Ecommerce Help for the New Merchant
You’ve just started a new business, and are establishing an online commerce platform. You have to decide whether to get a merchant account or use a service like PayPal. Do you have a brick-and-mortar store? Do you know your projected sales figures? On top of these questions, you may also be wondering what payment processors and payment gateways are. One question that may enter your mind is, “Aren’t they the same thing?”
The short answer is no, they’re not. A payment gateway is how you make sales online. It allows you to charge a credit or debit card when a customer makes a purchase online. A payment processor is the financial institution that works with your business to provide the payment processing services for online merchants. However, if you have a merchant account, it’s a bank account that authorizes a business to accept credit and debit card payments online in conjunction with a payment gateway.
Many online businesses need payment gateways, as it’s fundamental to complete transactions. However, if you’re not doing business online, you may not need a payment gateway if you’ve obtained a merchant account. If you believe your company will start creating sales in the future it’s best to have a payment gateway.
With the way consumers are changing the market by shopping more online or using mobile payments, some merchant account providers have started to create in-house payment gateways. This cuts down on the hassle of dealing with two different entities should a problem arise. The advantages of this are many, as you now have one point of contact, less time and money spent getting everything up and running, and it’s current with the latest shopping trends.
TOTAL-APPS: Your All-In-One Merchant Account Service Provider
Whether you’re an emerging ecommerce business or you’ve been in the industry for a while, TOTAL-APPS can help grow your business. With industry-leading point-of-sale solutions, payment gateway technology and personalized merchant accounts, TOTAL-APPS helps enterprises expand processing capabilities and stay ahead of the competition.
Contact TOTAL-APPS today to learn how we can help grow your business with our proprietary payment gateway services.