Real-Time Credit Card Processing

The most popular method of accepting credit cards for businesses on the web is real-time processing. This type of online credit card processing will process and charge your customer's credit card information automatically by working with the ordering system you have chosen (Shopping Cart, Order Forms, etc.). Since the whole whole real-time credit card processing is automatic, this is the most effortless method available.

Gateway processing is what does the actually processing and checking the availability of the funds on the credit card that is submitted. Most gateway systems allow you to use your own ordering system along with a virtual terminal that is included within their system. This will allow you to have your orders processed automatically on your web site, but you are still able to process them manually through their virtual terminal, for such orders that come in over the phone.

The majority of the smaller merchant providers are resellers for gateway processors such as Authorize.Net. The bigger companies such as CardService International have their own gateway processing system.

You can completely automate the payment processing functions at your web site by using real time gateway systems. Via gateway processing systems, your web site can be configured to accept payment information from your customer and automatically obtain the authorization while your customer is at your web site. The only thing left for you to do is perform your order fulfillment function.

Real-time online credit card processing systems include one or two methods of integrating the gateway to your website.

• "Weblink" methods use HTML to link your site to customizable payment pages located on a gateway's servers.
  
  
•  API methods use application program interfaces to transmit data from payment pages located on your servers to the gateway.