Online Internet payment gateways allow you to process credit card orders from your website in real time. The customer knows immediately whether the credit card was approved or not.

The shopping Cart is usually used before the payment gateway. It Allows the customers to pick and choose various items/product they want to buy from your website/online store, including different attributes like size, color, model, etc. At the check out, the shopping cart will total all the items, taxes, shipping fees and gather the customers shipping and billing information.

The payment gateway will capture the credit card transaction, encrypt the information transaction and route it to the credit card processor and then return either an approval or a decline notice. This is a flawless process and the customer does not directly interact with the payment gateway as data is forwarded to the gateway via your shopping cart and a secure connection.

With the use of Internet payment gateway, unlimited number of users/customers can use the gateway all at the same time, unlike using a terminal or other software solution where only one customer can checkout at a time. With the use of the Internet payment gateway, you can have multiple users entering transactions from various locations, all at the same time.

Authorization, settling, and reporting are the vital things that an online payment gateway does when a customer attempts to make a purchase from your website using a credit card or debit check card.

A good Online Internet Payment gateway should offer 24/7 email support and toll free technical support to allow customers to get in touch with them if a problem should arise. It also should be easy to integrate in your online store or website with the help of their technical support, documentation and the person managing your website.

In the next article we will provide you with different payment gateways that will suit your needs to accept and manage orders from your online store or website.