Credit card processing software allows businesses to process credit card transactions from their own PC rather than sending the transactions to the bank for processing. This software can help avoid fraud, and saves time and money. The money is deposited directly into your bank account. No additional hardware is necessary although most providers will offer an optional card swiper for use in a retail location if desired.
Some features that are provided along with the credit card processing include:
- AVS, CVV2 fraud protection
- encrypted database for high security
- Real time or offline processing
- User level password protection
- Unlimited merchant numbers
- Software can support card readers, PIN pads and check readers
- Customizable search and reporting features
- Integration into proprietary software packages
Major providers of software for credit card processing include:
- Merchant Express
- TPI Software
- Paypal
- Take Charge
Some factors to consider when selecting software to process your credit card transactions include:
- Internal vs. Service
- On-line vs. in-store
- Small businesses often have to build up trust funds to account for their lack of established credit, and will only get 90% or so of incoming funds until balance with provider is established
- Security of transactions. Free services are available, but don't offer as much security (database encryption) as services that you pay for
- Time to set up service – can take up to 2 months to establish
- System resources: Not usually an issue, but sometimes small business environments are on over-taxed hardware already.