Any merchant who wants to accept credit card payments directly requires a merchant account. The way most retail businesses process credit card payments is to swipe the credit card through a card-swipe terminal that transmits the transaction data to the merchant processor that then returns an approved/declined message back to the terminal.
In the case of card-not-present transactions, which include mail order, phone order, fax order, and Internet order, there is no physical credit card to swipe through a terminal. The payment gateway essentially acts like a card-swipe terminal for these card-not-present transactions.
There are effectively two primary components to the gateway:
So, if you wish to accept credit card payments from your customers directly, you will need to apply for a merchant account. If you will process transactions using card-swipe only, you will need a credit card terminal in addition to a merchant account. And, if you wish to process card-not-present transactions, you will also need an Internet payment gateway in addition to the merchant account.
It's important to note that card-not-present transactions require a special type of merchant account known as a "MOTO Merchant Account". MOTO is an aconym for "Mail Order / Telephone Order" but is used for any card-not-present credit card transactions including ecommerce and web orders. You are able to process card-swipe transaction using a MOTO merchant account, however, if your merchant account is approved for retail card-swipe only, you will not be able to use it with a gateway.
CyoGate offers numerous tools and techniques to help minimize chargeback ratios. If you need assistance with managing chargebacks, please contact us today!
You need some form of merchant account to use a payment gateway — but it doesn't have to be a dedicated one. Aggregate processors like Square or Stripe bundle a shared merchant account with gateway functionality. The tradeoff is less control, higher blended rates at volume, and shared-account risk. For businesses processing over $5,000/month, a dedicated merchant account with a separate gateway almost always results in lower total cost. CyoGate's payment gateway works with most existing merchant accounts.
Not necessarily. CyoGate's payment gateway supports both credit card and eCheck/ACH processing through the same account and interface. Adding eCheck processing to an existing gateway account is often straightforward — contact us to discuss adding ACH to your current setup.
A virtual terminal is the browser-based interface on your payment gateway where you manually enter credit card transactions. It's essential for businesses that take phone orders, mail orders, or process payments from invoices. All CyoGate gateway accounts include a full-featured virtual terminal at no additional cost.
Yes. CyoGate's gateway uses SSL encryption for all data transmission and stores card data in a Level 1 PCI-certified facility. Using the Customer Vault means cardholder data never touches your servers, which significantly simplifies your PCI compliance obligations. Our 3D Secure authentication feature adds an additional layer of fraud protection for CNP transactions.
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