Accepting Credit Card Payments Online

If you don't have a way to process credit cards and checks online you are losing money. Studies show that you can dramatically increase your online sales by giving your customers the option of paying online. If your potential buyers have several options to pay, it increases the likelyhood that they will make a purchase. Another thing you can do to increase sales is by simply placing two important statements on your website that will reassure your potential buyer that their personal information is safe and secure. You absolutely must include a "Privacy Statement" and a "Secure Server Statement". It's also a good idea to place a short secure server statement below every payment button on your website.

You don't have to have a merchant account in order to take credit card orders online. Instead, you can use what's known as a "third-party credit card processor" to handle orders for you. Unlike a regular merchant account, you usually don't have to pay any monthly fees. You simply pay a "transaction fee" every time you make a sale. In other words, you ONLY pay when you make a sale. There are several companies that provide this low cost service, two popular third party credit card processors are Paypal and Clickbank

Joining PayPal is Free and allows you to accept every form of electronic payments. You can also send money to anyone in the world as long as they have an email address. It only takes a few minutes to register. Clickbank is another option for you if your business is selling digital products. There is a onetime set-up fee of about $50.00 Note: If you are planning to use Click Bank, it would be wise to start the process in advance because there is an approval process that will take several weeks to complete. This one-time setup fee is due at the completion of the approval process. You can apply for an account now to get the process started. Note: Clickbank allows you to sell downloadable digital products only. (ebooks, info products, etc.)

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I've spent countless hours over a period of several weeks searching all over the net for the best merchant account service available and this is what I've found. A company that offers a traditional merchant account service with real-time processing, you get free setup, free internet check software, free 24/7 tech support and instant approval click here to see what they can do for you.

Special Note: By using a traditional merchant account as opposed to a third party credit card company adds credibilty to your business. Having an onsite payment option gives your website a professional look and feel that you don't get when you use third party credit card processors. It gives your potential buyers more confidence and also increases the likelyhood that they will make a purchase.

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