An e-commerce web hosting merchant account enables your online business to accept credit card payments. A merchant account provider transfers payments made from your online business transactions into your bank account, with a small percentage taken off for every sale.

A merchant account is a must for e-commerce web hosting users because it allows their customers to pay through credit cards. It can also be used alongside payment gateways and shopping cart as well. Moreover, a merchant account is useful in transactions both by telephone or face to face.

In e-commerce web hosting, a merchant account serves as the third party between the credit card processors and the website. It can be used for purchases manually submitted by the website owner or entered by the customer. Simply put, a merchant account is the reason why you get paid for every sale you make.

Accepting credit cards online is important because consumers tend to spend more using their credit card than other modes of payment. In fact, the use of credit cards for online transactions has been proven to increase profitability by as high as 52%.

Those who are new to e-commerce web hosting may be swayed by several merchant accounts claiming to be the best but actually aren't. If you are looking to get an e-commerce web hosting merchant account, make sure to look out for ridiculously high transaction fees and hidden charges.

There are some e-commerce web hosting providers offering cheap merchant accounts but slap with you fees. It makes sense to get a plan for your e-commerce web hosting needs especially if you are doing heavy business a month. You might want to go with a plan that has a higher cost per month but with a lower transaction fee.

To get a merchant account, the business owner should meet certain requirements set by the bank. Merchant account providers set certain requirements depending on the size of your business. For one, your online business should not have appeared on the MATCH file, which is the file list for terminated merchant accounts.

Similar to a credit-investigation institution, the MATCH file contains information about online businesses that have flunked in handling their merchant account processing responsibilities properly. If your name appears in the MATCH place, you must get rid of it by working with the company that put you on the MATCH list. Otherwise, you cannot be approved for a merchant account.

For online businesses that have a sales projection of more than $5000 a month, merchant account providers may require you to provide documents such as tax returns; proof of partnership, corporation, nonprofit or limited liability status; checking account statements or previous trading statements. Trade references may also be required from you as well.

Compared to a physical business, it is more difficult for an online business to get acquire a merchant account because there are more risks involved as regards to transactions made through the Internet. There are three kinds of risks that online businesses present when getting a merchant account, one of which is credit risk. Merchant account providers look carefully as to how much an online business might owe them in future time. For instance, the credit risk is relatively low for a new business that incurs monthly charges of $5000. Simply put, a business's credit history is a primary factor in the merchant account provider's decision-making process.

Another type of risk that merchant account providers put the biggest concern is fraud risk. As much as possible, merchant account providers want to make sure that they incur very little chargebacks from fraudulent credit card transactions. This is because if a customer demands a charge on the sale, the bank is required to refund the money. The refund is passed on to the merchant account provider. Finally, it is the merchant that shoulders this loss. Newer online businesses are said to be at a higher fraud risk.

Contigent liability is another type of risk that not only includes fraud risks but other risks related with unforeseen marketing circumstances. Businesses offering lifetime service guarantees have a higher risk of contingent liability because the merchant account provider can be passed on the liability should the business close.

There are various e-commerce web hosting providers that you can find offering merchant account services. There are a number of e-commerce web hosting plans that enable you to get free domain registration. Various merchant account providers can help you find the right domain registration for your online business.

Merchant account software will be needed to run online transactions, aside from your shopping cart. Many e-commerce web hosting services offer software that is payable on a monthly basis.

posted by Marcus Lim at 6:19 PM 1 Comments

Latest figures reveal that many online customers do not have a credit card or are hesitant to use it for their online purchases. Also, a good 20% of all transactions online are check-based. If you are running an Ecommerce business, can you afford not to honor checks?

There's the rub, however. Mail order checks usually encounter problems such as clearing of checks, which can take up to two weeks to clear. This may be a hassle on the customer's end, as he will have to wait until the check clears in order for the purchases to be shipped. There is also the risk of shipping out the order after receipt of payment, which some companies apply, since there is the possibility of a bounced check.

Now, your online business can get fast and less risky verification of your transactions with an e-check. This payment option allows your customer to place their order and then submit their banking information such as checking account number and bank routing number. Their check number may also be required, in some cases.

The e-check option is a very good alternative for online sellers who are not keen on the idea of offering mail order check payments for their customers. With an e-check, information is verified right away, after which you print out a check and then deposit it to the bank, the same way as you would a regular check. A lot of merchant accounts that accept e-checks usually have an eft option, in which the funds are deposited to your checking accounts automatically.

In some ways, banking information can require more caution than credit card information, as some banks do not protect against fraud when it comes to checking accounts. Make sure you provide your customers a secure environment for them to enter in their information.

Moreover, an e-check payment option is also an excellent temporary solution if you are experiencing difficulty with getting a merchant account approval, up until you find one that works best for your online business. Whatever payment processing service you find, it is always smart to understand what they offer before making a commitment. Selecting a credible and well-known service can help build trust from your target market.

