More and more businesses are selling their products and services to their customers online. An electronic shop front adds value, improves customer relationships and can dramatically reduce the cost of sale.

We've now designed and implemented e-commerce and on-line payment processing systems for over 50 New Zealand clients, using Credit card processing systems from ANZ, DPS, ASB, BNZ and WorldPay.

If you need an on-line shop, we've got three pre-built shopping cart solutions, expertise and the credit card payment connections you'll need, so call us today on 0800 474748 to find out more.

There are a few prerequisites you need to set up an internet site for on-line payment processing. These include a merchant account with your bank, order and payment processing software and a server host.  Here's a quick guide to the process; alternatively, just give us call.

The Merchant Account -   Firstly, you'll need a merchant account from your bank, usually called a "Card Not Present Merchant Account". In New Zealand, participating banks include Westpac, ANZ, BNZ, National Bank and ASB. Your bank will charge a monthly fee for this, plus a percentage commission on each transaction. There will be some application forms to sign

Software and site design - the on-line shop front can be simple or more complex, depending on the site design required, the volume or type of products and the payment currencies to be accepted. Typically, sites selling large volumes of products or those with many product variations are more complex and will require a more sophisticated system. Webstream can provide three pre-built solutions to meet most needs, including the facility to handle kits of parts and multiple currency transactions.

Security & fraud considerations - There are two basic methods to process credit cards in real-time on-line. Using  the first, customer credit card numbers are recorded and the merchant is responsible for their safekeeping. Using the second, customer order details are recorded, but the card number and payment amount is passed off to a secure payment page hosted by the bank. The merchant is not responsible for credit card security. For obvious reasons, we recommend method two wherever practical.