Merchant Account Payment Gateway Company

Finding the right merchant account payment gateway company is both critically important and simple and straightforward.

What does that mean?

Well, let's remember the best purchasing order:

1. shopping cart - this is a no-brainer if you plan on selling multiple items (ie, are building a shopping site or something like it).

The shopping cart is the software that acts like a real shopping cart: It holds the customers orders while they shop, calculates shipping and taxes, and facilitates the checkout process. It is where you will close the deal.

And if you need one, it should be your first and foremost focus: It must be clear, flexible and user-friendly. Getting that right is priority one.

2. payment gateway - why second? Because whatever shopping cart you purchase will likely work with only one or a few payment gateways. And since the shopping cart is the critical thing, it will dictate what payment gateway you choose.

3. merchant account - hey, look, way down here in third in your merchant account. Why is that? Because in general, it will only work with one merchant account payment gateway company.

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So, as you can see, if you are building a site that will have a shopping cart or complicated check out system, that will dictate your merchant account payment gateway company.

Thankfully, most shopping carts are compatible with more than one merchant account payment processing company. In some cases, dozens.

If you don't have to worry about a shopping cart, then look for the best deal on a merchant account. The merchant account provider will generally determine the default merchant account payment gateway company they want to work with.

How much will a payment gateway cost?

It will generally end up on your statement as a "gateway fee." They typically range from $10 to $25 per month.

What does it it do?

Basically, it is the virtual equivalent of a credit card swiper in a retail store. It essentially facilitates the transfer of sensitive credit card information between the merchants website and the acquiring bank.

To put it another way, a gateway connects your site to your merchant account and your payment processing network.

You will use it to authenticate credit card transactions in seconds on your site. Additionally, many merchant account providers offer "virtual terminal" software, where you can manually input credit numbers and charge a credit card off line as well.

(Of course, if you are going to do this for a large number of cards, it would make much more sense to get a real credit card terminal. You will pay far lower transaction fees.)

What are the features of a gateway?

They go beyond simply accepting credit cards through a form on your site. The most important features include:

• Virtual Terminal (manually enter credit card information)
• Fraud Prevention (Address verification, CVV2 check, and others)
• Recurring Billing support (subscription and membership businesses)

Though not a feature, per se, cost and reliability are also features that you should consider.

What are the top merchant account payment gateway companies?

• Authorize.net  :: probably the most popular, used by many top merchant account providers, such as Charge.com.
• PayPal Payflow :: purchased from Verisign, Paypal has done an admirable job of integrating it with their very affordable services.
• Linkpoint :: this is CardService International's payment gateway.
• PlugnPay
• 2checkout
• Paymentech

The list could go on. The important thing to remember is this:

If you will have a shopping cart...

1. Find the best shopping cart for your store.
2. See what merchant account payment gateway company your shopping cart is compatible with.
3. Find a good deal on a merchant account that uses that gateway.

If you won't need a shopping cart...

1. Find a good deal on a merchant account.

Really, it's that simple.

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