what is a payment gateway?
A Payment Gateway acts as an intermediary between your shopping cart, your customers' credit card issuer and your own merchant account.
When a customer places an order through your website, the payment gateway 'talks' to your customer's credit card issuing company and your bank account, allowing the money to be transferred instantly in real time.
The benefit is the ease of accepting orders online without any interaction required from you. What could be simpler than sitting back and watching your bank account increase?
The drawback is expense - gateway fees can be quite high. Of course, if the number of orders you're receiving will justify the additional expense, then naturally it would make sense to migrate your ordering system so you can take advantage of the convenience of a payment gateway.
feel like you could use some help?
Does this information sound like mumbo-jumbo to you? If it still isn't clear, a consultation might be the answer. We'd love to devote some time with you on the phone to help you understand and clarify e-commerce, and to help determine what the best options are for your specfic website.
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