New to online credit card processing? Not sure how to get started? Accepting cards online can be a daunting experience. However, if you’re prepared it doesn’t have to be. Knowing exactly what you need ahead of time can save you a lot of headaches down the road. Here’s a few things you need to know before getting started. processing_cards_online
It’s Not Just A Merchant Account
Processing cards online involves a lot more than just acquiring a merchant account. 
Unless you’re a skilled programer, you’re going to need software for your website that allows you to process transactions. Obviously your customer needs an area to enter their name and credit card information online, but it doesn’t stop there.
The website needs to be secure, meaning Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), so make sure your Merchant Service Provider will be able to provide that security protocol. Failure to do so will result in being non-PCI compliant and you will be fined, even worse it runs the risk of your website being susceptible to fraud.
There are a lot of Merchant Service Providers that mostly focus on brick and mortar accounts and treat online credit card processing as an afterthought. It would be advisable to consider a Merchant Service Provider that focuses solely on online credit card processing as they are the ones that will be able to make sure you have everything you need.
Beyond just getting your client’s name, card number, and making sure your website is secure, there might be more information needed. For example, if you’re shipping a physical product you’ll need their address. But there’s even more information that needs to be considered.
Is age verification required? If so, that might put your business into a ‘high risk’ category and additional software will be needed. Not all Merchant Service Providers are able to offer age verification, so if your business needs it, choose one that will be able to offer it.
Is Level 2 or 3 Data Required?
Now that card number, name, address, security measures, and age verification are addressed, it’s time to talk about level 2 and level 3 data. Level 2 and 3 data are mostly a requirement for businesses that process business-to-business or business-to-government transactions. There are Merchant Service Providers that strictly specialize in processing level 2 and 3 transactions.
If your business needs to process these type of transactions, it’s highly advised to go with a Merchant Service Provider that specializes in that field. Level 2 and 3 data includes tax information, customer codes if applicable, merchant postal codes, product codes, freight information, postal codes, any product discounts, country codes, tax information, and more.
Again, if your business needs this data, it’s highly advised to sign with a Merchant Service Provider that specializes in it. A lot of Merchant Service Providers will allow their merchants to process transactions online, but will fall short when it comes to processing transactions requiring level 2 or 3 data. Furthermore, even if you don’t think your business needs level 2 or 3 data, you need to look into it.
The more data you have from your clients, especially online, the lower your transaction fee will be. This is because the more data you have, the higher the chance the person using a credit card is actually the cardholder, thus decreasing the risk of fraud. Visa and MasterCard reward this due dilligence by discounting your cost to accept that transaction. In fact you will save up to 33%.
