrator can turn it off if needed. There are also text fields, where payment type description and notification message can be typed in. The picture below shows three payment types setup in the store, their associated modules, available shipping choices, tax calculation option and other settings:
Part 2 of this post will appear in the blog early next week and will cover how payment options are presented to store customers in frontend.
Hi Guys!
I wanted to share with you a very good resource of information. This information helped me to find detailed information about merchant accounts. And I am sure it would be also beneficial for you guys. This e-book has lots of information about merchant accounts like Basics of merchant account, Guide to choosing merchant account, Benefits of obtaining a merchant account. This is the URL of e-book
http://www.merchant-accounts.com/e-book.pdf
Comment by Darren Morton — March 26, 2007 @ 5:27 am
[...] Part II of this article describes how payment is processed when an order is placed by a customer in the frontend of a Shop-Script store. (Part I describes the mechanism of credit card processing via payment gateway in an online store and payment gateways setup in a Shop-Script store) [...]
Pingback by Processing payment in an online store. Part II | Shop-Script Ecommerce Blog — March 27, 2007 @ 4:28 am
[...] Credit card payment is the most common way of online transaction, yet when it comes to understanding how credit card processing works most of us are quite confused. We have already published a post that describes how to set up payment processing in an online store. The current post is an attempt to give a general overview of the credit card processing thru Internet in simple terms. [...]
Pingback by How does online credit card processing works | Shop-Script Ecommerce Blog — April 20, 2007 @ 6:07 am
[...] When paying with a credit card in an online store, a transaction goes thru series of steps. Merchant provider is an important part of this process and a big part of your business success depends on it. Nowadays, there is great number of merchant providers, offering variety of services. They differ by the type and location of services offered, fees, risk and business category, etc. Some known providers are: CreditCall, iTransact, ProPay, Soeasypay (you can find more names on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_account_provider). [...]
Pingback by Things good to know when setting up a merchant account | Shop-Script Ecommerce Blog — May 22, 2007 @ 1:56 am
Hi Guys,
I am my self been using Soeasypay.com as a payment provider, because I heard about them here and on Wikipedia, and I have been very happy about using them.
I have full API integration to their Credit Card Gateway, and this has really made my business much easier and flexible.
/Tom
Comment by Tom Hansson — June 2, 2007 @ 5:25 am
Another helpful resource guide to merchant accounts and processing payments online can be found at http://www.merchantexpress.com/merchant_guide.htm. Seems to have some additional useful info not covered in the above ebook.
Comment by Mark Anderson — June 7, 2007 @ 10:40 am
very nice resources avaible on this site.
Comment by indianshaolin — June 12, 2007 @ 4:46 am
hey guys!
here’s another great source I found and it helped me with setting up Canadian Merchant Accounts - it really helps you have all your questions lined up when finding out about credit card processing:
http://www.canadian-merchant-account-services.com/payment-processing.html
Cheers!
Comment by sandi — November 18, 2007 @ 6:17 pm
[...] Credit card payment is the most common way of online transaction, yet when it comes to understanding how credit card processing works most of us are quite confused. We have already published a post that describes how to set up payment processing in an online store. The current post is an attempt to give a general overview of the credit card processing thru Internet in simple terms. [...]
Pingback by efraweb blog » How does online credit card processing work — January 19, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
Nice guys, thank you for your help and info on this page. Just wanted to come back to tell this has helped me a lot.
I have ended up with processing with http://www.soeasypay.com as I am in the UK.
But they where the only one of the 4 different PSP’s that I contacted.
Good service and terms and conditions.
Thank you all again.
Regards
Terry.
Comment by Terry S — February 18, 2008 @ 8:45 am
Hi there
Can I use http://www.paygate.co.za for payment?
JS
Comment by Jakes — July 20, 2008 @ 6:56 am