Monday, June 4, 2007

The unbreakable thread between offshore merchant account and payment gateway



An offshore merchant account processes a business' credit card transactions through a non-domestic processing bank. Many foreign banks are not subject to the same regulations and restrictions as U.S. banks.


There exists this invisible yet unavoidable link between offshore merchant account and an internet payment gateway. When your offshore merchant account is finally in the works, this is the time when you'll start accepting credit card payments online as well. This is the time when payment gateway comes into the picture.


Here are the step by step process being done by payment gateway:


●credit card authorization


●settlement processing


●transaction recording


Internet payment gateway, by definition, is an lets you process credit card orders from your business' website in real time. For instance, you're running a gaming website, once the bets begun to kick in, there's a link providing your customers the channel to key in their credit card account number, then the internet payment gateway processes the transaction like a normal credit card terminal in a retail shop, the transactions goes through the credit card networks, in an average of two seconds, the payment gateway reflects the results, saying if there were sufficient funds in the card or not.


Real-Time Processing means that when a web site's customer conducts an online purchase, that the check or credit card information is conveyed to the Processor at that exact time so that an authorization can be requested and received at that moment. Real-Time Processing always implies that a Secure Payment Gateway is being utilized, whether proprietary or third party.


Once the day closes in, usually there is a specific time when your payment gateway updates, the payment gateway collects and groups all the transactions for the day in a single batch. After this, the grouped transactions are passed to your bank so that the payment will be received. When the funds settle in, it will take an average of two business days for it to be reflected in your bank account.



You won't be kept in the dark on your offshore merchant account. Through your payment gateway, you'll be able to view the transactions, with the transactions history depending on your settings, you can print or download the transactions for further review or just to have a copy in black and white. Certain payment gateways even have Quickbooks, a financial and taxation software, so the accounting task will not be so painstaking anymore.

Your offshore merchant account will be fully utilized by incorporating an internet payment gateway. Since offshore merchant accounts in reality arise from the fact that high risk businesses are at the bottom of the merchant account application accepted list of domestic banks, you can definitely monitor your business better, know your clients, and have a better footing on expanding globally. These two, go hand in hand, they complement each other, thus, you need to utilize them both to ensure success.




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