It is no secret that home based businesses today are continuously flourishing all across the globe. With the help of the internet, even small business or home-based business owners now have the option to accept payments from customers online. If you’re a business owner, surely you’ll be interested to learn the process of online payment. Let’s discuss just how online payment systems are done and how you can use it in your own home-based business as well.

Apply for a merchant account.

For a home based business owner to be able to make online business transactions, a merchant account should first be established. Today, there are a number of merchant account providers that especially cater to small business and home based business owners. Do your research carefully when choosing a merchant account provider who shall be your partner in your business.

In order to be approved for a merchant account, a business owner is expected to present an outstanding credit history. If you just started with the business and don’t have your business credit report, your personal credit history will be used to check your credibility and capacity as a borrower.

Once you’ve been approved, you can start receiving payments from customers and transfer these funds directly to your account. Of course, there is a considerable fee for this type of service yet it is often worth the investment since accepting credit card payments can dramatically increase your sales and boost your business reputation in just a short time.

Third Party Providers

Home based business owners can also choose to accept payments from their clients through a third party payment system service like PayPal. PayPal is a leading third party online payment service and is also the most widely used by both businesses and consumers all over the world. With PayPal, your customers would feel more confident in sending their payments since they don’t have to reveal any of their credit card information.

Unlike with having your own merchant account, using third party providers like Pay Pal means the payments sent by customers would first be deposited to the third party provider. Then PayPal will be the one to send the money to your account. PayPal will act as a mediator in sending and receiving payments from both buyers and sellers. The drawback with this kind of system is that it an several days before you can completely receive the funds in your account.

If you’re considering a third party provider, always remember to do careful research on the company’s reputation and legitimacy. If you sign up with the wrong third party provider, there is a great risk that the payments sent by your customers will not be transferred to your account.

Banks and Independent Sales Organizations

Another way to make online payments possible is by applying a merchant account from your bank. However, not all banks accept accounts for businesses who intend to accept credit card payments online.

Independent sales organizations also offer online payment services for home based business owners especially for those with poor credit. However, because the risks are greater, these organizations charge higher service fees compared to other merchant account providers.