You need to select the correct payment processor if you have a business that accepts credit and debit cards online. Online payment processors handle all the heavy lifting, from recording sales to sending you a bill statement and working with your banks to ensure that you get paid.
When a consumer purchases something on your site or in person at your brick and mortar store the credit or debit card information passes through a payment gateway or PoS terminal. The gateway secures the information to ensure its security and sends it to the payment processor, who then sends it to the card network of the customer. The card network then checks with the customer’s bank to determine if they have enough funds to pay for the item. If the bank is able to approve the purchase, the card issuer will transfer funds from their account to the merchant’s bank. The payment processor will transmit this information to the merchant’s website or PoS terminal. This will notify the customer about the successful payment.
When choosing a processor, take into consideration security as well as ease of use and compatibility with the existing systems. Find a solution that offers APIs and plugins to seamlessly integrate with your e-commerce platform or the POS system. You should also look at the checkout experience of your customers and your team’s reporting and management experience. In the end, make sure you are familiar with the contract terms and how easy it is to change suppliers in the future.