How Do Merchant Accounts Work?
The process of completing an online transaction is actually quite complicated, however it only takes 3 or 4 seconds to complete.
Here is how credit card transactions are processed using an Internet credit card processing solution:
The customer elects to move to the "check-out"
section of your website with the items they placed into their shopping cart or selected from the order form on a Merchant's Website.
The customer then selects "credit card"
as their method of payment from the payment options menu.
Their browser connects to the Website host's secure server,
and brings up the secure payment form.
The customer enters in his or her credit card information
on the secure payment form, and authorizes the transaction by clicking a "Complete Order" type button.
The transaction information is transmitted through the
merchants website host server using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption.
The secure server connects to the Merchant’s processing
bank either via a Secure Payment Gateway (a third party who provides the connection to the
processing bank via land line), or directly (some processors have their own proprietary Secure
Payment Gateway and therefore do not require a third party to provide this service).
The processor polls the card network,
such as Visa® or MasterCard®, directly, and the validity of the card, and availability of funds is confirmed.
If the transaction is approved,
an authorization code is returned to the processor, or to the Secure Payment Gateway from the processor.
The authorization is encrypted by the Payment Gateway
or processor and transmitted in encrypted form to the Web server of the Merchant, which triggers fulfillment of the order.
The Merchant's website host server
then sends the customer's browser a confirmation receipt.
The amount of the transaction is moved from the card holder's bank to the Merchant's processing bank.
The Merchant's processing bank will then move the money to the Merchant's local bank within 2 to 3 business days.
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