This is an important part of the web hosting business, after all it is where the money is being collected! There are two main types of payment gateways:
Merchant Account
This is where you have an account directly with the merchant banks and charges appear in your name on the customers credit card bill.
Merchant accounts provide you with flexibility which you don’t really get with 3rd party processors. There are a lot of merchant account providers that will provide you with a merchant account for businesses based in the United States. For the most part you must have a US business presence, however this is not always the case. It’s best to check with the merchant account provider.
Here are some merchant account providers:
- PayPal Pro Services
- E-OnlineData.com (recommended)
- FirstData.com
3rd Party Payment Processor
This is where another company processes the payment for you and then sends you the funds on a set time period. The customer sees a different name on the credit card statement.
For beginners, this is almost always the best way to go as anyone can get going through the use of PayPal to start accepting payments. PayPal is easy because a lot of client management and billing systems integrate into PayPal out of the box, this makes getting going very easy.
When funds are collected with PayPal, they sit in the PayPal account, almost like a bank account. You can then withdraw at anytime to your bank account. Be sure to check to ensure that you’re able to withdraw from them to your local bank.
Here are some other 3rd party providers:
- 2CheckOut.com
- WorldPay.com