Making purchases over the Internet or in a retail environment involves five main parties: the consumer or credit card holder, the merchant who is offering products or services for sale, the merchant bank that has contracted with the merchant to enable the merchant to accept credit cards over the Internet or through a terminal / point of sale system (known as the acquirer), and the company that facilitates credit card payments for the merchant bank, known as the processor. The processor completes merchants' credit card transactions through the financial network on behalf of merchant banks. One other party is involved; the issuing bank that has issued the consumer’s bank/credit card.
For e-commerce transactions specifically, the consumer interacts with the merchant’s web site by using a browser such as Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer. To make credit card or debit card purchases, the consumer must obtain a bank card from an issuing bank and, when making a purchase, provide bank card information to the merchant’s commerce application. A consumer can make similar purchases with check account info, through the ACH network.
The merchant's commerce application makes goods and services available for sale over the Internet by payment-enabling the merchant's web server application. To accept credit card or ACH payments over the Internet, the merchant must have an account with a merchant bank that offers Internet credit card processing. The merchant bank may also function as the acquiring processor to move the credit card transaction through the financial networks; or it may designate another company to function as acquiring processor on its behalf.
While all of this may seem confusing, NETbilling is here to handle all aspects of a merchant's transaction processing needs and make the process smooth. Whether a merchant is new to processing or with years of expertise, NETbilling will facilitate all their needs with world-class service and support.
Learn about the seven steps to processing a credit card transaction, as well as the added benefits of processing with NETbilling.
Get details about NETbilling's Hosted Payment Form for basic integration, the quickest way to get started with payment processing online.
Learn about the most hands-on payment processing integration, Direct Mode Processing – a robust solution maximum control.