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How to Collect Money: Payment Processing Gateways

by Sheri Levitt

credit or debit cardsDo you have an online business or store? If so, chances are there that you are looking for ways to accept credit cards and other payments online. After all, collecting money the purpose of business! However, all the different online payment gateways out there can confuse and overwhelm the small business owner. PayPal, Merchant Plus, Google Checkout, Autorize.net, CyberSource, Amazon Payments, and Chase Paymentech are just a few of the most popular services available. How will you ever know which ones to offer to your customer? Luckily, we are here to help with the answers to many of your online payment questions!

First, it is important to understand just what an online payment gateway does for e-businesses. A payment gateway is a middleman between you and your customers. Simply stated, merchant services such as PayPal do the work for you. They gather the credit card information and send the money to the correct place. The payment gateway will let you manage your account, run reports, submit refunds, and send invoices. All the money handling can be done in one convenient location!

Now comes the time to choose the right service your small business. If you are just starting out in the e-commerce business you might want to consider using Third Party Processors, which are payment gateways and a merchant accounts rolled into one. The third party will accept credit card orders on behalf of your online business. This will streamline the process for your business so you can focus on other things and still let the money flow in.

To find more information on this topic see the article titled Accept Payments Online which provides with information on exactly how you can go about adding payment gateways to your website. The article also discusses the concept of ‘Merchant Account Solutions’ which explains the different companies like Auhorize.net, PSiGate, WorldPay to help you pick the right one.
To Read More about different payment gateways and how to pick the best one for your business needs please Click Here.

1 comment

Pete July 30, 2011 - 9:09 am

This is a great article. It explains it fully for those involved or who want to start an ecommerce website. Payment gateways are a must if you want your customers to be able to pay online from your website.

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