Payment gateway Vs Merchant account : In order to process credit cards from a e-commerce website both “payment gateway” (the online card processor) and “merchant account” are necessary and work together to handle payments automatically.
“Payment gateway” enables internet merchants to accept online payments via credit card and e-check using “merchant accounts”. Typical a merchant account provider is a separate company from the payment gateway.
Here are the typical fees you will see associated with a payment gateway and merchant account. Fee do vary from one provider company to another.
Checkout List of Merchant Account Providers and Online Payment Gateway Providers.
Typical fees for a payment gateway:
- One time Setup Cost
- Monthly Gateway Fee
- Per-Transaction Fee
Typical fees for a merchant account:
- One time Merchant Setup Cost
- Discount rate
- Per Transaction Fee
- Batch close fee
- Statement fee