We have compiled a detailed document that covers many of the commonly asked questions about credit card merchant providers, credit card setup, and things to watch out for. Please refer to the following information and PDF document below.

Definition of Terms: 

* Card Present – When processing the card transaction, you actually have the card in-hand and are using a credit card reader to input the information.

* Merchant – This is just another fancy name for the business who is selling the product and taking credit cards as payment.

* Merchant account provider – The account provider (e.g. Bank Card USA) collects and deposits money as part of the card transaction processing.

Hardware Requirements: 

* Dual track card reader
* High-speed Internet access

Software Requirements: 

• PayGo
• Authorize.net account with login and password

Merchant Account Requirements: 

* The main requirement of your merchant account provider is that they have the ability to offer you an Authorize.net retail merchant account, and this requires that your merchant account provider has a card-present account at Authorize.net. This is sometimes called a “retail account”. NEVER use a mail-order account setup.

Some things to watch out for: 

* You must have a card-present merchant account

* Card-present merchant accounts through Authorize.net are still a fairly new offering for most providers, so make sure to be clear about this requirement.

* Some merchant account providers charge an additional per transaction amount for Authorize.net

* Sometimes provider reps are not aware of their company’s policy to charge an additional per transaction fee for Authorize.net and they quote low transaction and monthly fees, then come back later with additional per transaction fees for the Authorize.net transactions.

Some good-to-know things about Bank Card USA: 

* They waive the setup fee for PayGo customers

* They work on a month-to-month basis vs. a long-term (1/2/3 year) contract

* The are one of 12 providers in the US who are direct processors

* Their website indicates that, “Our processing partner is First Data Corporation which processes over 55% of all bankcards worldwide, with an excess of $1 billion in daily sales volume and 6 billion transactions per year from 2 million merchants.”

* Setting up an account with Bank Card USA can take a week or more to process

Some common charges associated with credit card merchant accounts: 

* A percentage (discount rate) of each transaction plus a flat amount per transaction. NOTE, there can be multiple discount rates and per transaction fees depending on the merchant provider or provider rep that you are dealing with.

* Monthly account fees

* Monthly statement fees

How does it all work? See the “How It Works” Diagram From Authorize.Net website

1. The merchant submits a credit card transaction to the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway on behalf of a customer via secure connection from a Web site, at retail, from a MOTO center or a wireless device.

2. Authorize.Net receives the transaction information and passes it via a secure connection to the Merchant Bank’s Processor (e.g. Bank Card USA).

3. The Merchant Bank’s Processor submits the transaction to the Credit Card Interchange (a network of financial entities that communicate to manage the processing, clearing, and settlement of credit card transactions).

4. The Credit Card Interchange routes the transaction to the customer’s Credit Card Issuer.

5. The Credit Card Issuer approves or declines the transaction based on the customer’s available funds and passes the transaction results, and if approved, the appropriate funds, back through the Credit Card Interchange.

6. The Credit Card Interchange relays the transaction results to the Merchant Bank’s Processor.

7. The Merchant Bank’s Processor relays the transaction results to Authorize.Net.

8. Authorize.Net stores the transaction results and sends them to the customer and/or the merchant. This communication process averages three seconds or less!

9. The Credit Card Interchange passes the appropriate funds for the transaction to the Merchant’s Bank, which then deposits funds into the merchant’s bank account.

What our software does with the data? 

PayGo reads the data from the card reader and it encrypts the data and sends it off to Authorize.Net who in-turn sends it to the merchant provider. Then, once the card has been approved or declined, the data is received back into PayGo where it displays the information back to the user and stores the payment in the PayGo database. See the “How It Works Diagram” above for more detail on the transaction processing.

How to test a credit account setup? 

Once you are done with the steps in our guide, you would typically go into a new sale, and ring up an item of little value (like $1.00). Then you will post the invoice out to get the credit card swipe screen, swipe a card, and see if the charge goes through to Authorize.Net. If everything is set up correctly you will get a “Transaction Approved” message. After the transaction is complete you should to go into Authorize.Net’s website and void what you did via the “Unsettled Transactions” area on Authorize.Net’s website so it does not actually charge you. Then go to PayGo and void the sale.

NOTE: We are not affiliated with Bank Card USA or any merchant account provider. The information provided above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. We strive to find and provide the best information and software possible for you.