If your business wants to accept and process credit cards it can be very confusing trying to figure out what some of the terminology everything means. For instances, what's the difference between an Internet payment gateway and an Internet merchant account?

A merchant account is a relationship with a bank that allows you to accept credit cards. It's usually setup through a credit card processing company known as a merchant service provider (MSP). Once your merchant account is approved the credit card processing company will deposit your funds into your bank account when transactions are approved. You can open an account through a merchant account provider... good providers bundle services like merchant accounts, payment gateways, and credit card processing together.

An Internet merchant account is an account that allows businesses to accept credit cards online. There are several types of merchant accounts to meet the needs of traditional retail , wireless , and online businesses for credit card processing.

Internet Payment Gateway Service for Internet Business
An Internet payment gateway service can be thought of as the middleman in the payment process. Your website's shopping cart system or order form will submit the credit card payment details on to the Internet payment gateway service, and then route the information to the credit card processing company. The payment gateway service also sends the information back to your shopping cart system securely once the payment is approved or declined.

The credit card processing company is a company that verifies the credit card data and makes sure the charge is valid and not fraudulent. It is an electronic data center that processes the information within seconds. Once the charge is valid, the processor will settle the funds in your merchant account so you can receive payment for an order. The funds will finally be transferred into your business bank account so you can have access to them, usually within two business days. All this happens without the need or use of a credit card machine.

In order to accept credit cards online a business will need an Internet merchant account and an Internet payment gateway. Look for a merchant account company that offers both of these as a bundled offering to help reduce fees and to serve as a single point of contact for 24x7 customer support.

Call 888-760-1700 and we'll be happy to more fully explain what an Internet payment gateway is and how it can help your business.