What Is Credit Card Processing and How It Works?

For many businesses, processing credit cards is key to running their business. If you are in the market for a credit card processor or simply looking to answer the question of “what is credit card processing?”, this article should help provide some clarity on this topic. Credit card processing refers to the act of taking payments via credit or debit cards. The credit card processing process involves acquiring customers, providing payment services to customers, and providing customer data security.
Customer Acquisition
When trying to get customers/clients/patrons of your business to pay you with their credit or debit card, it is important that they have a reason to do so. Most people are not going to give out their credit card information to just anybody. Therefore, it is important that you provide the customer with a reason for using their credit or debit card as payment (i.e. discounts, incentives, ease of use).
Providing Payment Services
When processing payments via credit cards, your merchant account will process the transaction and charge the customer accordingly. There are a few ways to process credit cards such as swiping the card on a terminal, swiping the card on your phone, or through an e-commerce solution such as PayPal.
Providing Customer Data Security
In addition to providing your customers with incentives for using their credit/debit cards and processing their transactions, you must provide them with security. Security is important because if your customer’s card information gets into the wrong hands, you will be liable for their losses.
For this reason, it is essential to encrypt the data of your customers using SSL technology. This provides an added layer of protection for processing credit cards online and makes sure that their card numbers are kept safe.