Page 8 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 8.4

Merchant account versus Payment
8 PayOutMagazine
� Be easy to use with a friendly intuitive
gateway interface.
If you want to accept credit card payments � Be cheap to set up and cost-effective to
through your website, you will need access run.
to two services; a merchant account, and a
payment gateway. � Provide your customers what they want,
such as credit card transactions.
Merchant accounts are responsible for
handling credit card financial transactions � Include data collection facilities and
with banks and the brand of cards, such as management functions.
VISA, and MasterCard.
� Smart Phone Card Reader (Cell Phone
A payment gateway is the ‘front end’ of the Swipers)
transaction, as in it provides the technology
and software layer responsible for securely Cell phone swipers, or smartphone card
capturing and transferring the credit card readers, are portable devices which create the
information to the merchant account. So, ability to swipe credit cards almost anywhere.
a payment gateway is like the middleman While there are tons of smartphone apps for
between the customer, the business, and the accepting credit card transactions, only a
handful of companies have teamed their apps
bank where the merchant account is held.
up with the card swiping hardware.
Scenarios where one company holds the
Companies like Square and PayPal have
merchant account, and yet other organization it in their policies not to provide payment
supplies the payment processor technology services to adult-oriented businesses. For
are typical arrangements you will often see these enterprises, it may be a little harder to
in the payment processing industry. If a come up with a payment solution, but there are
merchant is unable to provide the necessary still a few companies, such as PaymentCloud,
services to a business, then they will set willing to provide solutions to the industry.
their customer up with a compatible payment
processor provider who can. virtual terminals
Virtual Terminals are software solutions
Payment Processing Equipment
which allow a business to accept payments
Payment processing equipment for adult- easily, quickly, and securely. They make it
oriented businesses is no different to the possible to take payments over the phone via
equipment used in a more traditional business. email through an invoice link, and also at the
the only difference is the underlying service point of sale.
providing the payment processing system.
Virtually any desktop computer can be
transformed into a point-of-sale by plugging in
Point of sale Equipment a USB card reader and installing the software.
Virtual terminals negate the need for a second
The Point of Sale or POS covers a wide
gamut of equipment used to conduct financial dedicated phone line and are just as secure as
standard credit card readers.
transactions. Typically, a POS system will
consist of a computer (OSX, Windows, or
Unix) and software to track sales, EFTPOS Choosing a Payment Processor
machines for card transactions, touchscreens, rather than let stifling business principles
printers for invoices and receipts, and cash hamper the true potential of your organization,
registers. it’s possible to find a payment processor who
understands your industry and possesses the
there is no one system which will fit all infrastructure which will allow your business
businesses perfectly. Choosing a system will to grow. Here are examples of two payment
depend on what the business needs from its processors which we consider to be worthy
POS, but in general, a POS will: of your consideration: