Payment Gateway

Think of a payment gateway as a middleman between your website and the financial institution that issued the credit card. When a customer enters his credit card details at your website, it is the payment gateway that validates the credit card details with the customers' credit card issuer. The payment gateway also instructs the credit card issuer to debit the amount charged. Whether the transaction is successful or not, the payment gateway informs the customer at your website of the transaction outcome. The whole process is automated and is completed within seconds. Please note, the payment gateway that you choose must be compatible with your website or the shopping cart.

One of the key features of a payment gateway is security. When choosing a payment gateway, please make sure that they offer adequate fraud protection features. One very effective fraud protection feature is the Address Verification System (AVS). AVS authenticates the customer and the credit card details by verifying cardholder's address with the financial institution that issued the credit card. There may be separate fees for fraud protection features.

Payment Gateway Fees – different payment gateways have different payment structures. Usually they have a setup fee, fixed monthly fee and a fee for each transaction.