Why Choose a GatewayPay Website Merchant Account over PayPal and 2Checkout?

Providing as many different ways as possible for your clients or customers to pay you significantly increases overall sales. Restricting your payment methods to a service such as PayPal is simply not enough for your business to survive. This is because many people refuse to use PayPal for one reason or another, even when they do not have to have an account to pay you. Simply put, you need a website merchant account in order for your business to compete with other online companies.

Service providers like 2Checkout are not true website merchant account providers. You are severely restricted as to what you can and cannot do for one thing, and for another, they charge outrageous transaction and per item fees.

With a website merchant account from GatewayPay, it is true that the rates are higher than they would be if you had a retail merchant account, but they are still significantly less than you would pay with third party payment providers like 2Checkout or PayPal. The truth comes to the surface when you read the fine print on virtually every agreement you will read from a third party.

We provide payment processing solutions that will work for your business, no matter what the circumstances. You will benefit from fast payment, competitive rates and more that only GatewayPay can provide. Contact a representative to learn more today!

Offshore Merchant Accounts Have Many Uses

When you are looking for a great way to manage your money and take credit card payments, an offshore merchant account is a great way to do business. Offshore merchant accounts offer you a reliable way to process high-risk accounts.

For example, when the credit card is not present or if you have a high risk of chargebacks, this form of credit card processing might be for you. When you need next day funding options mixed with a very competitive rate, GatewayPay is the account for you.

Another benefit of a GatewayPay offshore merchant account is that with this system, you can take eChecks, and many currency forms can be converted. This allows you the ability and the security to process the charges you need to with much lower risk.

Many other processing companies will charge you high rates or not allow you to even take the customer's card over the telephone. We are happy to provide this service to their customers and friends.

We understand the business environment of the card not being present and the ability to use it for the phone order. Because we use many currency sources, we can provide this service at a lower risk to people who use our service.

We even have a built in system that helps with chargeback prevention. This system notifies the merchant about a charge back that could occur and allows the merchant to become aware before it happens. This can save time and money in the long run.

Getting Paid Using Web Credit Card Processing

Web credit card processing can seem a little daunting at first. After doing a little research, you learn that there can be several companies involved in getting a web site set up to accept credit cards. Unfortunately, many of the sites that you visit to learn about online credit card processing don't necessarily do a good job of answering a few basic questions or explaining how to get started. One of the most important questions that an online merchant needs answered is, "How long does it take to receive the payment?"

Before that question can be answered clearly, you first need to understand just some basic information about how web credit card processing works. Processing credit cards on the web is just an extension to the process that brick-and-mortar retailers have used for decades to process customers credit cards. The following is a brief explanation:

Merchant Bank

The brick-and-mortar retailer is able to accept credit cards because he or she has a merchant bank account. All retailers' credit card transactions will go through the merchant bank, which will usually provide the store a small credit card terminal. The credit card terminal is the small, calculator-sized machine that a store clerk uses to read your card number.

How Credit Cards are Processed

The credit card terminal sends the credit card information to the merchant bank's processor. The processor then uses the appropriate credit card network, such as MasterCard or Visa, to validate the credit card information. They check the credit card at the customer's bank to validate the card number and see if there is enough credit to cover the purchase.

Once the merchant bank's processor receives the result from the customer's bank, they send it to the terminal in the store. The cashier will see the confirmation or denial and take the appropriate action.

How Web Credit Card Processing Is Different

Web credit card processing is essentially the same as described above, except for one main difference. Instead of using a credit card terminal, the retailer's web site will connect to a credit card processing gateway. The gateway will then connect to the retailer's merchant bank and the process proceeds from that point exactly like it did for the brick-and-mortar retailer. When the gateway gets the result from the merchant bank's processor, it is sent to the retail web site and the transaction is either completed or denied based on those results.

Getting Paid

You may have realized that no money was transferred during the process described above. The retailer receives no funds until the transaction is settled. Settlement occurs when the customer's bank sends the funds to the retailer's merchant bank account.

It takes anywhere from 2 or 3 business days for the funds to be transferred to the retailer's account. During the time it takes to settle the transaction, both the retailer's bank and the customer's bank are looking for indications of credit card fraud. Once the funds are in the merchant bank account, they can be automatically transferred to your business checking account.

Merchant Gateway Payments are a Smart Investment for Your Business

Anyone doing business on the Internet needs to think about getting a merchant account. Unless your business is no more than a hobby, a merchant account is fundamental to your success. This type of business account allows you to take credit card payments directly on your website. There are payment services that are popular at auction sites as well as fixed listing sites, but these are not true merchant accounts since they allow you to take a credit card payment only through a third party.

Offline stores take credit cards and process these transactions face to face with their customer. You give the cashier your credit card and they can verify your card with your picture identification. A debit card can be swiped and a pass PIN number entered on a keypad; however, when a credit card is taken over the Internet, no such identification is available, making credit card transactions riskier than those done offline.

