Do you own an online business? Are you trying to find ways to navigate the complex world of e-commerce? Well, no need to keep searching! You’ve come to the perfect place to answer all your questions about online finances, payment processes, and more.
Today, we will discuss credit card processing, focusing on integrated vs. non-integrated credit card processing. While these two may seem pretty similar, they have many crucial differences that make them suitable for certain businesses. Want to find out which one is best for your online shop? Then, keep reading to discover more as we dive deeper into the battle between integrated and non-integrated credit card processing.
Integrated vs. Non-Integrated Credit Card Processing – What’s The Difference?
Learning the difference between both is an excellent place to start. First, we need to define our terms to answer this fundamental question.
Integrated credit card processing is a method built into the platform or website where you sell your products. It is revered for being fast, easy, and convenient and helps retain customers by making their checkout experience quick and effortless.
On the other hand, non-integrated credit card processing is a way of processing credit card payments that aren’t run by your platform but by a third company. This company creates a safe payment gateway for consumers to buy things while keeping their personal information safe.
Now that we’re all on the same page let’s discuss each process in detail so you can weigh the pros and cons and see which is right for your business.
Credit Card Processing – How Does It Work?
Well, it depends entirely on which process you choose. Let’s compare the two by proposing a hypothetical situation. A young woman named Samantha has found her way to your online shop via Instagram. She sees a pair of earrings she loves and decides to have them immediately.
If the website uses integrated credit card processing, here’s how it will all go down:
Step 1: Samantha will click “go to checkout.”
Step 2: Samantha will put in all her personal information without getting redirected anywhere else and finish her purchase all in one fell swoop!
But if the website has non-integrated credit card processing, this is what will happen:
Step 1: Samantha will click “go to checkout.”
Step 2: Samantha will put in her information
Step 3: Samantha will be redirected to a third company page to choose which payment option she prefers. Since she’s a young person, she’s most likely to choose PayPal, as many young people nowadays find it easier and more convenient to use, especially when shopping online.
Step 4: Once she has entered her payment info, it will be authenticated, and as soon as it does, it will redirect her to the website, where she will be asked to complete her purchase.
Right off the bat, you can probably spot the main difference here: time. The integrated processing options are done in a few seconds, while the others can take up to a few minutes. But can this impact the consumer’s decision? It turns out that it does quite a lot.
Wanting to buy something from an online business and then getting redirected can quicken consumers’ hearts since they feel like they’re getting scammed. Although PayPal is a favorable option, it still takes some time to put in your information, which will most likely make your customers impatient and abandon their carts.
With integrated processing, everything is done in one place. The shopper will most likely feel safe giving the company their information since the power to process credit cards builds trust and security. The shopper also has less time to panic because the transaction is completed in seconds. They finally get to sit back, thankful that modern technology allows them to buy things without leaving their home.
Alright, now that you’ve examined how each option behaves in the same scenario, let’s examine each payment process in more detail.
Integrated Credit Card Processing
Integrated Credit Card Processing is used by almost all the major brands that have online stores, providing a clean and comfortable way for people to shop.
An integrated processing system does all the work by authenticating the shopper’s information and interacting with their bank’s server without needing a third-party processor. This also means it won’t redirect customers to another page, making them feel more secure and dissipating doubt that they’re getting scammed.
Now that you’ve got a short description let’s get down to the nitty-gritty by looking at the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Fast
- Efficient
- It makes customers feel like they had a better experience
- All your payments are processed in one place
- Safe
- Useful
- Modern
Cons:
- It may take a while to sort out since you’ll need to hire a software developer to add it to your website or switch platforms if the one you’re using doesn’t have integrated payments.
- It may require an initial investment.
Now, let’s compare this method with non-integrated credit card processing.
Non-Integrated Credit Card Processing
Non-integrated processing is done through a third party instead of your website. It can be run through any software, from a Chrome extension to a mobile app.
Pros:
- Safe for the customer and the merchant
- Intuitive
- Useful
Cons:
- It takes longer to process payments
- May make consumers feel like they’re getting scammed by redirecting them
- It takes too long to finish the purchase
Conclusion
The truth is that the only way to know which process is best for your business is to try one of them yourself. If you’ve been using non-integrated payment processing for a long time and it hasn’t caused any trouble, then you can continue to use it. After all, if it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it! But if you see your revenues starting to drop or you want a change, investing in some software to make payments easier can go a long way.
