Credit Card Processing- How Does It Work Online?

One of the questions we often receive from clients is how online shopping carts handle credit card processing.  The main E-Commerce platform that we use can be setup two ways when it comes to processing credit card payments.

1. Authorization only: This state means that the credit card of the customer has been verified, but payment has not been processed yet. The capture button must be clicked in order for payment to be collected.  Until you click the Capture button in the admin section, the payment will remain as Pending and no funds will be transferred to your merchant account.  This method is usually only used when manually processing orders or if you have problems with cancellations.
   
2. Authorize and Capture: If you are using a payment gateway, such as Authorize.net or PayPal Website Payments Pro, this setting will authorize the card number and automatically transfer the funds into your payment gateway/merchant account.  Once an order is placed and the funds are transferred into your account, you will need to void or force a refund in order to cancel the order and transfer money back to the customers card.  This will usually take a few days to process.

Foremost Media can help your company with all your eCommerece website development needs.  Learn more about our services here.