It’s very likely you looked at the title of this post and thought, “Those are different?” The general public uses these terms interchangeably, and without extensive knowledge of the payments industry, it makes sense to do so. However, it’s important that business owners understand the difference between credit card processors and Merchant Service Providers as each provider handles different parts of your credit card processing. Let’s jump in. Credit Card Processors The term credit card processors is often used as a blanket term for all credit card processing middlemen, but it actually refers to Payment Processors. A…
Latest Articles
As the owner of a small to medium-sized business, you probably understand the importance of information. Your company likely gathers a wealth of data from its various IT systems that you process, store, and even analyze to help make better tactical and strategic decisions. The amount of information gathered by businesses of all sizes is constantly growing, and it’s becoming increasingly important to take the right security measures to protect your company’s stored data. This article highlights six information-security risks you should know about as you prepare for 2019. Information Security Cybercriminals recognize that companies are gathering more…
For starters, there are more rate plans for your business to consider than just Flat and Interchange pricing. That said, comparing too many options at once can be overwhelming; therefore, we’re going to focus on only two plans to simplify things a bit. If you’re just starting to accept credit card payments, a Flat rate plan might be the best to start with. If your business is more mature, Interchange plus will likely be more advantageous. Let’s dive into an explanation of each option. Flat Rate Pricing Payment Facilitators offer their customers Flat rate pricing, so if…
If you’re operating an e-commerce store, either on its own or as an extension of your brick-and-mortar operations, you’re probably wondering what a Payment Gateway is. You might be confused or frustrated to find that there is yet another payment provider you need to facilitate your transactions. In short, a Payment Gateway authorizes e-commerce transactions. You need a gateway to help process the payment so you can have funds deposited to your merchant account. To be clear, a Payment Gateway does not replace your merchant account for online transactions. It’s simply an additional provider you need to…
Online credit card processing refers to card-not-present payments that are completed on an e-commerce website via a Payment Gateway. The gateway is either provided by or integrated with a Merchant Service Provider. To be successful in online credit card processing, there are certain services and tools that are required, while others are nice to have. Learn about the providers involved in online credit card processing, requirements and how you can simplify back-end e-commerce operations. Payment Gateways and More Before you can start online credit card processing, you need to set up the following: Website Hosting: The technology and services needed…