Have you ever heard of 3D Secure Processing?  What about SSL Credit Card Processing?

3D Secure Processing stands for Three Domain Model processing.  This refers to payments being split up into three different domains:

*  The Issuer Domain – this domain deals with the mechanisms of the card issuer and the cardholder

*  The Acquirer Domain – this domain deals with the merchants.

*  The Interoperability Domain – deals with the functions of the Issuer and Acquirer Domains.

This model is used for secure payment processing systems.  This credit card processing method also helps to better the performance of transactions online.  When using this processing method, customers begin to trust you more, and your business starts to increase.  During this process, when customers make a purchase, the system will be able to tell whether or not the transaction is legitimate or fraudulent. 

The performance of transactions should be impacted in a positive way as to benefit the merchants as well as the customers.  Both VISA and MasterCard have used the 3D Secure Payment Processing Program for branding purposes.  With VISA, it is called “Verified by VISA,” the brand for MasterCard is, “SecureCode”.

For both. the branding of VISA and MasterCard brands, merchants can participate if they wish.  However, if the merchant has a lot of chargeback’s on their account, then their participation is limited. 

This credit card processing program was created to keep credit card transactions flowing and reduce or eliminate the number of fraudulent accounts.

Any merchant website should be branded with an SSL certificate.  When a customer sees this on a merchant’s website, they’ll know that the website is legitimate and their data is secure.  SSL is an acronym for Secure Socket Layer.  SSL lets users on the internet get involved with websites that are deemed secure.  One example of such a website is a bank.  It is imperative that they have this certificate on their website because there is so much sensitive information regarding customer bank accounts. 

The SSL certificate lets people know that the data that goes between the web server and a merchant’s browser is safe and cannot be leaked out or hacked.  Having an SSL certificate on a merchant’s website can:

*  Get customers from all over the world.

*  Influence customer’s confidence in the merchant’s website.

*  Customers will feel a sense of security knowing that their sensitive information is safe.

*  Customers will have that sense of trust that merchants are looking out for them.

On the other hand, if a website does not have an SSL certificate, there may be some question marks.  Their sensitive credit card information might not be as secure as customers thought.  Hackers may take advantage of the oversight and invade the website.  Customers may decide to go somewhere else because of the breach of security.

It’s very important that merchants keep their customers happy and their credit card processing secure by providing having a SSL certificate.  There’s nothing worse than having a website and the customer’s information has been compromised.  When you go that extra mile to put those measures in place, your customers will thank you for it.

Qualifying for a checking account is one of the easiest and first financial endeavors for developing credit. Many consumers, Americans and otherwise, acquire their first checking account in their early teenage years, as a gateway for cultivating good fiduciary judgment, often set up by parents or guardians. As more and more Americans especially are grappling with overwhelming credit card woes, consumers are turning to checks, paper and paperless, to pay for their purchases. As an online or brick and mortar retailer, the ability to process and accept checks is essential for the prosperity and growth of your business.

According to recent research, half of the shopping public in the United States are not able to qualify for a credit card. In fact, a recent survey of checking account holders in the United States showed that only one in four were in possession of a credit card that was eligible for a transaction because of available credit. Of the billions of (cashless) transactions that are made each year, nearly 60% are made with checks. The number of transactions made with checks instead of credit cards continues to grow each and every year. Retailers who desire to remain competitive owe it to themselves to be able to accept and process all forms of payment, especially those by checking account holders.

Not only is it beneficial to accept checks based upon the sheer numbers of check purchases, the processing fees administered by most electronic payment companies when processing checks is a fraction of the cost when compared to credit card processing fees. The cost to process a check invoice is 24% of the accessed cost to process a credit card purchase of an equal amount. Merchants are charged much smaller fees on check purchases so more of the purchase price assumedly goes to profit rather than in the electronic payment company’s pocket.

Most processing companies provide the merchant with added benefits when accepting checks as well. Online check processing allows for the automatic deposit of funds into your business checking account allowing for more rapid and immediate access to funds, mostly within 48 hours.  Using a process known as Automatic Check Handling (ACH), checks are validated safely and quickly, allowing you and your customers to interact with the highest amount of security and confidence. By accepting checks, you are making your business attractive to a larger amount of customers, and your profits will undoubtedly grow due to new opportunities for sales.

Merchant accounts make it possible for businesses to provide online credit card processing. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.