Getting a thorough understanding of the process in which the online payment services work is difficult. But it is simple once you follow the transaction from start to finish. This will help you to understand 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 facilitate the smooth running of every online payment that is made.

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

• A merchant account
• An account with a payment service provider
• A web page designed to initiate 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 the online store.

• The customer enters his credit card information on the online payment form that appears and then submits the transaction. The form may 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 receives the transaction details entered by the customer.
• The customer’s payment details are then encrypted so that no one can view their personal and financial information.
• Your online payment service provider then uses a secure payment processing service, in order to verify the customer’s credit card details and confirm whether the customer has enough funds in their account to complete the transaction.
• If the customer has enough funds in his account, then the online payment service provider will transfer the required funds from the customer’s bank account on to the merchant account that is associated with the website.
• The website then gets a notification that the transaction has been successfully completed. In case the transaction gets declined 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.