Getting Your Customers To Pay Online
A recent issue of eBusiness from Enterprise Ireland dealt with online payment options, from credit cards to Paypal.
Having online payment options on your company website can help you make the most of the 24/7 trading possibilities opened up by the internet. Make no mistake: within the Irish market alone there is both the interest and the capability to make e-commerce a profitable platform for your business, provided you go about it the right way.
Ireland had 3.1 million debit cards and 2.3 million credit cards in circulation in 2009, according to Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO), the representative industry body of the payments industry. The appetite for online purchases is thriving, and alternatives to credit cards are growing in popularity. Irish-based e-payment processor Realex Payments noted that in one month alone last year, it processed over EUR100 million in Laser card payments.
So, what sort of options do you have when it comes to receiving online payments? A UK survey by e-payments firm ClickandBuy in 2009 found that half of online shoppers will cancel a purchase if their preferred payment method is not an option. So, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to provide as many ways to pay as possible.
Credit/debit cards
Probably the most common way of making online payments is via credit and debit cards. Most e-commerce solution providers offer functions that enable you to set up credit card processing on your site. This is a good fit for many SMEs as it removes the requirement to purchase and install secure servers, since the details are processed on the payment services provider's site.
If you decide to handle card transactions yourself, you will need a merchant services agreement with your bank. This legal contract allows firms to accept Visa, Master Card or Laser payments.
With credit card fraud on the rise, the payment card industry (PCI), led by Visa and MasterCard, has developed the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). All companies processing card payments must follow these guidelines or face having their processing services suspended or terminated.
In its simplest form, the PCI DSS require your company to:
1. Build and maintain a secure network, with safe passwords and a firewall.
2. Protect cardholder data, and encrypt cardholder data when transferring it across open, public networks.
3. Maintain a vulnerability management program, using regularly updated anti-virus software and secure systems and applications.
4. Implement strong access control measures, by restricting access to cardholder data in-house, assigning unique IDs to those with computer access and restricting physical access to cardholder data.
5. Regularly monitor and test networks, monitoring all access to cardholder data and regularly testing your security systems.
6. Maintain an information security policy.
3D Secure
A tool developed by Visa and MasterCard, 3D Secure is designed to provide e-commerce merchants with greater security for online credit card transactions. Using this system, the card issuer authenticates the cardholder online, protecting internet retailers against fraud-related chargebacks. Where fraud occurs, the card issuer is liable for the fraud and not the merchant. Remember to talk to your card payment processor or bank about registering for this service.
PayPal
Accepted in 190 countries and with automatic conversion between 17 currencies, PayPal is a great way to accept online payments. PayPal is not the right fit for every business, however. For example, if you are selling digital products such as e-books, it can be all too easy for a customer to claim they never received the product and claim their money back.
Other online payment service providers authorised by the major credit card companies include EMerchantPay, Dublin-based Realex and CashTronics. Remember to offer the most popular payment methods for your target market. Online payment processes can turn your business into a 24/7 internet phenomenon, but remember to offer all of the most popular payment methods, and ensure that your processes are compliant with industry standards. In the next issue, we'll take a look at how to minimise the risk to your business presented by online fraud.
(Source: eBusiness Live)