Making Payments Online

Signing up: To start an account with an online payment system, you will need to sign up using an email address. Your account name corresponds to one or more of your email addresses and this is what your customer will need to make fund transfers to you. To send money, you'll need the exact email address of the merchant and enter this inside the online payment system's portal, under your own account.

Identification checks: Maintaining a cross-checking system of "real-world" identification is one of the foundations of transaction and account security in the online payment system world. Apart from registering your bank account and credit card information you will need to sign up your name as it appears in these accounts, your social security number for interest payments, and confirm your financial information by registering codes that the online payment systems provider has sent to your email address and financial accounts. After proving ownership of your accounts, you can proceed to making and receiving payments online.

Withdrawals: With many online payment systems, sending money is free, but funds received into your account will take a small percentage charge as a transaction fee. Rates depend on the type of account you have and the amount of business you do online.

If you are receiving payments, you can withdraw funds through these options: requesting a debit card to be issued for your own purchases, a physical check request to be mailed to your street address, or a deposit in your bank account.

Paying Online: Bills, auctions, online retailer's goods, software, subscriptions and donations are some of the payments that you can now do online. On websites that offer goods or peitions for donations, you'll find a link or a button that leads you to your online payment system provider. This is where you'll enter your account by giving your account name and encrypted password and then select payment method, enter the destination and click on a submit payment button. Alternatively, you may be sent a request for payment through email which has a link that leads you through the same steps above.

When using your online payment system, you may choose to register a one-time account (with a specific limit) coming from your credit card company which funds only a single purchase. This innovation in credit card technology limits your exposure to online transaction fraud.