Web Based Merchant Account Banking Systems for Small Business

Process. Once a customer submits his/her order on the web-site, his or her information takes a multi-step voyage through cyber space. The journey begins:

1) The customer's information is encrypted with a one-time use security key that is destroyed once the transaction is completed.
2) The information is sent to the payment gateway. All passage of information through the process is done via a secured connection.
3) Through the appropriate credit card network, the payment gateway routes the information to the customer's bank (also known as the issuing bank) for approval.
4) The issuing bank approves or declines the transaction and sends the results back to the payment gateway. If approved, the issuing bank is subsequently charged for the purchase by the payment gateway's bank account.
5) Information regarding the charge (i.e. approved, charge amount) or a denial message is sent back to the shopping cart software at the web-site's host computer and then relayed to the customer making the transaction (a message on their screen showing the results.)
6) The payment gateway will transfer a credit from its bank to the merchant account at the bank of the seller.

This entire process only again takes seconds to complete. Most payment gateways will communicate to the seller's web server via the shopping cart software. Reports can also be sent through e-mail or ftp. They can also be downloaded from the payment gateway's web-site. Many of the payment gateways have the option to download your transaction logs in many of the popular accounting software formats like Excel, QuickBooks, Peachtree, and others. Also, the payment gateway can help track sales by provide information about all transactions that pass through the web-site.