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E-Commerce Financial EssentialsOverviewA site engaged in directly selling goods or services requires three elements: a shopping cart to aggregate information, a payment gateway to send financial data across different networks, and a merchant account to accept credit and debit payments. Here's what happens during a sales transaction:
Funds will be available within a few business days after the transaction is approved. Although offering electronic payment to customers carries fees, it is the expected standard of doing business online. Its possible to require check or money order only, but these methods have been completely outmoded and will severely limit sales potential.
Merchant AccountA special type of bank account that accepts payments from debit and credit card network issuing banks who members of the Visa, MasterCard, and like networks. They are provided and administered by acquiring banks, and are actually a line of credit. As such, credits applied to the account must be transferred into a traditional checking or savings account before the monies may be used. Numerous fees are levied upon merchant accounts, such as reversal (chargeback), interchange (issuing bank processing), and acquirer (acquiring bank processing) fees. Interchange fees are set by Visa and other credit card brand companies, and vary by type of merchant, dollar amount of transactions, and place of transaction (such as by phone or a POS terminal).
Payment GatewayPayment gateways are a service that directs information through appropriate channels between financial institutions to complete electronic transactions. They are the virtual equivalent of a card-swiping terminal found in brick and mortar stores. Shopping carts must be configured to send the information to the specific gateway in the format required by the contracted company's software. Since not all shopping carts support all gateway providers, be sure that both services are compatible before signing up. See the end of this article for a list of compatible gateways.
Setup and ConfigurationIf you are using a shopping cart provided with one of our plans, the only remaining steps are to choose a compatible gateway service, merchant account, and then to begin configuring the applications. Given that these services are sensitive financial matters, only those directly responsible for them may apply for new accounts. See your local bank for information on opening a merchant account, and sign up for a payment gateway from the list at the bottom of this page. Payment Gateway SetupLog in WebsiteOS, click Edit EasyStoreMaker, then switch to the Payment Gateway tab. Enter the routing and other required information. Note that the currency used in your store must match the billing currency that will be used by your acquiring bank. Also be aware that you may be taxed for online sales; speak with your accountant to determine this. Set the gateway's status to "enable", either by selecting the "enable" radio button in the gateway details on the right, or by clicking on the circle beside the gateway that you want to enable within the list. A green circle indicates enabled; a gray circle indicates the gateway is disabled. You can have more than one payment gateway configured, but only one may be enabled at a time.Click "apply" to save your settings when you are finished configuring your payment gateway. For additional help, visit the WebsiteOS help documentation (use the search function for easy navigation), watch the tutorial videos, speak with a representative over LiveChat or email, or call our 24/7 helpline at 1-866 245-5154. Links to Information and ServicesInterchange FeesVisa
Interchange Fees and Rates
Supported Payment Gateways
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