Secure Online Payment - Providing the Gateway

Brickweb’s Luke Gilrane explains why a fit-for-purpose payment system is a basic requirement of any e-commerce or m-commerce website.

If a clear, secure and effective online payment system is not provided to a customer they will simply look elsewhere, losing precious business for the company which owns the site.

It is a simple fact that both the e-commerce and m-commerce markets are saturated with companies all competing for business and so it is essential that a website stands out from the crowd and provides a customer with a faultless experience from first contact to receipt of goods.

Although it is still possible to accept cheques, postal orders and invoices for online sales, most customers prefer a quick transaction and thus use credit or debit cards when purchasing goods and services online.

Being provided with this facility is important to customers and they need to feel completely secure in submitting sensitive personal information to the website.

When a credit or debit card is used in this way, it is known as a 'customer not present' transaction and, as this type of transaction carries with it an increased risk of fraud as compared to a traditional card transaction in a store, all banks will require a business to operate strictly within a defined set of rules and to accept this increased commercial risk when accepting card payments from desktop or mobile websites.

Accepting debit and credit card payments online requires a business to have a merchant account, available from nine major banks in the UK.

These banks are referred to as 'merchant acquirers' or 'acquiring banks' and, even if a merchant account for in-store transactions is already in place, will require a new one to be set up specifically for online payments. Applying for this account will entail providing extensive details of the business to the bank, including a business plan, suppliers' details, audited business accounts, trading history and projected income and turnover.

Once in place, the merchant account will benefit from Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. This encrypts the data of the transaction, allowing the customer's details to be sent to the bank, authenticating the purchase. SSL technology is essential in the prevention of online fraud and it is essential that all web hosting solutions can adequately support SSL protocol.

The comprehensive Brickweb custom web design and web development service is designed to offer practical, simple and powerful web hosting solutions. Our team can help every step of the way in preparing your business to accept online payments and a detailed guide is available on our website.Luke GilraneBrickweb