The principal task of a payment gateway is to approve the transaction process between the merchant and the customer. It has a vital role to play in the online transaction process and as such authorizes transactions between merchants and customers.

Payment gateways let you accept credit card payments in person or online by transferring money between your merchant account or payment processor.

A virtual terminal turns your computer into a credit card terminal, and you can manually process payments from a web browser. It is a great tool for remote billing or taking credit cards over the phone. These terminals are ideal for businesses that do not require an online store but do need to accept remote payments through phone, or mail.

A merchant account lays the foundation of a business relationship between you and your merchant services provider, such as the bank account for your business. With traditional credit card processing services, until after you apply and are approved for a merchant account.

A payment processor is a bank that processes the payment request.

When payment is done by customers with credit cards, payment gateways connect merchant accounts with payment processors by transferring credit card information between the bank that issued the Credit Card and the bank account for your business.

As you need to swipe or key in cards, it can be done from any computer via your browser with a payment gateway. Onepay offers numerous features that can help automate your business, such as recurring billing and reporting. The recurring billing features store your customers’ information and allow you to automatically charge them on a recurring basis.

There can be risks involved in payment systems, though very infrequent. The bank for International Settlements’ Committee on Payment and Settlement System identifies five major categories of risk that are associated with payment transactions: fraud, operational, legal, settlement, and systemic.

In the modern business arena, these factors play a significant role when choosing a payment gateway.

Purchasing cost by the merchant, types of cards allowed, holding time, security, mobile payment support, recurring billing, multiple currency support, and settlement time for the payments received.