Have you considered offering your customers other methods of paying for your goods and services? You should! If you’re an Internet merchant you will find that offering more ways to pay can actually increase your sales. People like a varity of ways to order, they like the ability to choose which payment method is most comfortable to them.

Debit Card/ATM Processing

Debit card/ATM processing is almost like accepting credit cards except for the fact that your customers are using their debit card to complete an order. Funds are deducted from the customers checking account for purchases.

IVR Terminals

Interactive Voice Response Terminals, also referred to simply as IVR, are a relatively new method of being able to process credit cards, check cards (debit cards with Visa or MasterCard logo on them), and checks (ACH – Automatic Check Handling) via any touch-tone telephone.

PayPal

Over 100 million registered users use PayPal as their means for payment of online products and services. PayPal makes a great addition to your array of payment acceptance methods.

e-Checks & Checks by Phone/Fax/E-mail

e-Checks or Checks by phone/fax/e-mail are a good additional payment solution to credit card acceptance which allows you to collect payment via check over the phone, by fax, and even off your order form on your web site.

Micropayments (e-Wallet) and Digital Cash (e-Cash)

Micropayments are used to process small transaction amounts (from a few cents to $10 USD) that would otherwise severely limit your amount of profit if processed the same as credit cards. Digital Cash is basically an encrypted serial number (online e-currency) that simply represents money. The customer then can spend the money at different merchants that support the Digital Cash provider the customer signed up with. Digital Cash gives added security and peace of mind to customers as they are not actually using their credit card directly to make purchases.

Escrow Services

Interested in added security of high dollar purchases and auction transactions? Then Escrow services are for you. They ensure the seller gets paid and the buyer is happy with their purchase.

Check Guarantee/Check Verification

Check guarantee is a program in which you are guaranteed to be paid on your checks. There’s no need to worry about accepting checks or collection on returned checks. Usually, the cost for this solution is about the same as credit card acceptance, however, some may offer it for a lower price. Check with your Merchant Account Provider for further details.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

EFT is a method for transferring money automatically by using the facilities of the Automated Clearing House, an entity associated with the Federal Reserve Banks. EFT is the only system by which a merchant can initiate a transaction to collect money from the bank account of a customer located anywhere in the USA. In addition, it can be used to transfer money outwardly to pay bills.

Automated Clearing House (ACH) & ACH Services

It is most often used to process low-dollar repetitive retail payments. Financial Institutions that are members of the FED ACH System send batches of credits and/or debits into the system, and the system sorts the items from all batches submitted, and routes them to the appropriate receiving financial institution. The system is used primarily for pre-authorized recurring payments such as payroll, corporate payments to vendors, Social Security payments, insurance premium payments and utility payments. Section also covers ACH Services like Electronic Check Conversion (ECC), Accounts Receivable Truncated Checks (ARTC/Lockbox), and Returned Check Collections (RCK).

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

Grocery shopping is one of the most widely performed activities around the world. If you are food merchant, you probably know that not everyone pays for their food with cash or credit cards, but many use food stamps as well. Now that paper is becoming a less and less common form of the food stamp. Many purchases are made with the use of a single card called Electronic Benefits Transfer card.