Payment Gateway

 When a merchant wants to accept credit cards online they need two things, an internet merchant account and a payment gateway. The payment gateway itself in its simplest form is a internet version of a credit card machine you see at retail stores. Credit card machines simple pass the card data along to the merchant service provider and the acquiring banks and let the merchant know if the card has been approved or not. This is the same thing that a payment gateway does. Their are many different payment gateways on the market today, Authorize.net and Linkpoint are the two most popular. These gateway simply integrate with your shopping cart or billing system with the use of a username and password, Although sometimes called by different names. When a customer checks out on your website and enter the card data into the order page, a transmission is sent via the internet to an aquiring bank which will determine if the card will be approved or declined. A transmission will be sent back to the payment gateway which then send an approved or decline message to the shopping cart system. This whle process happens in about 3 seconds.

Top Payment Gateways:

Authorize.net, Linkpoint, Ezic, Payflow