PAYMENT GATEWAYS
A payment gateway is a service
that takes electronic payment information from your online shopping cart
or call center sales and translates it into a form for your merchant account
to process. A gateway is required by VISA and the FED (Federal Reserve)
for ACH E-checks.
A payment gateway takes information
from a merchants' shopping cart or phone call including the:
- customers' credit card information
and address
- your merchant account information
The Payment Gateway then:
- checks for validity
- encrypts transaction details
- sends the information to the
correct destination
- decrypts the responses
which are sent back to the shopping cart
This is a seamless process. Data
is forwarded to the gateway from your shopping cart and secure (SSL) connection.
The shopping cart is configured to send information in a format that is
acceptable to the particular gateway. Your customer does not directly interact
with the gateway.The payment gateway is the secure connection and it is
independent of the your point of sale software or the shopping cart that
you use to transmit the order information through the payment gateway.
The choice of payment gateway is
a vital element that contributes to the success or failure of your online
business. 
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