Integrated payment systems are those that allow you to safely accept many different forms of payment, either on location or online. These systems are a great asset to any sized business. They provide convenience to your customers while protecting you from the loss associated with inadvertently accepting checks, debit or credit cards from accounts that have been compromised.

Credit And Debit Cards

Integrated payment solutions allow your business to safely accept credit, debit and check cards from your customers either in person or through the internet. On location, you will be provided with a machine that you can physically run the cards through. The magnetic strip on the back of the cards gives all the account information to the system where is is processed rapidly and accurately. If the account has been compromised or there is not enough of a balance to cover the charge, the card will be declined.

The system works the same way online, except that the account number is manually entered by the customer. This information is then processed in the same way. Whichever way the information is entered into the system, the fact that the account can be checked almost instantly protects your business from financial loss and may protect your potential customers from suffering a loss through the use of a stolen or hacked account.

Checks

Checks are not as easy to verify as cards are, and because of this, many businesses will not accept them. However, integrated payment solutions does make it possible for you to quickly and easily verify that the account exists and that it is currently in good standing. This will not protect you from forged checks or those that may bounce, but it does at least keep you from accepting checks that are little more than worthless slips of paper. Some system even have the ability to treat a check like a debit cards and remove the funds from the users account the same day.

Increase Your Profits

Using integrated payment solutions not only saves your business from losses, but it can help you to increase the number and value of the sales you get. We live in a world where very few people carry large amounts of cash. Having the ability to safely accept other forms of payment will not only generate more customers, but it may make them spend more as well.

If a customer is only carrying $100 in cash and you do not accept alternate payments, then your customer is limited in how much they can spend. However, if they can whip out their credit card or wrote you a check, they may be encourage to make that impulse sale. Impulse sales can make the difference between a season spent in the red and one where your business sits comfortably in the black.

If you run a small business, take the time to look into integrated payment solutions, especially if you do any part of your business online. Having one of these systems working for you can give your business the edge it needs to rise above the huge number of options available to the customer in the internet age.

If you are thinking of getting online to make some money, or putting website online that will generate income and earn some money for you, then you need to know that unless you already have a merchant account, you cannot receive any payments online. While some clients can easily wire you the money before service delivery, many people are gradually perceiving that the internet seems safer as a result of the security measures put in place by many e-commerce companies than sending their hard earned cash to someone who may not even deliver on his promises.

An important component that helps facilitate online payments is the payment gateway. Payment gateway service providers basically stand as the middle point between all financial transactions online. These do not function as banks or merchant accounts by themselves. Instead, they are more about security and validation. Most payment gateway service providers help ensure that the buyer’s information is safe by encryption, validates the data, decrypts it and sends to the merchant account. Bottom line, it stands as a security guard decrypting and encrypting the responses between websites and buyer’s credit card company or bank.

Payment gateways are important in helping to reduce the rates of fraud online, makes payment online faster. Back in the days when online payment solutions just began, people made payments and had to wait for close to a week before their cards could be verified with the bank -and mind you, one week was fast! Now, you can make an order and have all your identity and data verified within a few seconds. Payments are also smoother and faster as a result of these gateways.

While payment gateways are very important, it is important to know which type suits your needs at a point. This will help you make smart decision and decide on which payment gateway solutions to choose.

Know what Shopping Carts Are compatible with your intended payment gateway. This is very important as you might set up the shopping cart only to find that the payment gateway service you are using isn’t compatible with it. Thus, asking for a compilation of all shopping carts compatible with your intended gateway is a smart idea. Also be sure to make your comparisons of the price differences between each and every package. In cases where you do not understand certain aspects of the package, ask questions. Most sales people expect this and do not be forced or pressured into choosing an obviously incompatible package. If you go ahead, you could be entangles in a whole load of problems trying to figure out why your shopping cart isn’t recording any sales while you are indeed losing sales and profits.

If your website comes with a shopping cart, ensure that the payment gateway is seamlessly integrated. Most shopping cart vendors often have all these figured out already. But check just to be sure of what you are getting. After setting up the shopping cart, the easiest way to see if it’s working is to try buying from yourself. If your transaction goes through smoothly, then you do not have anything to worry about.

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