How can I accept credit cards?

To accept credit cards on the Internet, you will need a few essentials.

First, you will need a way to collect the customer's billing information, such as the name, credit card number and card expiration date. We recommend that you also collect the billing address and a telephone number for verification purposes. You can easily create such a form with our MailForm Tool. One of its advantages is that it will verify if the credit card number is in the proper format. (It will not tell you if the card is legitimate, or whether the card is chargeable). Also, as an added precaution, and fraud deterrent, you will want to implement a CID check into your form. You may check out our CID check FAQ here.

Access to a secure server is also a pre-requisite. Customers must feel safe submitting their personal and credit card information. By allowing your customers to place orders in a secure environment, you put your customers at ease. Our business and commerce plans both include access to the secure server.

Like all businesses, to accept credit cards, you must have a special account with a financial institution. This is called a Merchant Account. Even if you plan on using a transaction processing service such as Verisign or PayPal, you will still need to obtain a Merchant Account. You can arrange for a Merchant Account with the financial institution where you have your business account or with a company that specializes in offering Merchant Services

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