Most merchants don't know what a gateway is or at least don't know it by that name. A gateway is a company like Authorize.Net, at least their "gateway" part of their business. This article will tell you what a gateway is and how it is used with most internet merchant accounts. There are some fees associated with every gateway account. They can be used as what's known as a virtual terminal as well and some have the option to process the transactions through a "swiped" process through a USB card reader.
A gateway is a software package that allows transactions to get from your customer through the internet to the merchant bank for processing. This gateway also makes sure the transaction is submitted using encryption so that there is a significantly less chance of any financial data being lost along the way. There are dozens of pretty good gateway companies out there but probably one of the more common gateway companies is Authorize.net.
One of the features of a gateway company is the ability of the merchant to run transactions manually assuming a phone / fax or even a "live" transaction needs to take place before a product or service can be delivered. The virtual terminal is usually accessed via the login to the gateway and an easy link is there to allow the owner to input the credit card information and the billing information as well to process the transaction.
The fees associated with the gateway account are usually based on three components, the setup, the monthly fee, and a per transaction fee. Expect to pay around $25 to $150 for the setup, $5 to $15 for the monthly and anywhere from $.00 to $.10 per transaction for the gateway service. Keep in mind that these fees are usually above and beyond what the merchant account provider will charge you for the merchant account processing fees. Depending on who you use for your merchant account provider, you can usually get a very competitive rate and pricing that includes bundled fees to where your total monthly fee is less than $25 (which is about what the Paypal professional account costs). With this "real" merchant account, you'll usually be lower on your processing fees as well.
As there are several different "layers" of credit card processing and several entities involved in the process, I'll keep this simple. Most gateway accounts are compatible with only certain payment platforms. There are several larger payment platforms in the US for which most gateways are "certified" or able to send transaction information to. If the gateway is being advertised by the merchant account company you've selected, you shouldn't have any problems getting setup and won't even need to worry about the payment platforms. However, if you are using a lesser known gateway provider that is only certified with certain types of payment platforms, you may need to double check with your merchant account that they can setup accounts on a compatible platform. Again, this doesn't affect most merchants and unless you are using a custom coded solution, you're very likely to end up with a competitive gateway that will be very compatible with any merchant account provider out there (such as Authorize.Net).
Another benefit to the gateway account is that some have the option of getting setup with a retail swipe with a USB attachment. This is great if you have your account priced as a retail account and will be using it for at least 30-40% of your transactions in person (whether a retail setup, storefront, or a trade show, etc). What this allows you to do is swipe the transactions and get a lower rate for those because they are considered less risk as the card is physically present at the time of the transaction. This isn't used too often, but may be a source of saving a significant amount of money if you choose to use it.
Some payment platforms will allow you to submit transactions directly from your website or web server to the gateway. This would mean that the code on your website itself would be acting in much the same way the gateway acts. This does typically require some expertise in custom coding a website and shopping cart. If your business processes a lot of transactions, and I mean a lot, then this may be a solution that you should look into. You'll also want to check with your payment processor on this fact as well. They should be able to tell you if this is even possible for you based on the payment platform they've setup your account with.
In conclusion, the gateway account for most merchants is a valuable component to any ecommerce or online payment processing situation. This is typically very easy to setup and most merchant account service providers can set this up for you at the same time as your merchant account is setup. And, some can even do this for less expensive than if you were to contact your gateway provider directly. This is based on volume discounts that some of the larger providers can get with the gateway companies. This is pretty easy to get setup.
If you enjoyed this article, I have put together a couple of videos on Youtube the explain more about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_tQ6zMjTDM and all about setting up an http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQQXGC3ppRc ecommerce merchant account.
Links:
Read More:Online Dialer For The Masses,Tips on How to Make Your Wedding DVD Videos Memorable,Ice cream Truck Insurance - Truck Insurance For owner And operators,Choosing Home Decor Gifts For Any Occasion,Botswana's Real Estate Potential Summarized