You can accept credit cards for your business by phone, mail, in person, or over the internet. There are merchant service providers that can help you set up merchant accounts and payment processors to help you start accepting credit cards. Keep reading to find out how.

Well, you already know about the traditional ways--by phone, by mail, or in person. On the internet, there are several more ways to accept credit card information. You can simply create an HTML form that asks them for their information, or you might use a Shopping Cart (advanced software that walks the customer through the purchase process and calculates the total price) to gather the information. In either case, this can be done securely or insecurely, but we HIGHLY recommend sending credit card information securely. This involves getting a digital certificate and setting up a secure server.

Many companies use a customized html based order form. This type of ordering system usually uses some kind of CGI script to send the orders to you via email. You can also add html coding to your order forms to work with your real-time merchant processor, so your orders are all done automatically while sending you a confirmation order via email. This type of ordering system is best for businesses with services or a few products to sell. Companies with a large product line are suggested to use a shopping cart system for easy ordering.

If your business needs a sophisticated order form that requires much data, then you may possibly need an order form that is run by a script of some sort. Such as a CGI script that is customized to your web site and your needs. This would require a programmer, and you should be able to setup your script to work with your real-time merchant account if you chose that route.

Related Article: What is a Merchant Account >>