payments
Guides and news on card processing, POS, gateways and protecting your revenue — written for business owners.
What is a payment gateway, and do you need one?
A payment gateway is the software that carries a card payment from your checkout to the card networks and back, approving or declining it in about a second. If you take cards online, over the phone, or through a virtual terminal, you are using one — whether you notice it or not.
Read the article →How to accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express
Accepting the major card brands does not mean signing up with Visa or Mastercard directly. It means opening a merchant account and connecting a way to process payments — after which all four networks are available to your customers through a single setup.
What is a virtual terminal, and when should you use one?
A virtual terminal turns any computer or phone browser into a card terminal. You type the card details in yourself, which makes it ideal for phone orders, invoicing, and businesses that take payment without the customer physically present.
How Long Does Merchant Account Approval Take? What Speeds It Up and What Stalls It
Approval time is mostly determined before you submit. Here is what underwriting actually looks at, and how to avoid the delays that merchants cause themselves.
You sell online. That shouldn't make you a problem.
Online businesses need a way to accept card payments, either through a merchant account with a payment gateway or through an aggregated platform. A dedicated merchant account gives the business its own merchant ID, its own underwriting relationship and more control over settlement and risk.
Interchange isn't the part you negotiate
The cost of accepting a card splits three ways: interchange to the issuing bank, assessments to the card brands, and markup to your processor. Interchange and assessments are published by the card networks and are the same for every business. Only the markup is negotiable.
What is an effective rate, and how do I calculate mine?
Your effective rate is total fees divided by total processing volume for the month, expressed as a percentage. It is the single number that shows what card acceptance actually costs, because it includes every line item rather than only the advertised rate.
How to read your merchant processing statement
A merchant processing statement shows what card acceptance cost your business for the month. It breaks into three parts: interchange paid to the card-issuing bank, assessments paid to the card brands, and the processor markup. Only the markup is set by your processor, and it is rarely labelled as markup.
Ready to take cards the easy way?
Pricing in writing, no long contract, a real person to help.