Accept Payments Online: A Guide For Merchants

By Author: Sifipay
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The events of the last few years have caused some retailers and businesses to reconsider how their goods and services are distributed. Some had to close their physical subsidiaries temporarily, while others had to exit the market entirely.

As a result, starting to sell your products or services online, or at least moving a portion of your inventory there, appears to be a good idea. The same can be said for entertainment businesses, such as casinos, which can benefit greatly from online revenue.

However, how do you accept online credit card payments through online payment gateway or other forms of payment? To do so, you'll need to take a few steps, the first of which is to create your website. Find out more with us today!

How to accept payments on a website
You must have an e-commerce website. You can certainly sell goods on different marketplaces, but you will have to pay fees, follow the marketplace's rules, and rely on its success.

The sky is the limit when it comes to how you can organise and design your website. Even so, there are some things you must have on your site in order to accept ...
... payments. These are they:

A set of legal and policy postings
The full name and address of your company should be listed on the website first and foremost. To maintain transparency, make sure your domain is registered in your company's name.

In terms of legal documents, you must have privacy, shipping, and refund policies, as well as terms and conditions, including a governing law clause, posted on your website. We recommend that you create a separate header for each of these.

The website content
To avoid chargebacks, the description of your products and/or services should always be accurate, descriptive, and up to date, especially if you are a high-risk business.

Your contact information and customer service information should be clearly visible. Overall, you should hire a team to proofread the website before it goes live, so they can determine if it is comprehensive and easy to navigate.

Card scheme companies’ logos
You may be able to accept credit card payments from Visa and Mastercard, depending on the financial institution you choose. As a result, you must also display valid company logos, credit card numbers, and other payment methods that you accept.

The logos are usually found on the official websites of the companies, along with all of the necessary branding guidelines. Furthermore, customers will feel more comfortable shopping on your website if they are aware of all payment options.

Security
You should get an SSL certificate to protect your customers' data while they shop on your website. The certificate encrypts information exchanged between a website and its visitors, ensuring that it is not intercepted by fraudsters.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance is required by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. It is essentially a set of regulations aimed at ensuring that companies and institutions dealing with any type of credit card processing, storage, or transfer do so in a secure manner.

For merchants, the PCI DSS includes 12 general data security requirements:

1. Set up and maintain a firewall to protect cardholder information.
2. For system passwords and other security parameters, do not use vendor defaults.
3. Keep cardholder data safe.
4. Encrypt cardholder data transmission over open, public networks.
5. Defend all systems against malware and keep anti-virus software or programmes up to date.
6. Create and maintain secure software and systems.
7. Limit access to cardholder data to those who have a business need to know.
8. Determine and authenticate system component access.
9. Limit physical access to cardholder information.
10. Keep track of and monitor all network resource and cardholder data access.
11. Test security systems and processes on a regular basis.
12. Have a policy in place that covers information security for all employees.

Visit the PCI Security Standards Council's website for more information on the requirements and how to comply with them. PCI DSS compliance is also required by your bank or the best online payment gateway service provider.

You can read the entire document here to ensure that you understand the requirements. Remember that going above and beyond with these regulations will not only save you legal trouble, but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care about the security of their personal information.
These are the most important considerations to make when creating a website. Of course, depending on the industry, there may be additional requirements.

To make site development even easier, go to the websites of the banks or Fintech companies where you want to open a merchant account and see if they have any specific requirements for potential merchants.
Choose a bank or PSP to accept credit card payments online
You'll need to open a merchant account with a bank or with the help of a Third-Party Provider to start accepting online credit card payments and other payment methods (TPP).

When looking for a merchant account, we recommend paying attention to the following criteria:

A bank’s reputation and expertise
Check to see if the financial institution is reputable and has worked with other businesses in your industry.

Pricing
Compare service prices from a few different banks and pick the one that best suits your needs. Low service prices, however, are not always a good thing, as they may indicate that the bank lacks security instruments or other features. As a result, always compare price and service quality.

Compliance
As previously stated, a financial institution must adhere to a number of regulations, including PCI DSS, GDPR, and PSD2 – the Revised Payment Services Directive, which was also implemented to improve the security of online merchants and customers.

The variety of payment methods
Because not all of your potential customers will want to pay for goods with credit cards, make sure the bank also accepts other payment methods through online payment gateway India.

Security
The 3D-secure protocol, which is a technical solution that requires customers to use two-step verification when purchasing something online, should be available to merchants. Finally, 3DS allows for the prevention of fraudulent transactions using stolen cards.

To protect merchants from fraud and chargebacks, the PSP should have a secure and proven anti-fraud system. And it's especially important now, as the number of chargebacks and fraudulent cases has increased as a result of the uncertain times. High-risk businesses face particular difficulties, as they already face a higher chargeback risk.

Know more about SifiPay, please visit www.sifipay.com.