Select an online payment processing service that allows your online business to honor e-checks. Some of the most popular services are Authorize.net, Google Checkout, VeriSign and Paypal Payflow Pro.

To accept e-checks on your e-commerce site, here are important things you should follow. For one, your payment gateway must use SSL encryption. You also need to obtain a valid security certificate for your site. This way, you assure that your customers are protected and when it comes to submitting sensitive banking information.

Design a professional-looking website. Your customers will feel safer and more secure when you do so. Picture this out, even if your website already has the encryption, valid security certificate and the guarantee of security and protection, if your interface looks foolish, then your potential customers will more likely veer away from your site. Know which layout, colors and text best suit your business and which you think your target customers will positively respond to. Get a skilled graphics designer to do the job, unless you are one, yourself. Remember that your website's look can influence how customers feel about whether or not they should do business with you.

When setting up your business, it is essential to select the right ecommerce web hosting service. You want your online business to attract customers, not alienate them. There are a number of ecommerce web hosting services who provide their clients quick, quality personalized features that allow your online business to gain web presence at a budget you can afford. Getting the right ecommerce web hosting provider can give you the usability, customer service support and reliability that are essential for your business's sustainability.

There are a number of good reasons for getting a good web hosting service. For one, you get flexibility and dependability for your account. This way, you don't tie yourself down with a low-end web hosting service. In addition, ecommerce web hosting is also great for website developers or designers since you can divide your account with ease. Shopping carts are typically incorporated in most web hosting plans, making it easier and more convenient to sell your products.

While e-checks may be a good payment option for your customers, make sure to still cater to other payment options that are convenient for them. Your customers may still prefer to use their credit or debit cards, mail order checks (if accepted), PayPal accounts and other payment modes. After all, customers are always first.

posted by Marcus Lim at 7:24 AM 0 Comments

Setting up an eCommerce web site takes a lot of effort especially when it is done from scratch. First, you need to go through all the effort in creating a good design for your website and then start coding it, making sure that the design is achieved and at the same time make sure that it is secure enough to prevent any exploits. Then you need to find a good web hosting provider that can fulfill your bandwidth, storage, and other server requirements in order for your eCommerce site to be running smoothly even during heavy traffic sessions. This web hosting provider must also be trusted and safe to further protect your content and code. Domain registration also takes place in this step to make the website easily accessible by real consumers and the domain itself will serve as a major component in making the website visible on the web and for marketing purposes.

After all of these steps are completed and your eCommerce web site is fully tested, you should be able to open up your website to the public with confidence as your small business finally gets connected to people on the web. However, this doesn't really mean that your eCommerce web site is fully safe. As a webmaster, you still need to handle your website and its visitors with care to combat the most concerning issue - credit card fraud. This is something that the web hosting cannot deal with so you need to apply these tricks to completely leave any fraud out of your eCommerce web site.

Have a Verification Number Field

Adding a verification number field only requires some small coding to the eCommerce part of the website, but it will aid greatly in fighting credit card fraud. It is very essential to request people to enter this number as it eliminates the instances where people that steal credit card information from others through unconventional methods that can then use the information. Customers know that this 3-digit number is found on the back of the card so make sure the shopping cart script that you have includes this feature.

Obtain an Address Verification System

An Address Verification System or AVS may not be a complete security solution, but it will add an extra layer of security against credit card fraud. It works by obtaining the zip code of the current card holder and then comparing it with the information entered on the site. People can still bypass this layer if the thief has the billing address so make sure it is combined with other methods below too.

Take a Closer Look at the Addresses

The AVS won't serve as a reliable protection layer if the thief has the billing address. But usually, thieves that enter the billing address would normally supply a different shipping address so they can receive the item. This could be an early warning sign of a fraudulent order, but look at the other parts of the form as well just to make sure. The e-mail address may provide a lead as well since thieves have the habit of using an e-mail address obtained from a free web account since orders usually have e-mail confirmation. The only exception is if a person will order and ship it to another address as a gift so it is even safer to do the task below.

Get Confirmation from the Customer

It is normal to encounter some transactions that look suspicious and that should prompt you immediately to reach out to the customer by any means of communication just to confirm the order. Use the information supplied by the customer and make sure that the source is really genuine. It is a good habit to get into this not only for security purposes on your web hosting side, but also to keep customers happy which can grow into more trusted relationships where people will be doing business on your eCommerce site in the future.

If ever you are still in doubt, you can always contact other fraud protection services or possibly even your web hosting provider if you got a special eCommerce package. These services may cost some extra money for use, but it is well worth it if it means keeping your eCommerce site completely safe from credit card fraud.

posted by Marcus Lim at 2:14 PM 0 Comments