If you are a very busy guy then what will be the most feasible solution for you to handle your financial activities. Do doubt you prefer hassle free e-payment. Yes, e-payment becomes a common phenomenon at the present time although Bangladesh until recently not able to align itself with this financial solution of information technology (IT).
Actually e-payment is a kind of Internet based financial service that allows people to pay their bill without rush to a particular place such as bank or other bill receiving outlets. Widespread availability of Internet connectivity spurs the growth of electronic payment.
As the name implies, electronic payment is a virtual payment scheme that does not involve traditional paper cheque. There are several methods of electronic payment namely credit cards, debit cards and the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network. The ACH system comprises direct deposit, direct debit and electronic cheques (e-cheques). Electronic payment encompasses different mode of electronic transactions and all these are consecutively discussed in this article.
Suppose you have decided to purchase a book from Amazon.com. So your first step will be to identify the particular book and then find out the online payment option. Naturally, you click on the shopping cart icon and then type your credit card information. After that you allow the site to check the inserted info and then an email notification let you know that your payment was received.
Nowadays some websites have the facility of e-cheque. Unlike credit card e-cheque allows you to provide account number and banks routing number. The vendor authorizes payment through the customers bank, which then either initiates an electronic fund transfer (EFT) or prints a cheque and mails it to the vendor.
Another type of electronic payment includes customer to vendor payment. This scheme allows people to pay a bill from the bank account or automatic charge to credit card. In many countries this type of payment offered by car insurance companies, phone companies and loan management companies. Some long-term contracts (like those at gyms or fitness centres) require this type of automated payment schedule.
Many banks in the developed countries offer online bill pay and that basically include bank-to-vendor payment. In this regard, people need to visit particular banks website where they enter the vendors information and authorize the bank to electronically transfer money from the account to pay bill.
Electronic payment leverages financial activities. The main advantage of e-payment is it gives you mobility and saves your time. To involve with this process you need to enter your account information such as your credit card number and shipping address. The information is then stored in a database on the retailers web server. When you come back to the website, you just log in with your username and password. Completing a transaction is as simple as clicking your mouse: All you have to do is confirm your purchase and youre done.
Electronic payment also downsizes the operations cost of the businesses. The more payments they can process electronically, the less they spend on paper and postage. Offering electronic payment can also help businesses improve customer retention. A customer is more likely to return to the same e-commerce site where his or her information has already been entered and stored.
In order to consider the positive impact of e-payment more banks in the developed countries gradually offer e-payment services. A study conducted by Grant Thornton says 65 percent of community banks and 94 percent of large banks in USA offer 24/7 online bill payment. Most of these services are free to members and coordinate easily with personal software programs such as Quicken or MS Money. Alternatively, consumers can subscribe to online bill pay services such as Paytrust or Yahoo! Bill Pay. These services charge a monthly fee in exchange for the convenience of paperless bill paying.
The main concern regarding e-payment is the security issue. Many people believe their personal information is prone to intruders. In order to resolve this problem many security solutions are currently available in the market.
For instance, you can create a protective shield against identity theft by using virus protection software and a firewall on your computer. You should also make sure that you send your credit card information over a secure server. Your Internet browser will notify you when a server is secure by showing a lock or key icon. In addition, the URL on a secure site is usually designated by the prefix “https” instead of “http.” Retailers do their part by using data encryption, which codes your information in such a way that only the key holder can decode it.
Still now globally many people have the mindset to use the traditional financial services. Among them some people do not conversant with basic computing so that they allows reluctant to use online platform for transaction.
If your planning to launch a small website based business so what will be the next steps. The first thing you need to decide is that whether you outsource the payment solution or process it by your own arrangements. If you think about outsource service then PayPal and ProPay will the best choices for you.
These services make it easy for you to accept credit cards and other forms of electronic payment from your site. When a customer enters his or her information on your site, your payment service authorizes the transaction and transfers funds to your account. These services charge a processing fee per transaction.
If you choose the self-processing then the first thing you need to do is set up a secure server. This is a computer that uses encryption to make it difficult for intruders to intercept confidential information. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology is used to encrypt the data. You can apply for an SSL certificate online.
Once you have an SSL certificate, you need to register your site with a digital authentication service. A digital certificate validates that the site receiving your customers information is the correct one. It assures customers that your site is legitimate and that their information is encrypted.
Then you need to develop or purchase shopping software that allows a customer to choose products from your site and add them to a virtual shopping cart. When customers are ready to complete their orders, they click on a “checkout” link that takes them to your secure server, where they enter their credit card information.
You also need a credit card information processing system to process credit card payments and an Internet merchant account with a bank. Credit card payment processing services are available through online companies such as Verisign. They provide you with software that validates your customers credit card information over your secure server.
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