YOUR KNOWLEDGE CAN HELP YOU WHEN IT IS ABOUT TOBACCO MERCHANT ACCOUNT PAYMENT GATEWAY

 Most of the business owners are not familiar with the terms used in merchant services. There are numerous terms which you may not understand the first time but when you spend some time and effort you will be able to master the terms in the industry of credit card processing. This is essential for you to make the right decision so that your business will greatly benefit from your choice of the provider.

The “merchant account” is a special account or a contract between a bank and you which allows you to accept credit card payments from your customers. The acquirer or the acquiring bank is any financial institution which creates a merchant account for you and also services it. The bank also receives the payments for your transactions from the credit card companies like Discover, American Express, MasterCard and Visa.

In the credit card industry, “Card Associations” are nothing but payment networks that are the gateways between issuers and acquirers. It is by these associations that the authorization and the funding of the transactions take place. The financial institution which issues the credit card to the individual is the “issuer”, also known as the “issuing bank”.

In e – commerce business, the shopping cart is a software application which lets customers collect all their items in to it and then pay for all the items at once. The shopping cart will maintain the sum of all the products that were selected by you and will also add the shipping charges and the taxes with the final amount. This application provides a safe and secure manner to do the purchases.

There is the “virtual terminal” which is a software application that simulates your credit card terminal, where the cards are swiped to accept your payments. It is a means for processing of credit card transactions. The Online Merchants need this application to accept credit cards from their customers. This application is also called the “Payment Gateway”.

When the transaction progresses, then it has to be “settled”. This is either exchange of funds or data between the issuer and the acquirer. Another term that is important for a merchant is “Batch”. It is accumulating of transactions every day and dispatching it for settlement at the end of the day, in a batch. “End of Day” is the preferred time for most merchants to settle their transactions.

“ATM Verify” is a technology or software application which is used in eCheck transactions. It verifies whether the account mentioned in the eCheck, exists and has sufficient funds in it to complete this transaction. All this is done in real time.

And lastly, let’s speak a little about the primary folks who keep your business running – your customers. However, in the credit card industry they are referred to as “Card Holders”. They are the people who use the credit cards to make payments for the products or services which they have bought from your company or your online business. Contact one of our helpful account representatives to assist you in the setup of a high risk merchant account or offshore merchant account for a high risk merchant.