Getting a thorough comprehension of the process in which the online payment services work is challenging. But it is manageable once you follow the transaction from start to finish. This will help you to learn the working style of online payment services a lot better. By this, you can see how your website, your member or donor and your payment service provider all work together hand in hand to expedite the smooth operation of every online payment that is made.

You will need the following things to get started with online payments:

• A merchant account
• An account with a payment service provider
• A webpage with a button that initiates the transaction process.

The online payment process begins as soon as the customer clicks on the button thereby agreeing to pay online for purchasing something from your online store.

The consumer enters his credit card/debit card information on the online payment form that appears and then submits the transaction. The form will appear on your website or you may be redirected to your payment service provider’s website, depending on your online payment service provider. The payment gateway operated by your payment service provider then gets the transaction details entered by the consumer. The customer’s payment details are then encrypted so that no one can see their personal and financial information.

Your online payment service provider then uses a secure payment processing service, in order to confirm the customer’s credit card details and confirm whether the customer has enough money in their account to complete the transaction. If the customer has enough funds in his account, then your online payment service provider will transfer the needed funds from the customer’s bank account on to the merchant account that is connected with the website. The website then gets a notification that the transaction has been successfully performed. In case the transaction gets rejected due to insufficient funds in the customer’s account, then no funds are transferred and the status of the transaction is sent to the website.