6-5 Online Internet Payment Gateways & Shopping Carts

Online Internet Payment Gateways & Shopping Carts

Payment processing gateways and shopping carts are a very complicated, but very important topic. Choosing the right payment processing gateway and shopping cart solution is crucial to building a successful e-commerce website. There are a lot of gateways and shopping carts solutions available, and finding the right one for your business may prove to be confusing if you do not have prior knowledge about the subject.

Just as we recommend with physical credit card machines, it is always a good idea to go with a well known gateway that is compatible with a number of different processors and systems. One of the most well known and widely used gateways available is Authorize.net.

A gateway should be secure, robust in features and functionality, and be able to integrate with a large number of processors and shopping carts. Gateways usually have three additional fees that are above and beyond the regular merchant account fees. There is commonly a purchase price for the gateway, a monthly fee called a gateway fee , and a per transaction fee. Some gateway providers will charge a transaction fee that is in addition to the transaction fee already charged by your merchant service provider.

Most merchant service providers have a gateway solution that they offer with the Internet merchant accounts that they provide. However, very few providers will offer a shopping cart solution with the gateway, and the combination of a shopping cart and a gateway is necessary to accept credit card transactions online. The merchant service providers that do offer a shopping cart, usually offer a mid to low grade solution for a minimal fee if they charge at all. Some even offer a "free" shopping cart solution as part of their marketing and advertising. As with anything, you pay for what you get, and a free shopping cart may not be something you will want to build you new website around. The following is an article that talks in-depth about the pros and cons of free shopping carts.

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