Credit Card Processing for Online Businesses in California

Online businesses currently enjoy amazing popularity across the globe thanks to their low start-up costs and the diverse range of products, goods and services they offer. Add to this the fact that they usually provide credit or debit card payment facilities. This helps them to maximize revenues, attract more customers and strengthen their brand and online presence.

Studies show that more than 57% Americans don’t always carry cash and prefer to use card payment options. But some customers are reluctant to use their cards online because they fear fraud, or security and privacy breach. Customers want a safe, quick, efficient and reliable payment process. Nearly 5% of revenues are lost by businesses due to fraud and 50% of all businesses become fraud victims at some time during their life cycle. This means that fraudulent transactions impact not just customers but also businesses.

That’s why finding the right credit card processing system for your online business in California is crucial for its health and growth. There are plenty of user-friendly and cost-effective options available from many reliable and well-known brands. Most of them are great choices for new and small businesses, because you can let them do all the routine tasks while you focus on your core strengths.

Important features to look for include a website and/or e-commerce platform for customer use, secure payment portal and a merchant account for processing the online payments.

Some other things to consider:

• It is usually worthwhile to analyze the nature and needs of your business
• You can opt for an all-in-one system that has a payment portal and a merchant account and a website
• Your processor should accept all major credit  cards
• Do you also want to accept eChecks online?
• You may need different currency and language options if your business is global (or if you would like it to be)
• Small businesses typically require a user-friendly and more affordable option
• Do you want to track sales, payments and customer behavior/information?
• Do you want to offer options to your customers, such as coupons, one-click payments, gift cards?
• It can be helpful to make a thorough evaluation of all the fees, charges and fee schedules
• It is always a goo idea to ensure that there are no hidden charges, set-up or membership fees or long-term charges that could pop up somewhere down the line
• You can look for other supported features. You may want recurrent billing, subscriptions service, point of sale or mobile support, a virtual terminal, and/or free online shopping cart software.
• Scaling up and custom integrations are a vital part of virtually any viable growth plan
• Fraud detection/prevention, security and privacy features are vital.
• You may want direct bank transfer and multi-party payments
• Some businesses may want services for customer data collection, ticketing or marketing automation

The best credit card processing company to choose is one that’s in sync with your online business model. Sole proprietors and small businesses typically don’t require much investment in equipment and they can benefit from an easy-to-use shopping cart integration feature.  Large e-commerce businesses may need more complex systems. You can do your own research and find the one that best matches your unique needs, preferences and budget.

For more information on Credit Card Processing for Online Businesses in California, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.