Recently, we’ve been asked a lot of questions about credit cards and processing as it pertains to eCommerce and online transactions. Many people are asking whether or not it makes sense to use Paypal, or Square, or any other form of credit card processing other than the actual credit card services and merchant processing that’s available for eCommerce. That is a business option that you may want to make available, depending on who your client is and how they buy.
I am always of the belief that you want to do business how your customers want to do business, meaning that if they want to actually check out with Paypal, you should provide that available option to them. However, as the landscape begins to change with credit cards, we don’t know what the future holds as far as eCommerce processing. There could be a great deal of changes coming down the pike in the next two years related to how online transactions are processed.
For those of you that don’t know, the old “swipe” technology (where you hand your credit or debit card to a merchant and they swipe it through a point-of-sale system or scan card reader) is going to change, and that will no longer be the process by the end of 2015. At that time, all merchants will need to use the chip and PIN process, which is the only card processing method used in Europe at this time. Chip and PIN means that your credit card will have a small chip embedded within the card, which is read by the machine when the card is not swiped, but rather inserted into the machine.
Now, while we are not at all credit card experts, our partners with merchant services are. We can connect you with the right people to ensure you have the right standards in place, that you’re doing the right security as it pertains to your credit card services, and that you’re accepting the right payment options with which your customers want to pay.
Keep in mind that the decisions you make now could result in changes in the future, if you don’t think ahead properly when it comes to processing online. You also need to consider the fact that as the landscape of credit card processing changes over the next few years, you may have to adapt your processes and/or your software, as well as your website, if the systems change and the requirements change.
If you want to talk further about eCommerce websites, integrations or credit card processing, please contact us and either we can answer the question or we can connect you with the appropriate partner to do so.