Need more information on what everything means?

Please read below or enter our website for more information on our online card payments, payment gateway, internet merchant account, credit card online payment,, credit card payments and credit card processing. Including the ability to download any of our white papers or read more about online payments by visiting our dummies guide.

What is a PSP or Payment Service Provider? A PSP, also known as a Merchant Provider, is a reseller contracted with Acquirers to provide credit card processing to merchants. In order to have payments from your web site processed by the credit card networks you will have to apply to an approved Payment Service Provider, known as a 'PSP'. Their function is to integrate your e-commerce enabled web site with the international credit card networks so that orders generated by your chosen 'shopping cart' software can be authorised and payment collected for you.

What is an Internet Merchant Account? - A merchant account is an account set-up with a bank that allows online businesses to accept debit and credit card payments. This is opened through a PSP (please see below) using a bank that is a member of the Visa or MasterCard network which allows merchants to accept credit cards online. The funds from the online sales are then transferred to the merchants bank account - - more >>>

Please note that an Internet merchant account is a merchant account specifically designed for accepting online payments, and is different to a standard merchant account that a high-street shop using a PDQ (swipe) machine, for instance, would have. If you already have a standard 'off line' merchant account for your business, you will find that Internet merchant account fees are slightly higher because of the risk factor of online payments.

You may be able to get an internet merchant account from the same bank you got your standard merchant account, however please do not assume that just because you got a standard merchant account it will be easy to get an internet merchant account from them. This is where we come in...

What is a Gateway? A Gateway, sometimes referred to as a Payment Gateway, provides a secure connection between your online shopping cart (or other website where payments are taken) and your internet merchant account. A payment gateway normally provides additional features such as a virtual terminal for manually processing transactions over the phone. When integrating your website it is the Gateway you are integrating, not the merchant account - this is integrated to the gateway by your chosen PSP (unless using separate companies). Therefore when looking for a shopping cart always see which Gateways they can support.

What is a third party payment processor? As discussed above, If you wish to accept credit and debit cards online and you can not get an internet merchant account, you can use a third party payment processor. These companies basically let you use their merchant account to process payments. They then transfer the funds to your bank account. The downside with these types of companies is that it adds another tier to your processing which in turn means the transaction charges are much higher. The best known third-party payment processor is PayPal - more >>>

What is a Virtual Terminal? Similar to the terminals used in stores that “swipe” the purchasers credit card. The virtual terminal allows the merchant account holder to enter the credit card information securely for processing of debits and credits. You can also have multiple users using the virtual terminal at any one time. This means you can use it in a shop or call centre environment. No more having to wait for one person to process a transaction before another can be taken. As well as developing the ability to accept payments through a website, we were the very first to develop the virtual payment terminal. Due to the ease of use and mass popularity, this system is now offered by many banks and PSP's throughout the world. The Virtual Terminal facility is FREE with all our accounts - more >>>

What is PCI Compliance? If you own an online shop, bank online or use credit and debit cards, there is a very good chance that you have heard the term "PCI compliant." However you probably don't know what it means. PCI Compliance is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard mandated by the card schemes for the protection of cardholders and transaction details. If you do not comply with the standard you could face substantial fines imposed by card schemes. You could even find yourself being permanently barred from using card acceptance programmes. According to payment brand rules, all merchants accepting credit card payments are required to comply with the PCI Data Security Standard in its entirety. This includes online and offline. he term "PCI compliant" is heard more and more these days as data breaches at merchants like TKMaxx land hundreds of thousands of card details in the hands of criminals. These criminals are using the data to make purchases and withdraw money from accounts of unsuspecting victims. It's a huge and growing problem. More than 80% of data stolen in breaches is payment card data, according to the 2009 Verizon Business Data Breach Report - more >>>

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