How to Accept Credit Cards Over the Phone and Online

When you accept credit cards over the phone and on your website, you are required to:

• Produce a transaction record (sales receipt) as you would do for a card-present transaction, except that a note of "Mail Order," "Telephone Order," "Internet Order," or "Signature on File," should be placed as may be applicable, within the signature field or the respective electronic descriptor on the transaction record.
• Obtain the cardholder's name as it is shown on the bank card, the card's account number and date of expiration, the customer's billing address, as well as the billing address, if different.
• Submit an authorization request and receive an approval response.
  

Be advised that the credit card company or association may issue a chargeback for any transaction when you accept credit cards over the phone or online, if an authorization approval has not been obtained.

It needs to be understood that a chargeback cannot be issued for such sales that are based solely upon a customer's claim that she did not get the disputed merchandise if the merchant has established with the credit card company that the address to which the item was shipped is the in fact the customer's billing address and has produced a sales receipt that was signed by the authorized cardholder in validation for the delivery of the merchandise to this address.

Accept Credit Cards Over the Internet

The credit card companies and associations process payments for online transactions that are subject to general industry rules, as well as the following special requirements listed below.

An internet transaction is defined to occur when bank card payment information is accepted through the web, online (typically through a website checkout page), email, intranet, extranet, EDI or some similar network for the payment of merchandise or services.

Card acceptors are required to:

• Not transmit card information regarding any inline payment over the internet or any other electronic form to anyone other than the cardholder who placed the order, the processing bank, or the credit card company or association.
• Submit all internet transactions electronically.
• Use any individual merchant numbers issued for internet sales in all of the retailer's requests for transaction authorization and deposit.
• Provide the credit card company or association with no less than one month's notice of any update in the retailer's URL address.
• Remain in compliance with all additional requirements that may be applicable.
  

It needs to be remembered that, if a disputed sale occurs that involves a non-face-to-face online payment, an immediate chargeback may be issued for the entire amount of the sale.