What You Should Know About Opening a Merchant Account or Payment Gateway with Authorize.net

Are you ready to open an online store or take yours to the next level? Then it's time to accept credit cards on your website! Below you will find helpful information and links to get started.

If you do not have a merchant account, you can easily open a merchant account and payment gateway with Authorize.net. If you already have a merchant account with your bank, all you must do is ensure your merchant account will work with Authorize.net.  If so, you can add a payment gateway from Authorize.net.

The gateway processes the money from your website and sends the information to the merchant account which then deposits it to your bank account. This requires an SSL certificate which is typically around $75 per year.

Are you ready to get started with a Merchant Account and/or Payment Gateway?
Click below to go to Authorize.net to fill out an application today. Your account can be setup and ready to use in as little as two business days!

Completed Applications
Once you have submitted your completed application, your payment gateway account will be set up within two business days. The average processing time for a merchant account application is five to seven business days. Please remember that in order to process payments, you must have your merchant and/or payment gateway accounts set up and activated.

Once your payment gateway account is set up, you will receive an activation e-mail with instructions on activating and getting started with your account. If you need assistance activating your account, please refer to the Account Activation tutorial found at http://www.authorize.net/videos/.

You must activate your payment gateway account before you will be able to log into the Merchant Interface. Once logged into the Merchant Interface, you can obtain your API Login ID and Transaction Key under the Account section which is needed by your web developer to connect your online shopping cart with your payment gateway.

Possible Reasons for Application Delays
Once an application has been submitted, if any of the following areas are incorrect, there will be possible processing delays. To try and avoid any potential delays, please pay close attention to these areas and be sure to provide current and valid information for each:
+ Social Security Number or Tax ID Number
+ E-mail Address (must be valid to receive the activation e-mail)
+ Bank Routing or Account Number
+ Web site URL

To help you better understand the process, review the information below.  The following steps are taken with both the Bank Merchant Account with Authorize.net Gateway and the Authorize.net Merchant Account and Gateway options: 

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

Step 2: Authorize.Net receives the secure transaction information and passes it via a secure connection to the Merchant Bank’s Processor.

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

Step 4: The Credit Card Network routes the transaction to the Customer’s Credit Card Issuing Bank.

Step 5: The Customer’s Credit Card Issuing Bank approves or declines the transaction based on the customer’s available funds and passes the transaction results back to the Credit Card Network.

Step 6: The Credit Card Network relays the transaction results to the Merchant Bank’s Processor.

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

Step 8: Authorize.Net stores the transaction results and sends them to the customer and/or the merchant. This step completes the authorization process – all in about three seconds or less.

Step 9: The Customer’s Credit Card Issuing Bank sends the appropriate funds for the transaction to the Credit Card Network, which passes the funds to the Merchant’s Bank. The bank then deposits the funds into the merchant’s bank account. This step is known as the settlement process and typically the transaction funds are deposited into your primary bank account within two to four business days.