Having a business transaction processing service is important for both online and offline sales.  It is important to utilize both in order to be able to fully process any type of payment method.  Setting up business transaction processing online is the next step after creating a merchant account for your online store.  Business transaction processing will essentially process and track the transactions that are made from your merchant account over the open Internet connection.  This means that the entire transaction will be processed online.  Thus, once the merchant Website obtains credit card information from the customer, that information is then transferred to the business transaction processing service.  The service sends information to the issued bank of the customer which then approves or denies the sale, and sends it back to the processor. 

Most business transaction processing services will offer some sort of terminal for manual access and entry, while also offering a service that gathers information on all of the transactions going through your merchant store.  Many times your business transaction processing service will be determined by the merchant account provider that you’ve chosen.

To officially begin your online business transaction processing you’ll have to have a few things.  First and foremost, you’ll need a fully functional Website with good ecommerce software installed.  This means that the Website should have engaging content, an appealing design, and great overall ease of use.  After you have your Website up and running, you’ll need to look into a merchant account that performs online services.  Finally, choose a business transaction processing service that fits with your merchant account, and one that is known to be reliable.  With the abundance of services now on the Web it can be difficult to tell which one will be reliable.  Ask people in your similar industry what they use, and do all the research you can before choosing.   

Offline Business Transaction Processing Set Up

The offline business transaction processing set up will be a little different than in the online world.  This will obviously be business transaction processing for your physical store so that you can take credit card payment.  In the offline world you’ll still need a merchant, and a point-of-sale terminal instead of a business transaction processing service.  The point-of-sale terminal will transfer the information to the issuing bank of the customer and either approve or deny the sale.  There are a variety of different offline business transaction processing services available, but many times the service will be dependent on your merchant provider.

Things to Look for in Business Transaction Processing

Before choosing your processing service you should perform a great deal of research to make sure you’ll be getting a safe and consistent transaction solution.  When looking for a business transaction processing service, make sure to find one that fits your budget, and accepts many different payment methods.  Also make sure that it tracks your transactions for you, and provides instant authorization on credit payments.