Business & Finance

Mastering credit card payments on your eCommerce site

In the online business sphere, if you don’t accept credit card payments, you will struggle to attract and retain customers. But accepting these payments comes with many challenges – fees, chargebacks, fraud, security features, etc. Luckily, you can address all these risks by following this simple guide on integrating credit card payments on your eCommerce site.

The simple way to accept credit card payments

Credit card payment providers open you up to an international audience, enabling you to boost your revenue opportunities. Here is how you go about this:

1. Set up an eCommerce site

We live in an age where anyone can start selling products and services, even without a website. But for greater control, host your shop on a reliable website builder like WordPress, which allows you to set up an independent store. Once the sales funnel is ready (shop to cart to checkout), you will be one step closer to scoring customers!

2. Select your intermediary

There are two ways to accept payments on an eCommerce site. The first is a payment processor, and the second is a payment gateway. People often confuse the two, as many payment gateways have payment processor features. The processor handles the credit card transactions by clearing them while the gateway authorises the payments. 

3. Integrate the payments

There are several ways to integrate credit card payments on your website. These include the following:

API integration

This integration works best for PCI level-1 and multiple-PSP processing merchants who want more control over their checkout pages and user interfaces. With this integration, you create the payment form and link it to your payment gateway.

WEB SDKs

Customization and security are some of the features that draw merchants to this payment solution. Besides, integration is easier than using API integration.

Hosted payment pages

This solution is ideal for any merchant who wants to customize their checkout pages without writing code and integrating security protocols. As a plus, it supports credit cards as well as many other payment methods, enabling you to cater to different customer needs.

Plugins on eCommerce platforms

These plugins enable you to convert your website into an eCommerce platform to start accepting payments. Examples of stores that accept payment gateway plugins are Shopify, OpenCart, WooCommerce, WIX, and Presta shop.

Payment links

These simple payment solutions allow you to share a secure payment link with your clients, enabling them to make payments without requiring you to have a website.

4. Complete the store policies

A major cause of chargebacks is the lack of clear refund policies or unclear terms. You should avoid leaving such a loophole in your site, as this can result in revenue loss. Add your policies to the checkout and sales pages and ensure your customers must click on agreeing to the terms before they can buy anything.

5. Test and launch the payments

Before launching your store, you should test that making payments via credit card is smooth and frictionless – you can do this by embarking on the customer journey from start to finish and make changes to make the process simpler for your customers. Once you are satisfied with the process, you can launch the store.

ALSO READ: Credit Builder Cards Vs. Credit Builder Loan – Which Is Better?

Tanyaradzwa Pamhirwa

Tanyaradzwa Pamhirwa is a junior campaign management who inspires and empowers you to create marketing that your customers will love; igniting real results for your business.