Payment Processing with Authorize.Net Merchant Account

An Authorize.Net merchant account enables its users to accept credit and debit cards for payment. It is a payment processing service that uses a payment gateway to securely transmit transaction information between the card acceptor and the acquiring bank. Authorize.Net is the world's most widely used payment gateway. It functions through integration with an e-commerce website's shopping cart. Businesses can get an Authorize.Net account directly from the company that makes it or through a processor as a package with the merchant account.

What Authorize.Net Does and Does Not Do

In addition to facilitating payments online, Authorize.Net provides users with a browser-based interface that allows for batches to be reviewed and the whole account to be securely managed from anywhere internet connection is available.

Although it seems obvious, experience has taught us that it is worth repeating that a payment gateway cannot actually be used for processing swiped transactions, for the simple reason that it is a virtual tool. Rather, when you need to do it, you will process card or check payments by key-entering the payment information through a service we call virtual terminal, which comes as a part of the Authorize.Net gateway package and you don't have to pay anything additional for it. The virtual terminal can perform all functions its physical counterpart does, including, but not limited to, authorization, authentication, capture, refunds and voids.

E-commerce merchants use virtual terminals quite often, especially when customers are calling in their orders and paying over the telephone. Moreover, the virtual terminal is the service you use to process a refund.

Authorize.Net and its major competitors all support the most commonly used fraud detection services, including the AVS and security code validation.

Why Use Authorize.Net Merchant Account?

Well, the single biggest advantage Authorize.Net exerts over all other payment gateways is that it is the default setting for just about all major shopping carts (actually most minor ones I am aware of too), which means that it is incredibly simple to implement. When a merchant sets up a processing service, the acquirer provides a download sheet, which lists several numeric codes. Once these numbers are entered into the appropriate fields in the gateway's account interface, the merchant is ready to start accepting payments.

Pricing Considerations

E-commerce merchants need to be prepared for the higher costs associated with web-based payment processing services, compared with the ones designed for retailers operating physical stores. The reasons are several, but the additional cost of using gateway account is certainly on top of the list. All Authorize.Net fees, including the per-authorization fees, are on top of your merchant account charges.

In other words, in addition to the discount rate and any monthly service or statements fees, a merchant will also be charged a gateway monthly fee and gateway per-transaction charges. These costs can vary in a significantly wide range from one service provider to another, so you will have to request several proposals, prior to making a decision.