| Payment Service
Provider
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In order to have payments from your web site processed
by the credit card networks you will have to apply to
an approved Payment Service Provider, known as a 'PSP'
- these have names such as Optimal Payments, WorldPay,
Netbanx, Datacash, Sec Pay, Secure Trading, etc. Their
function is to integrate your e-commerce enabled web
site with the international credit card networks so
that orders generated by your chosen 'shopping cart'
software can be authorised and payment collected for
you. This payment will be transferred to your Merchant
Account for payment into your bank account.
As you might expect you will have to go through an
application process in order to get your agreement in
place with a PSP. Their terms and conditions and charges
vary enormously from one PSP to another and it is very
difficult to make exact comparisons. You need to be
aware, however, that whatever charges your PSP makes
will be added to those charges which are levied by the
bank providing your Merchant
Account. This means you may well end up paying two
lots of set-up charges, monthly/annual fees, and, worst
of all, two lots of percentages on every transaction.
Finally - once you have dealt with the application
process for your selected PSP, you will need to confirm
with your bank that they will accept Internet generated
transactions, because even if you have a Merchant ID
it does not guarantee that you will be allowed to use
it for sales from your web site.
Let Web-Merchant take care
of all this for you!
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