There are businesses that specialize in online transactions and offer merchant gateway payments that combine the features of an offline merchant account with a gateway for processing the payments from your website. These payments are secure for your customers, and because of built-in safeguards, can help lower the risk of fraud. Online businesses can suffer significant losses from unauthorized credit card use, as well as chargebacks.

Having a merchant account will demonstrate that your business is professional and legitimate. Once you begin to offer customers the option of paying with their credit or debit cards directly on your site, you will start to see an increase in sales.

When shopping for a merchant service, pay close attention to how long the company has been in business. The experience that comes over time is important in payment processing. You will also need to pay attention to the types of clients that a company will accept; there are some types of online businesses that a payment service will not engage in, while others are open to all legal businesses.  

A Virtual Terminal Merchant Account is the Smart way to do Business Today

In today's business world any edge, however small, can make a difference. If your business processes payments via a credit card terminal or wants to, a virtual terminal merchant account may be a cost-effective way to accomplish this goal.

In the past, if a business wanted to accept credit cards, debit cards, or other forms of payment other than cash, several steps had to be taken: first, an account had to be setup for deposit at a bank; next, a processor had to be selected; a credit card terminal had to be found or purchased; finally, the clerks and business personnel responsible for running the payments had to be trained. The setup was time consuming, troublesome, and expensive.

Now, with the advent of the virtual terminal, the procedure has changed. Many processors now provide one-stop shopping for an account setup, processing setup, and online training. While online training meetings have saved some money, the advent of the virtual terminal means that purchasing dedicated credit card processing equipment is no longer necessary. Simply download software onto the computer (your company probably already has one) and you are ready to save your business hundreds of dollars before the first transaction is ever processed.

Simple setup, easy online training, and cost savings through software installation rather than hardware purchase all add up to the virtual terminal being a wiser decision than traditional credit card transaction machines. Training can be accomplished on your schedule through the computer and dedicated space is no longer required, since the computer already has a place in your business. With all the advantages of moving away from traditional credit card processing models, shouldn't your business look into upgrading to a virtual terminal today? You'll be glad you did.

The Importance of Web Credit Card Processing

When you have a website that handles sensitive information such as customer or client names, addresses, phone numbers, credit cards, etc., it is important to consider having secure web credit card processing system in place to ensure the information is protected at all times.

Having web credit card processing services on your own site allows you to process payments using a secured gateway that accepts popular credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Additional cards including a Diner's Club card or JCB card may also be accepted, depending on the type of payment gateway service you are using for your own site's transactions and sales.

Once you have a web credit card processing service in place, your customers are then able to easily and safely purchase both services and products that are available online. The payment details and the sensitive information entered by your customers are then saved in a database which is secured from fraudulent transactions and unauthorized account access.

What Type of Websites Work Well with Web Credit Card Processing Services?

Retailers and websites that have services to offer to their clients are ideal for using web credit card processing services online. Using the services virtually eliminates the guesswork in completing transactions while also ensuring the data and information entered and submitted to the website for payment is not leaked or vulnerable to hackers and thieves.

Other Benefits of Using Web Credit Card Processing Services

Another major benefit of using a processing company to help protect your customers is that you have an in-depth tracking and report system so you are able to easily access sales, transactions, refunds and more, all from the hub of the credit card processing application service itself. The system allows your company to keep track of finances, sales, and the overall income your company is generating just by using it during checkout. The service can also help you to see the most popular products or services you have to offer and when you need to stock your inventory.

A credit card processing system is necessary to any company that intends to accept payments online. With all of the additional advantages the system provides, companies that aren't online already will be thinking about it in the near future.

Improve Your Competitiveness with a Virtual Terminal Merchant Account

In the age we live in, never has it been easier to market a product. Aside from the fact that a product can quickly receive national attention through advertising dollars spent on television, but, for even less investment, products can be marketed the world over through the internet. Online marketing has forever changed the way we do business, and it is a must for any venture to have an online address to refer potential customers to. Therefore, having a virtual terminal merchant account is necessary to compete with others in your industry.

Virtual terminal accounts are rather simplistic. Different than a physical terminal where a card is swiped, common to the world of retail, the only equipment necessary for the virtual account is a computer and internet access. Following a simple setup procedure, credit card payments can be accepted online. Customers can themselves enter their information, eliminating the overhead involved with hiring a cashier to take the payment. Orders are then shipped to the customer who receives email confirmation with both shipping information and a receipt. This also cuts costs on receipt paper.

The merchant also benefits because all transactions are automatically and conveniently stored online. With a couple simple clicks, a transaction history can be displayed making it quite simple to compile data for your accountant or to take care of the accounting yourself. Tax time is a breeze when using a virtual terminal merchant account.

With identity theft a constant threat, the virtual terminal merchant account protects client information. Clients will be prompted to log in to your website prior to making a purchase using a secured user name and password. Identity thieves have gone as far as to snap a picture of a credit card being used in line at retail stores, continuing to steal their identity using just their cell phone. Virtual shopping secludes the customer to the comfort and security of their home.

Online shopping is here to stay. Any business can take advantage of utilizing its worldwide customer base to market their products, and a virtual terminal merchant account makes doing so easier than ever.