Merchant Account & Credit Card Processing Gateway

Merchant Account - A merchant account is an account, supplied by a financial institution, that allows a business to accept credit card transactions. The Merchant Account is applied for by a business, or merchant. A Merchant Account allows the merchant to process "card present" credit card transactions, using either an electronic or physical "card swipe" terminal. Once a merchant account has been established, the bank agrees to pay the merchant for all valid credit card purchases in exchange for the right to collect the debt owed by the consumer. Gateway - Credit Card transactions placed over the Internet are "card not present" transactions. (The merchant never has the customer's credit card in their possession during the ordering process.) In order to process "card not present" transactions, the merchant also needs a "Payment Gateway" account. The Payment Gateway account is essentially the Internet version of the merchant's electronic or physical "card swipe" terminal. The Payment Gateway account. It is in ecommerce to allow communication between the merchant's website and the bank's computer networks, acting as an interface between the two; i.e., a Payment Gateway.