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Credit Cards

Accepting Credit Card Payments Online: an Overview

The following things need to be in place for any Credit Card transaction to take place over the Internet:

1. The Merchant (you) provide a good or service to the customer (such as membership and/or attendance to an event)
2. The Customer with a valid credit card (Credit Card Holder).
3. Payment Processing Network or Gateway that facilitates the transaction/exchange of information between Merchant, Credit Card company, and Merchant Bank.
4. The Merchant Bank (your bank) receives the funds from the Credit Card company

In order for you to accept Credit Card payments you need to have Merchant Status and a Merchant Account. ChamberCharge, a sister company to CeViso is a great palce to to begin looking for a Merchant Account. The Merchant Account provider assumes the risk and responsibility that its client (you, the transaction payee) is providing a legitimate product or service in return for payment. If the Card Holder (your customer) refuses the charge, the customer's Card Issuer passes this cost along to the Merchant Bank via what is called a Chargeback. The Merchant Bank assumes the risk that it can collect such chargebacks from the Merchant (you).

In order for you to accept Credit Card payments over the Internet you need to acquire the services of a secure Payment Processor or Gateway. CeViso uses PayPal's PayFlow (formerly Verisign) exclusively. The Payment Gateway provider assumes the risk and responsibility of securely passing the payment account information from your web site to the Merchant Bank provider. In effect, it takes the place of the Point-of-Sale (POS) system; the risk involved is that without a physical POS the Merchant Bank can’t assume an authorized Cardholder entered the Credit Card number. When you swipe your card at the gas pump and the POS acquires the account information from the magnetic stripe the station’s Merchant Bank assumes it was you doing the swiping (provided you haven’t reported the card stolen). This absence of verified physical presence (the card swipe) is the risk that makes the Payment Gateway provider necessary.

What is an SSL?

An acronym for Secure Sockets Layer, SSL is an encryption method originally developed by Netscape that Payment Gateways, like PayPal's PayFlow Pro, use to securely transmit transaction data. The process uses an SSL certificate which consists of two encryption keys, one public and one private; both are needed to authenticate a secure transmission. By encrypting the transmitted data, the Payment Gateway ensures that even if the data packets being exchanged are accessed by an unauthorized party the Credit Card information will be unreadable. A secure SSL connection address or URL is always preceded by the https:// protocol designation.

What is a Chargeback?

If a Cardholder disputes a charge on their account, and the Card Provider accepts this dispute it does not “eat” this disputed charge, instead it passes this cost back to the Merchant Bank via what is called a Chargeback, or a “charge” directed back to the Merchant Bank that received the transaction funds originally. Naturally the Merchant Bank will then collect this amount, plus a fee, plus a fixed penalty amount, from the Merchant. You may want to inquire about the chargeback fees and penalties your bank of choice associates with its Merchant Services.

How do I go about attaining Merchant Status?

If you are securing Merchant Status for online sales the bank will typically require that:

1. Your web site is live and accessible, and products or services you are selling are real and tangible
2. Your pricing, products, and Merchant Name (or DBA) appear on your site
3. Your return/refund and privacy policies are clearly stated on your site
4. You have and post a customer service phone number
5. You have an SSL (your CeViso account automatically includes SSL).

Note on the difficulty of attaining Merchant Status:
Acquiring a Merchant Account can sometimes be troublesome for a small business. Often banks are wary of extending this service to smaller entities they may feel represent too much risk. This risk takes the form of Card Provider (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) chargebacks to the Merchant Account provider who must then pass this cost on to their client. In many cases if any Merchant Account holder experiences chargebacks in excess of 1% the provider will penalize the Merchant Bank Services provider.

How do I apply for a PayPal Payment Gateway?

Paypal offers Payflow Pro Payment gateway. Click here and we'll get things started on your obtaining a payment gateway. Once you get a Payflow Gateway login and enter this information into your CeViso account you are ready to begin accepting online payments.

Can I configure my Payment Gateway to process automatically recurring payments?

Yes. If you designate a Membership Plan as a Recurring Billing Plan CeViso will, via PayPal Manager, automatically charge your member’s credit card when their membership is up for renewal. CeViso interfaces automatically with PayPal's Pay Flow Pro verifies that the member's recurring billing profile is in good standing. Memberize queries PayPal’s database daily to check for any pending recurring billing transactions.

Note on Merchant Account Costs

Most providers have set-up fees and/or application fees you must pay before creating your Merchant Account. We encourage you to shop around to find the best deal. You should also ask if your Merchant Bank also provides the PayFlow Pro Payment Gateway, if you purchase both elements from the same place this can save you time and money.

Paypal and Verisign

Recently Paypal acquired VeriSign Payment Services, they continue to sell the gateways under the PayPal™ brand, with the same PayFlow name.

Contact us today to see how CeViso™ can improve your member management.