The development of e-commerce is gaining momentum every day. Traditional shopping has long been on the back burner, although it has not completely lost its popularity.
Internet business owners opening an online shop or creating a website strive to make it as good as possible: choose the right design and description of services, build a convenient site skeleton for convenient user navigation and access to the catalog, install a payment system (online payment) to pay for goods and much more. A billing system was invented for the latter point.
In our article, we will introduce you to billing in detail, describe the process of connecting it to the site and figure out how to make payments with it.
In Internet commerce, using a billing system is an opportunity for business systems to receive payments from users on a website.
There are different types of billing systems depending on the function they perform:
Automatic billing system. This is payment acceptance without the involvement of a merchant representative. By using this billing system, the owner allows users to pay not only with plastic cards but also with e-wallets and even e-money;
Manual billing. It suits companies whose volume of sales is not very high. In this case, after order placement on the website, the system sends a client an SMS with the data of the card for payment;
Direct billing is the official connection of the website to the API of the payment system. Such a variant is advantageous due to low commissions. However, in this case, you will not be able to accept different currencies;
Billing with an intermediary: this system suits beginners and commercial sites. It will accept different types of payments. Only one tool is required. The security of transactions will be provided by the payment aggregator. In this case, the commission fee will be several times higher.
As we have understood above, a billing system is an opportunity to pay for something on a website.
A billing system, on the other hand, is about transactions and the ability to determine the income and expenses of an activity and transfer funds between parties to a transaction. It ensures that transactions are seamless and secure. There are not only payment systems on the market which comply with national and international legislation but also illegal ones, which is why you should be very careful when choosing a partner. The payment system, as well as the chosen payment method, has an impact on the payment process.
If we are talking about payment by bank card, the process can be described as follows:
The buyer, when placing an order online on the website, chooses the card as the payment method;
Then goes to the page of the selected payment system and enters the card details;
In encrypted form (it prevents the data from getting to fraudsters), they are transmitted to the processing center;
If the possibility of payment is confirmed, the data are forwarded to the issuing bank (i.e., the bank that issued the card);
The transaction may be either confirmed or rejected. The reason for the latter may be that the amount of money is too high, the transaction is from another country, the card data is incorrect, there is not enough money on the card, etc.;
If the payment is successful, the processing center will send the money to the merchant;
The payment system will then send a request for funds from the buyer's bank to the merchant's bank. The funds are credited to his account, the merchant is notified, and he proceeds to process the order.
MEEG Merchant is software that allows a website to accept payments. When offering different payment options to the customer, it is worth remembering that each payment method has its own merchant.
Business owners and websites that sell online have a merchant account that allows them to:
Instantly make the payment;
Secure payment transactions;
Bypass fraudsters;
Accept payments continuously from anywhere in the world.
Before you can choose the type of connection, you need to prepare your site.
To do this, you need to:
Fill in as much detail as possible on the website pages: delivery, payment, contact, and other sections;
Specify the current price in national currency;
Verify the compliance of the business with national legislation;
Provide rules for the protection of the personal data of the client;
Have a second-level domain with static IP and a paid host;
Apply the HTTPS protocol.
Now there are many payment systems on the market which allow to remotely accept payments in any currency. And when choosing payment services, one should not be guided only by the cost of connection.
You should also pay attention to the following parameters:
Payment methods. The more of them, the better for your clients. It is worth thinking about methods that are in demand by customers;
Areas of work. Some only work with individuals, some only with residents;
Technical support. More precisely, the speed and quality of its work. A company with competent technical support has a great advantage over others;
Interface. It is better when the payment forms do not differ much from the design of the websites. It increases the company's credit rating;
Security. Data encryption and additional fraud protection are standard for reliable billing systems;
Additional features. Sometimes a merchant's individual requests are sometimes not covered by standard billing features.
The billing is connected through a contract with the company that provides the payment system.
Below you will find an overview of the documents required to enter into the contract:
general requirements - contact details;
for entrepreneurs - passport details and tax code;
for legal entities - registration and statutory documents.
The package of documents may differ if the contract is drawn up under individual conditions.
Payment systems are not connected quickly. The cost and time depend on the intermediary you choose. Integration with an aggregator is quicker (up to one day). You may be offered a fixed amount, part of which will be charged on transactions, or a rate that depends on the volume of sales from the site.
Companies now have a variety of payment acceptance strategies. The strategies differ slightly from country to country, but we have picked out the most used in Russia.
To enable the customer to pay for selected services, online shops offer the following methods of organizing the payment system:
Marketplace. The online shop is offered to become a part of a popular marketplace system. Thus it will be possible to connect an already existing payment system. However, you will not be able to control its operation, as you will have to depend on the Marketplace (e.g., pay a percentage of sales). Payment in cryptocurrency will not be available for clients;
Payment aggregator. Such a payment system provides a comfortable payment to the user and freedom of choice. Payments are transferred to one merchant account, which allows the owners of internet shops to control transactions;
Separate connection of payment systems. This strategy is possible when customers of an online shop use one or two payment methods. However, with this arrangement, the website owner will have to provide a set of documents for each connection, as well as reporting for each of them.
Sales automation with billing is an excellent step in the development of your online shop. Among the advantages of its connection is the ability to accept payments and multi-currency payments, available withdrawals, and easy control.
With MEEG billing services, you will boost revenue from your online shop and enlarge the pool of clientele to develop your business successfully!
