A payment gateway is a link between your business merchant account and the customer’s credit card. A payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider, it is the equivalent of a physical point-of-sale terminal.
A payment gateway serves as the front end of your merchant account, allowing you to manage funds, transactions, and the like. It also serves as a connection between your website and your merchant account.
The payment gateway takes data submitted via your secure order forms and presents it to your processing bank. It protects credit card details, encrypting sensitive information such as credit card numbers to ensure that information passes securely between the customer and the merchant and also between the merchant and the payment processor.
The payment gateway’s purpose is to take in the required information for processing a transaction, submit that information through the credit card and bank networks, and return a response such as “Approved” or “Declined”.
Some of the better-known payment gateway services are Authorize.Net, Verisign, 2CheckOut.com, LinkPoint, Paysystems.com, Worldpay.com, and MerchantCommerce.
Some of the things to look for in a payment gateway are compliance with CISP, SDP, and DISC (security initiatives put out by the major credit card companies), virtual terminal (to be able to accept transactions over the phone by typing in their data rather than only relying on your website), fraud prevention, recurring billing, methods of integration, cost and whether they can accept e-checks or not.
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Why do I need a merchant account?A merchant account allows businessmen to accept credit card payments. These days most consumers prefer to shop using their credit/debit cards, if a merchant accepts credit cards payment, the sales could increase from 15% to 100% depending on the types of business.
How do I apply for a merchant account?Using a merchant account, a business owner has the ability to accept credit cards in virtually any retail environment, including the Internet.
To apply for a Merchant Account, all you have to do is first submit your info to the Merchant Account Provider you want to work with.
What is a merchant account?A merchant account is a special account that allows your business to accept payments by debit or credit cards and electronic payments through a Web site. You must have a merchant account if you want to be able to accept credit cards from your customers.