In the age of ecommerce, online payment processing is an essential tool to have for any store or business that sells products on the web.  A shopping cart on an online store needs to be integrated with a secure credit card processing system.  On the customer’s end, there is a concern about the privacy and safety of sharing credit card information online.  On the business end, there is concern about receiving the money into a merchant account through third party credit card processing services.  However, using third party processing companies can be costly and inconvenient for small virtual business owners that mostly sell items on the internet.

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For example, third party credit card processing companies often charge high commission rates for every transaction.  Website store owners may have to pay about 5 percent of each transaction to the third party processor.  Additionally, it is sometimes difficult to get accepted for credit card processing by third party companies.  Webmasters that operate online stores can actually open a personal merchant account that eliminates the hassles associated with third party companies.  A merchant account is managed in a way that does not involve third party restrictions.  For example, such an account can be customized to reflect the name of an online store or business on the credit card statements received by customers that made purchases.  When a third party company appears on a credit card statement, customers may not always recall the exact online store that was used to buy something.

Anyone that operates an online business may also receive payments relatively quickly when using a direct merchant account.  It may take only several days for money to be deposited into the merchant account after a customer buys something on an online shop.  Third party credit card processors usually take several weeks to transfer funds between a buyer’s credit card and an online store’s account.  Even worse, some processing companies may send checks rather than electronic payments to their clients.

Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc. is an example of a service that eliminates the restrictions and hefty fees associated with third party credit card processing.  Anyone with an online store can open up merchant accounts that bear an official name with an Inc. ending that’s common in the business world.  Another advantage of having a direct merchant account for receiving credit card purchases is FDIC insurance that guarantees payments for hundreds of thousands of dollars.