How to Accept Credit Cards Online and In Person

Payment processing has to be done in compliance with a set of requirements established by the bank card networks and companies that are mandatory for all merchants, operating both in card-present and card-not-present environment. Listed below are the main guidelines on how to accept credit cards online and in person that retailers need to adhere to.

Card "Good Through" Date

Retailers need to always inspect the "good through" date on the front of the offered card. You can accept credit cards online and in person if the current date is prior to the expiration date listed on the card. If the card has passed the "good through" date, the merchant is not permitted to take it for payment and is required to contact its merchant account provider's authorization center.

Card Signature

The retailer has to always validate that the customer has signed the bank card where required on its back and verify that the consumer's name as signed is the same as the one printed on the face of it.

If the offered card has not been signed, the card acceptor will need to ask for two ID documents, of which one must display a photograph of the consumer (a driver's license would answer perfectly). Whenever the merchant has verified that the person offering the card is actually the valid cardholder, the consumer will have to be requested to provide a signature where needed.

Approval of Transaction Authorizations

If the retailer does not accept credit cards online but in person, it will need to route the full data taken from the magnetic stripe, together with its transaction authorization request through a swipe of the payment card through the processing terminal. If the POS machine is unable read the data from the magnetic stripe and the merchant has to resort to manually entering the transaction details in order to ask for authorization, the retailer needs to also obtain a physical imprint of the front of the card as evidence that it was available during the interaction. If, however, the card acceptor is unable to obtain a physical imprint for some transaction or other, the issuing bank will be able to charge back the transaction free of recourse.

Whenever the processing machine is not able to communicate with the processing bank's electronic authorization system, the card acceptor is required to request one by calling its acquirer's voice authorization center.

For payments for items or services that are delivered or offered or also for payments made back to the retailer in excess than 30 days past the date on which the order was placed, the merchant is required to request an authorization approval both when the order is made and then additionally immediately prior to the item being shipped the services provided to the consumer.