Accepting Credit Card Payments

Hi folks
Please forgive me for asking this question BUT can anyone explain in simple terms what I would need to do in order for my zencart to accept credit card payments.

At the moment we are in the process of setting up the zencart store - once this is ready (within the next couple of months) we will start to trade here in the UK as a sole trader, and maybe next year establish a limited company.

We would like to be able to accept credit card payments in addition to paypal which I have already setup.

Can anyone explain what we need to do? :lookaroun

You need a Merchant Account and a Payment Gateway...check my sig

We would like to be able to accept credit card payments in addition to paypal which I have already setup.

You already do accept Credit and Debit Card payments via Pay Pal, but if you want a more professional solution then you'd need to:

1. Get a merchant id from your bank - and make sure that you specify it is for internet use.
2. Get an account with someone like Protx and use their Protx Direct service. Customers stay on your website to make the transaction - it's only the data that goes to and from Protx for checking.
3. Another possibility is the Authorize Net AIM service.

You will need ssl on your site to use this sort of service.

Vger

Running a store - you should have SSL anyway, but note that if you use Protx Direct - or any other system where the transaction is done on your site, then you MUST have SSL. Protx do have an alternative where the actual transaction is done on their server.

With the majority of professional payment processing facilities you have to have ssl on your site even if the processing is done off-site (Pay Pal a noteable exception). Most won't allow you to connect to their site over an http connection. And a full ssl cert is so cheap these days that there's really no excuse for not using one.

Vger

Who is the most reliable , meaning which payment processor has been around the longest? I dont want to use one that goes POOF.

Also does anyone no a good simple tutorial on how to use SSL properly.

You could find a processor from; electronic-payments.co.uk/product_data.jsp its better to choose few name and request for a quote from few payment processors like ChronoPay, moneybookers, Worldpay etc and compare their rates and check who offer you the best rate.

... and then also check references and consumer feedback about usability and customer-satisfaction from those who have had experiences with the ones you put on your "short list" for review...

Yeah that's most important part to research about a payment processor.