Guide to Setting Up an Ecommerce Website

Before you can start taking credit and debit card payments online you will need to do the following three things:

  1. Set up a website with a shopping cart, allowing customers to select which products or services they would like to buy.
  2. Obtain an Internet Merchant Account
  3. Arrange for a Payment Gateway to process the payments.

Obtaining an Internet Merchant Account
To start trading online you will need an internet merchant account with an acquiring bank.

A merchant account is a financial contract with a bank that allows you to accept payments by credit or debit card. Your merchant account does not have to be provided by the same bank that provides your business account.

There are three main types of merchant account:

  1. Cardholder Present merchant account - for shops
  2. Cardholder Not Present (sometimes called a Mail Order Telephone Order or MOTO merchant account)
  3. Internet merchant account - the type you will need to trade online

Arranging for a Payment Gateway to process the payments
Obtaining a merchant account and arranging for a payment gateway to process the payments can be a daunting process and it's not always easy to understand the charges involved.

Essentially an acquiring bank will charge a setup fee, transaction fees and sometimes also monthly account handling fees. The payment gateway will also charge a setup fee and a transaction fee.