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 the software that collects the transaction information and submits that information to the merchant bank so that the funds can be paid by the credit card bank of the customer or individual using the credit card to the merchant bank, then a deposit to the bank account of the merchant so that the transaction can be completed. Of course, this can be compared to a regular physical terminal which does the same thing, just through a different method.
In addition to getting the transaction information from your shopping cart to the bank for processing, most gateway accounts also have what they call a “virtual terminal”. This is the ability to login directly to the gateway account and charge a credit card without having your customer or you, for that matter go through the shopping cart checkout process. This works very well for both charging credit cards in the event of a phone in order, in person order as well as when you as a business owner will need to reverse a charge. This is all easy to manage from within this virtual terminal.
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.
There are several payment platforms in the US including First Data, Paymentech, Global / Vital, and several others. That I know of, First Data represents over 50% of the nation’s processing. Either way, most merchant account providers today are setup on several different platforms or at least have the ability to select a specific platform or what’s called a “file build”. The main thing you need to do here is simply let your merchant account provider know what gateway company you plan on using and make sure to ask them if it’s compatible. Chances are it is. There are some merchant account providers who also offer a 30 or even 45 day “trial” period on the merchant account so if it doesn’t work, you aren’t tied into a long term contract. Ask your merchant account provider for details about that topic.
With a gateway account, there are some providers who have an option to process the transactions using a USB reader. What this does is allow the transaction to be processed at a “retail” rate because the card is physically present at the time of the transaction as demonstrated by the fact that the magnetic strip was read instead of just the credit card number. This doesn’t work for all merchants, but if you are doing a good percentage of your transactions live, at tradeshows or a storefront as well as via the internet, this solution may work well for you and save you money in the long run. These readers typically cost around $50 to $70 or so for the basic ones and make sure your gateway company allows this type of transaction. This also means that you setup your account with your provider as a retail account as well, not an internet account. This is the only way you’ll get those lower rates.
There are some instances where you can bypass the gateway altogether and submit transaction information directly to the payment platforms for processing. This is typically reserved for companies that process a LOT of transactions. The reason being is because in order to get to the point where you don’t have to go through a gateway, you’ll need to have your setup audited by some 3rd party auditor that will allow you to go through a certification process to where you can be “verified by Visa” and Mastercard has a similar program I know. This process is not overly difficult, but requires some extensive programming, certification, and of course there is a greater degree of liability as you know maintain the customer transaction information on your server where previously this may have been stored on the servers of the gateway company. There are high fines or fees for any credit card information that is compromised including a fine of up to $10,000 per instance. So, you can see that coding directly to the payment platform has its costs and risks.
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.
Brian Armstrong is a professional merchant account salesperson with over 7 years of industry experience. You can meet Brian through his online videos about internet merchant accounts, and ecommerce merchant accounts. He is more than happy to answer any questions you may have about both internet merchant accounts and the corresponding gateway account.
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If you have the entrepreneur mind and can’t get off your thoughts on taking hold of that dream, yet, neither can you actualize it because you lack the funds, well, don’t feel sorry for yourself because there’s finally a solution to that.
All businesses need capital in order to get off the ground. These funds cover the expenses for your office location, any required machinery and facilities, and employee salaries, among others. If you can’t put up the capital yourself, then you might need to apply for a small business loan.
However, choosing among the options and strategy to utilize, one should seek the capital for the start-up process. Finding a good place for your office, purchasing the necessary machinery or equipment, considering the salary of the employees are part of the initial investment.
There are two types of small business loan: the secure and unsecured loan. These two kinds of loans will have different requirements to accomplish. Once you can decide which type of loan best fits your business needs you will realize that a small business loan is beneficial.
An unsecured loan doesn’t require you to put up any collateral. The trade-off for this benefit is that these loans typically have higher-than-average interest rates.
For the unsecured small business loan no collateral is needed. They will not ask for collateral but will give you a higher interest rate. Depending on your available assets or finances you can choose from the two different types of loans.
Lastly, if you’ve qualified for a small business loan, study the terms of agreement carefully. Never sign any binding contracts blindly. You should be familiar with all details, including interests rates, charges, and penalties should you miss payments. Your livelihood will depend a lot on your fulfillment of loan obligations.
As you can see, one of the best things you can do to ensure you get a small business loan is to educate yourself about what needs to be done. Only when you know all your available options will you be able to make the right decisions. Good luck and good hunting.
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It has become quite a challenge to choose the right health insurance providers these days: there are many health insurance models, the features are unique for each of them, and not to mention the prices that also vary a lot.
Checking with various health insurance providers before signing any contract is the best thing you can do in these times when the costs are skyrocketing. Managed care plans could be a good and responsible choice when you want a maximum quality for your money. Don’t take things lightly here either because the family’s well being depends on your decision for one health insurance plan or another.
Sometimes it is really difficult to understand the basics from the language used in the contracts of various health insurance providers. You will need to document on prescription drugs and their fees, hospital co-pays, coverage maximums, deductibles and so on. Health insurance providers are available in the private and the public sectors, but actually come to shop for health insurance when the employer does not sponsor part of the policy.
When you are on your own, you definitely need to be careful to avoid paying a small fortune every month.
Another thing that should not be overlooked when analyzing the offers of various health insurance providers is the possibility of major life changes. Retirement, marriage and pregnancy are examples of life events that trigger changes in the health insurance policy. Even if the employer insures you and your family, you should still not neglect the necessity to analyze the amount of the premiums against the rights you have by policy and personal needs.
Go for low premiums, good baby care and doctors with whom you’ve worked before.
People with pre-existing health conditions are in a more special position when it comes to choosing between health insurance providers. Most companies do not offer individual coverage for a problem you had prior to the signing of the policy, and many insurers require health evaluation for this very purpose.
Do not worry, solutions do exist even if your health condition is not perfect when you shop for a policy. Many states provide different types of coverage for patients labeled as high-risk consumers. Check with the official state organization and learn about your options and possibilities to work with different health insurance providers.
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