Everything Beginners Need to Know About Getting Paid Through an Online Business

Congratulations, you’re starting an online business.

There’s just one problem.

How are you going to get paid?

Payment gateways, merchant accounts, risk factors. It doesn’t take long to get overwhelmed with jargon once you start digging into your options. Make the wrong choice up front and you could end up with frozen funds, chargebacks or (worst case scenario) no way to accept payments at all.

The good news is there’s nothing to it if approached correctly.

This guide will cover everything you need to know in order to setup online payments for your business – right from day one.

Table of Contents

• What Is Online Payment Processing?
• What Makes a Transaction “High Risk”?
• Choosing the Right Payment Processor
• The Most Popular Online Payment Methods
• Chargebacks, Fraud and How to Fight Back
• Setting Up Payments: Step by Step
• Beginners Guide to Getting Paid Online: Bottom Line

What Is Online Payment Processing?

Online payment processing is what takes the money from a customer’s bank account and puts it into yours.

Simple enough.

Let’s take a look under the hood at how it all works:

• Payment Gateway – securely captures and encrypts transaction data at checkout
• Payment Processor – facilitates communication between the card network and the issuing bank
• Merchant Account – receiving account where funds get deposited before reaching the business bank account

A lot of beginners breeze past this stuff… only to find they’ve accidentally selected the wrong provider a few weeks down the road. Make sure to understand what’s happening at each step. Everything else will be easier to piece together afterwards.

What Makes a Transaction “High Risk”?

Not all transactions are created equal.

Businesses that fall into certain categories are considered “high risk” by processors and banks. Transaction types can also be high risk.

This is important to understand because higher risk transactions = stricter guidelines, increased fees, and more likelihood of being declined by “normal” payment processors.

Alright, so what qualifies a business (or transaction) as high risk?

• Selling digital goods, memberships or adult content
• High dollar transaction averages or monthly sales volumes
• Accepting customer payments from outside your own country
• Industries that have historically high chargeback rates (Travel, supplements, casino)
• Businesses that have yet to establish a processing history

Here’s the kicker.

If your account is flagged for high risk with most major online payment processors (ie: Stripe, PayPal) they will likely freeze your account or terminate your processing entirely – often without warning. That’s why high-risk businesses need a partner that actually understands what they’re doing.

Adaptiv Payments specialises in high-risk online transactions, approving hundreds of merchants every month that bigger brands turn away – with competitive rates and stable, reliable processing.

Choosing the Right Payment Processor

Picking the wrong processor can really hurt you when you’re starting out.

Here’s what you need to consider first:

• How the fees are charged (flat rate vs interchange-plus pricing)
• Do they offer chargeback protection? (Absolute must if you’re high risk)
• Whether or not they support multiple currencies
• Can they integrate with the current store platform

92% of US customers paid with a digital method in 2024. That’s an all-time high. The number is only going to grow from here. If you don’t have a solid payment processor in place you’re losing customers before you even realize it’s happening.

Don’t default to the biggest name you know. Big brands aren’t always the best option – especially if your business falls into any sort of high-risk category. Do your research upfront, it will save you countless hours (and dollars) later on.

The Most Popular Online Payment Methods

Familiarise yourself with these so you know what you’re working with.

Credit and Debit Cards are by far the most common payment method online. They’re fast, trusted and accepted globally by customers.

Digital Wallets like PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay have grown rapidly in recent years. Mobile wallets alone generated 44% of global e-commerce sales in 2024. Offering popular wallets at checkout is quick to implement and can improve conversions almost instantly.

Buy Now, Pay Later services such as Afterpay or Klarna are quickly becoming an expected option – especially when selling higher priced items. Spread payments are a huge psychological boost for many shoppers.

ACH Payments or Wire Transfers work well for B2B services and subscription-based models where regular billing occurs.

Give customers options where possible. Removing friction at checkout is always a smart play – more sales will naturally follow.

Chargebacks, Fraud and How to Fight Back

This is where it can get ugly.

Ecommerce fraud is expected to rise from $44.3 billion in 2024 to $107 billion by 2029 Wait – that’s not all. “Friendly fraud” – charge disputes filed by customers who receive their orders and then try to game the system – is one of the fastest growing types of fraud affecting store owners right now. In fact, in 2024 alone 79% of businesses experienced actual or attempted payment fraud.

Card-not-present transactions, which occur during every single online sale, accounted for nearly 80% of all e-commerce credit card fraud losses. If you’re accepting online payments, fraud is your number one risk to mitigate from day zero.

Here are some of the best ways to minimize risk:

• Use a processor with fraud detection built-in and proactive dispute alerts
• Require additional authentication at checkout (ie: 3D Secure checks)
• Keep delivery/refund policies clear on site
• Monitor transactions on a regular basis, watching for spikes in activity
• Investigate and respond to disputes quickly, armed with evidence

Take the time to setup tools to protect yourself before going live. The better covered you are, the less chance fraudsters will successfully hit your store. This can mean the difference between major issues down the road – or none at all.

Setting Up Payments: Step by Step

Ok – you’ve got all your ducks in a row. Here’s how to put it all together:

1. Research and select a payment processor that accommodates your business model and risk profile.
2. Apply for a merchant account if needed. Some payment processors include this step with their setup.
3. Hook up a payment gateway to your website/store platform.
4. Test out the payment flow with a real transaction. Start-to-finish.
5. Tweak fraud prevention settings before processing that first sale.
6. Stay on top of incoming transactions/alerts moving forward – don’t wait for problems to occur.

One more thing – read the Terms of Service. A lot of payment processors restrict certain industries without disclosing until your funds are locked-up and you can’t process payments. Reading the fine print couldn’t hurt.

Beginners Guide to Getting Paid Online: Bottom Line

Accepting payments online doesn’t have to be difficult.

In fact, it can be quite simple if you take the time to do it right. The issue most beginners run into is accidentally setting themselves up with tools that aren’t meant for their specific business model. Then when things go wrong, they don’t know where to turn.

Make sure you know how processing works, what risk category your business falls under – and partner with a payment processor that will give you the support you deserve.

Setup your foundation correctly…

Everything else will fall into place.