Whether you run a strictly online business, a physical business storefront, or a combination of both, the fact remains that your company could likely benefit from having a website equipped with online payment processing services. Adding credit card payment options to your existing website or even launching an eCommerce component as part of your traditional business could attract more customers and boost profits in the process.

What is Online Card Processing?
If you are unfamiliar with eCommerce or payment processing services, they essentially allow your website to accept credit card payments online for goods and services. However, the card processing is done through a third-party service that is secure, so you and your customers can rest assured that their credit card numbers and personal information is encrypted and safe. Plus, once the system is implemented on your own site, your customers will not even know that the payment is being processed by a third-party.

How Does it Work?
When you implement credit card processing services on your existing site, customers can “check out” items or services from their virtual shopping cart. To do this, they provide their credit or debit card information, billing address, and other basic contact information. Once they submit the order, the information passes through a secure server to the third-party processing service, where the billing and payment information are verified. Once it is verified, the payment is processed. Before sending the payment back to the business, the processing company may take out a small percentage as a processing fee.

What Does it Cost?
The cost of credit card processing services can vary greatly depending on a number of factors, such as the company used and the size of the business or number of sales made regularly. Most processing services will charge a flat rate as a percentage of each sale, though this can vary as well. Still, many business owners agree that paying for these services has boosted their company’s profits significantly and widened their customer base as well. Furthermore, having a card processing service in place makes customers feel more comfortable providing their credit or debit card information for payment.

Those interested in such services should explore their options to find the one that is best for them. There are a number of processing companies out there, such as Charge.com payment solutions Inc. that may be worth looking into and finding out more about.