Credit cards are still the most popular way to pay for goods and services online.

To set up credit card processing on your website, (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover), you need to get an Internet merchant account.

You can get an Internet merchant account through your local banks. Notice I say banks; to get credit card processing of all the major credit cards on your website you may need to get Internet merchant accounts with two separate banks as many banks only deal with some of the credit cards involved.

You can also get an Internet merchant account through a third party merchant account provider, such as Beanstream, Moneris, PSiGate or InternetSecure.

The advantages of getting an Internet merchant account through a third party merchant account provider are that most don't require any security deposits (unlike banks), are quickly set up, and often can be bundled with ecommerce service packages that include the Internet gateway you need for online credit card processing (Web point-of-sale) and a shopping cart.

The disadvantage is higher fees. Discount fees in particular tend to be higher than if you had set up your Internet merchant accounts through the banks.

Wherever you get your Internet merchant account, you will have to also purchase an Internet gateway service. The gateway verifies information, transfers requests and authorizes credit cards in real time. All four of the companies I've mentioned above offer these credit card processing services as well, but there are many others that do too - including PayPal.