What Credit Card Brands Should I Accept for my Online Business?

As an online business owner you do not have any choice of which credit card brands that your potential customers have, which they will make payment with for online purchases.

If a customer attempts to pay with a credit card that is not recognized or accepted by your merchant card services provider, the transaction will not be approved. This result will be the same if a customer wants to pay by telephone, by email, or face-to-face and the payment is processed via your inbuilt virtual terminal. If you don’t take the customer’s brand of credit card, then the payment will be not be approved and you stand no risk of loss of revenue.

At present, businesses selling online are unaffected by EMV (micro-chipped) and magnetic strip card technology, and software built into the back-end of your website by your merchant card service provider, to integrate with the shopping-cart function accepts both micro-chipped and magnetic strip cards.

It is more about the merchant card service provider!

For business owners of online trade it is more about the merchant card service provider than it is about the card brands that you accept. A merchant card service provider that offers cutting edge technology, remains at the forefront of evolving card payment technology, complies with local card payment regulations, complies with all financial services regulations, has prescribed certifications and keeps you updated on changing trends, regulations and market shifts is your closest ally!

Choosing a merchant card service provider that does not uphold very high security standards can cost your business dearly. If your payment portal has regular breaches of cardholders’ secure and sensitive information exposing customers to credit card fraud, it is to your business that customers are going to look to and condemn as unsafe for online trading. Word travels fast! You are going to lose sales and your businesses ethics will be placed under question.

Cardholders who have become victims of credit card fraud only know your business and that that is where their card information was leaked! Whether it’s fact or not (and it’s not) it will be your price to pay. By far the majority of credit card holders don’t know how card payments work, or what a merchant card service provider is; it’s also not their business to know, it is your business to choose well!

Confused?

No need for any confusion! If you have partnered with a reputable merchant card services provider that meets all the previously mentioned criteria, they will take care of the credit card brand issues for you. You focus on making a raging success of your online business by encouraging customers to pay by card and in doing so increase your sales, while credit card brands are vetted and assessed by your merchant card service provider.

Merchant card service providers liaise with all major banks and credit card brands, so they are aware of any security concerns around any brand, leaks of information and evolving technology advancements. They will keep merchants updated.

Credit card brands widely accepted by merchant card service providers include American Express, Discover, Diners Club, Mastercard and Visa.    For more information about what type of credit card brands to accept for your online business or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.