If you are selling products online, then you will have to understand how to accept online payments. Internet marketing has become a highly popular way of selling products, and new online payment systems are continually under development.

It is beyond the scope of this article to cover security and encryption of personal details, and it will be assumed, rightly or wrongly, that the common payment methods are secure. Many people are nervous about providing details online, although they think nothing of passing their credit card details or banking details over when making offline payments.

Credit card and debit card payments are convenient and the most common method of paying for purchases and services online. The larger credit card merchants, such as the major banks, provided payment acceptance systems though they tend to be very expensive to set up and operate. There are some merchant accounts that are set up free, but have high charges for each transaction, although much depends on the banking law in individual countries.

The ordinary person involved in internet marketing, who cannot afford a full credit card merchant account, can register with an online payment system such as 2Checkout or Nochex. There is usually a small set up fee and then a small charge for each transaction. The two mentioned are around $50 to set up, and then a percentage of each sale.

One of the most popular means of accepting and making payment online is PayPal. PayPal is free to join and it is easy to set up an account. PayPal payments can be by debit or credit card, or by transfer from your PayPal account itself. It can be used like a bank, accepting payments and making withdrawals either to your bank account or, in the USA, by means of the PayPal debit card.

Some people do not like PayPal as a means of making payments because it does not provide the same level of protection as a credit card does, but it is very good for accepting payments from customers. It is not available in all countries, however, and you will need an alternative if you are trading with people residing in these.

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