You don’t need to apply for a pricey merchant account with the banks anymore to accept credit card payments. Now you can set it all up from your computer in a matter of minutes.

Accepting Credit Cards has its Advantages

A home-based business with the ability to accept credit cards will be much more appealing to most clients and customers. This feature will add an established and credible image compared to a business that accepts cash or cheque only. Many people prefer to charge their purchases so they are able to take advantage of the different points programs offered by their credit card company. And most importantly the service provider or retailer does not need to concern themselves with the possibility of a bounced cheque. This was a common problem with our past, more primitive banking techniques.  Today’s digital era provides instant access to your customers funds so you know right then and there if they can cover the payment. 

It is easier than ever to set up a payment system for your small, home-based business.  In the past, many entrepreneurs were turned off of accepting credit cards because of the many hoops one needed to jump through as well as being charged high monthly and per transaction fees.  Now with only some small start up fees, anyone can set up an attractive payment system quickly and easily on their website.

Don’t Pay Monthly Fees   

There are many services available that charge high monthly fees and per transaction fees. But why pay when you don’t have to?  Going through a bank to set up a merchant account is timely and expensive. And more often than not the banks will deny a small business this service for lack of a store front or high enough revenue. Using software that charges a monthly fee is also not necessary. There is a lot of software available for download that is a onetime fee; you are simply cutting out a middleman and saving yourself some money. One payment system that I particularity like is idev-Payments.  It is easily downloaded onto your website and customized to match.  The simple interface allows for quick and easy set up of products or services.  A nice integration of this script can be seen at http://prestigefit.ca/idev-biller/. I have also seen this script integrated for other home-based businesses such as day cares, massage and mechanical work.

Set Up a Paypal Account

The first step you need to take to start accepting credit card payments is to set up a Paypal account.  This is where your credit card payments will be deposited. Setting up a Paypal merchant account is a quick and simple process.  Simply go to Paypals website and follow the instructions through.  It will take less than 10 minutes and you are all set up with a merchant account.  You will need to have some basic account information from your already existing bank account that you will be transferring your money into. All the information that you will be asked for can be found on the bottom of a cheque. Choose a business account rather than a premier account.  This way your business name will show up on your customers credit card statement and this makes it less likely that you will encounter disputed payments. However, your business name will be truncated to 11 characters. You can manually change these 11 characters if you desire. 

Choose and Download Payment Software to your Existing Website

As mentioned earlier, there are many different types of software available for download. Paypal itself offers software, but most people prefer a more customizable solution that can be integrated into their website. I found Paypals version far too limiting in many aspects. Luckily there are many pieces of software available that work with Paypal and you need only download it yourself and synch it up. The process for download and installation will be more or less the same for the different software. For the purpose of this article I chose idev-Payments.  To get this software set up go to http://www.idevspot.com/idev-payments.php and pay for and download the software.  The price is $60 CND but I purchased mine on sale for $49.  Next you need to upload and install the software to your website using FTP software. 

Once the script is installed on your website you can customize the header and footer to integrate visually with your website.  You are now ready to start adding your products and services. 

Start Receiving Payments

You are now well on your way to accepting credit card payments for your home-based business.  As mentioned earlier there are many different options available for download as far as payment software is concerned.  Shop around and compare costs and fees.  The script used for demo purposes here is a nice, easy to use, cost efficient option for you to weigh in during your search.