Credit cards on the web.

[rogerthomas]

I'm not sure whether this question should be on here or Internet and Technology. Here goes. I have a website for an organisation and want to allow users to sign up for paid membership by using credit or debit cards. Can someone please explain how this is done. Obviously the organisation has a bank account, so somewhere along the line, the system will have to know our account number.

Any suggestions please.

[Oneeyedvic]

First of all you need the facility to handle credit cards / debit cards. This is usually done by a merchant service via a pdq terminal. You will need to contact some different companies (you may get an idea on costs from your bank). Typically you will be charged around 50p per debit card transaction and 2.5% per credit card transaction plus a monthly fee (it can get cheaper than that depending on your turnover).

You wil lthen need to havea secure website for people to enter their details on.

It may be easier to use a compnay such as www.paypal.co.uk or www.bidpay.co.uk or similar. These companies will charge a higher amount (typically 4%) but it will make life a lot easier.

[rogerthomas]

Thanks Vic. Will give your last suggestion a try.