Accepting Credit and Debit Cards Made Easy With Virtual Terminals

by Christine Harrell

The face of business is being transformed by consumers and their payment preferences. Many people dislike carrying around large amounts of cash for safety reasons, and the old-fashioned method of writing checks for purchases has become rare due to their cost, impracticality and tendency to attract fraud. Credit cards, on the other hand, have been surging in popularity due to their convenience, portability, security, and overall functionality.

More people prefer plastic over other methods of payment. It gives shoppers a sense of security, since the major electronic payment networks offer their customers benefits such as purchase protection and fraud alerts. Payments made with credit cards also offer a greater degree of control thanks to online tools such as expense tracking. Parents who give monetary allowances to their children can see how the funds are being spent, and they also have a chance to exert some controls such as setting daily spending limits.

The new trend in cashless electronic payment solutions comes in the form of prepaid debit cards. People are snapping up these cards thanks to their simplicity and the flexibility they bring to their wallets and pocketbooks. These cards allow easy access to many automated teller machine (ATM) networks and offer features such as direct deposits, low fees and access to online shopping. Many people who dislike banking for different reasons are welcoming these new prepaid debit cards.

The consumer paradigm shift from cash and checks to plastic has made merchant accounts a necessity for businesses of any size. Processing credit cards was at one point a complicated affair which was reserved for brick-and-mortar businesses that could install separate phone lines to accommodate cumbersome credit card terminals. Providers of merchant services were also infamous for squeezing numerous fees from their clients.

With the new technology of virtual terminal credit card processing, just about any business operation can accept credit card payments without having to worry about awkward hardware or complex fees. Virtual terminal credit card processing is practical for home-based or mobile providers of goods and services. With virtual processing, merchants can perform credit authorizations, purchases, refunds and voids using a mobile phone or an online virtual portal. Each virtual merchant account can be customized to meet special business needs such as e-commerce and business-to-business activity.

Virtual merchant accounts not only succeed in "cutting the cord" from traditional merchant processing, they also offer innovative features such as transaction records delivered to a smartphone. This virtual service does not require upfront membership payments, only transaction and monthly fees.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information about virtual terminal credit card processing, please visit http://www.paynetsystems.com

Article submitted Tuesday, December 13, 2011 & read 1 times.

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