Month: December 2021

Many individuals may be familiar with the term ‘credit card merchant’ but might not have a complete understanding of its meaning.

In essence, merchant accounts serve as intermediaries between a consumer and a business. They enable a company to accept payments, whether by debit or credit cards, establishing a financial agreement between the seller and the buyer.

Credit card merchants operate in various ways. For instance, credit card terminals represent a category of merchant devices commonly found in supermarkets and retail stores. These terminals include the ‘chip and pin machine,’ which has replaced the traditional swipe machine. This equipment captures the card’s information and then communicates with the bank linked to the card to verify the availability of funds for the transaction. The terminal will either process the payment automatically or, in some cases, an external provider may call in to facilitate the transaction before confirming the payment with the bank.

Another method involves the use of a payment gateway, primarily an e-commerce service designed to assist online retailers and e-businesses in processing payments. This serves as the online equivalent of the chip and pin machine. However, it requires the cardholder to input different information, including the card’s start and expiry date, the long card number, and the security number from the back strip.