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All about merchant accounts: A merchant account allows you to accept credit card payments for your goods and/or services. It will be associated with the bank account of your choice, and credit card payments can be processed and the proceeds deposited into your account usually within two to three days. Application is simple and certain providers can get you set up immediately. Fees associated with a merchants account typically include: Discount rate: a percentage of your sale that you pay the merchant account provider (usually 2.3 - 2.7%) Per transaction fee (typically $.25 - .35) Monthly billing fee (typically $10 or $15)   What is a "gateway"? An Internet Payment Gateway is a special intermediary service that came about with the advent of online commerce. The gateway is a secure server operated by providers like VeriSign, BluePay, AuthorizeNet, SkipJack, etc., that receives the order details and credit card information from your shopping cart. This provider checks the authenticity and expiration date of the credit card, validates that the card has available credit sufficient to make the purchase, performs address verification, etc. This is all done in fractions of a second, and the result, either a success or failure code, is returned to your cart in real time. The cart then either finalizes the order or displays a message to the customer explaining the reason for the decline. Fees associated with a payment gateway typically include: One-time setup fee (from "free" to $250) Monthly "Gateway" fee (typically $19.95 - $35) Per transaction fee (typically $.10 - .25)   Do I need a merchant account and a gateway? Not necessarily. You could start by letting QuickEStore collect credit card information without transacting in real-time. In other words, without passing the information to a payment gateway. But, if you want to accept credit cards, you at least need a merchant account. Many merchant account providers have web interfaces where you can enter the appropriate information - customer name & address, credit card info, order amount, etc. - and process the transaction that way. In order to process credit card transactions in real-time, however, you will need both a merchant account and a payment gateway. Note that PayPal now offers an option, called Website Payments Pro, which is, in effect, a merchant account and payment gateway solution rolled into one service for just $30 per month.   So, what are my options? QuickEStore has all the code necessary to integrate the most popular merchant account/gateways built right in. If you already have a merchant account, but now need a gateway provider, you can sign up with BluePay, AuthorizeNet or VeriSign, for example. They will give you an account login and password, which you simply enter into the "Setup Processor" form in QuickEStore's admin screen. That's all there is to it! If you need a merchant account ... PayPal is now the most cost-effective, merchant account and gateway solution I know. QuickEStore is also well-integrated with PayPal. To get started with a PayPal Website Payments Pro account, just click and follow the instructions.