Updated on November 22, 2021
Before you sign with Elavon’s My virtual terminal, check out our top recommendations for Virtual terminal merchant accounts and see how they stack up against any competition. You’ll find 100% transparency, no gimmicks or surprises and no long term contracts or cancel fees.
Why the Virtual Terminal is So Sexy
A virtual merchant better known as an e-tailer is a business model for merchants or business owners in e-commerce that is either a wholesaler or retailer of goods and services. These companies have a distinction because the entire business, sales process and customer service is all handled online or directed through their website. A virtual merchant can also promote catalogues, services or even digital products and take orders over the phone, by mail or online.
The virtual terminal or payment gateway link banks, websites and
businesses together so credit card transactions can take place in real-time. Many corporations and entrepreneurs are starting to use this service as it provides a new layer of security and provides compelling cost-saving tools.
The most popular payment gateway is Authorize.net but it’s NOT a merchant account.
The great part about Authorize.net is that you can use any merchant account provider you like and if the merchant provider becomes a problem you can simply switch to a new provider, Nice. Just make sure you don’t get locked into a long term contract or one that has cancel fees.
Our job is to look out for you the merchant and give you our best recommendations based on what’s best for you, not the bait and switch tactics that many of the other review sites or providers use simply because they make more money or get you locked in to a three year term. We will only give you virtual merchant or payment gateway providers with 100% transparency. If you find any of the providers we recommend are trying to lock you in to a long term contract we want to know about it asap and you can get in touch on our site or contact us.
Advantages of a Virtual Terminal & Why We Recommend Authorize.net
Most if not all merchant providers work with Authorize.net because of the popularity and ease of integration. Thus we use it as the model when considering a virtual terminal or payment gateway:
- Security; Your customers credit card information is not in danger from your business because this info is stored on the gateway company’s server and you’re not liable for a breach if it should take place.
- Right off the bat it saves you money. If you need to pass this off to your web developer then they are very familiar with the API and integration of authorize.net and development time is fast which gives you minimal expense.
- A top-of-the-line fraud protection system helps you reduce fraudulent transactions which can be costly. Authorize.net has many advanced tools and gives you the option of settings which can be set on high or just give you a warning if fraud is suspected.
- You can choose your own merchant provider which can vary quite a bit on set up and overall cost. You will find below our best choice recommendations for Best Virtual merchant accounts, all of which have 100% transparency with interchange-plus pricing which is considered the best and fairest pricing model for merchant accounts. You will also find no long term contracts or cancel fees with our top providers.
- Excellent customer service. In today’s world that almost an oxymoron but authoriz.net knows the value of a customer and has a long standing tradition of treating their customer’s right. You may have to wait on the phone for a few minutes, however you will get through and get your questions answered.
- Automated Recurring Billing. You may have customers that need to be billed monthly in which case you can simply set up recurring billing for the time duration that is desired to complete the purchase of your product or services.
- Automatically sync your transactions with QuickBooks. This will save you time and completely eliminate errors versus manually keying in transactions. The auto set-up is simple and can be completely customized to suit your business needs.
- Supports Apple Pay. In-App solutions for payments with combined reporting and built-in security and compliance. Integrated reporting for mobile, online, virtual terminal including in-app and point of sale.
- mPOS mobile application with encrypted card reader capability which allows you accept credit and debit cards and mange payments securely with an Android or Apple device.
- New blended account functionality for Card Present and Card Not Present transactions which is useful for omni-commerce merchants, mPOS app (mobile transactions) and qualifies for lower Card Present rates.
Connecting a website to the payment processing networks is exceptionally difficult and typically beyond the expertise and technical resources of most online merchants. Instead, merchants can easily connect to the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway, which provides the complex infrastructure and security necessary to ensure fast, reliable and secure transmission of transaction data. Authorize.Net manages the routing of transactions just like a traditional credit card swipe machine you find in the physical retail world, however, Authorize.Net uses the Internet instead of a phone line.
The Authorize.Net Payment Gateway is available 24/7 for processing transactions. We also offer a number of value-adding services to assist merchants in managing their businesses and protecting themselves from fraud. Additionally, the free, Authorize.Net Verified Merchant Seal can be added to a merchant’s website to help build consumer confidence. Merchants log into a secure website called the Merchant Interface to manage their transactions, configure account settings, view account statements, generate reports and more. Since the payment gateway is a browser-based, hosted solution, there is no software to install or maintain. Typical service fees—setup, monthly, and per- transaction—are determined by our resellers
Sources:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/09/us-usa-home-depot-databreach-idUSKBN0H327E20140909
http://www.digitalbusiness.gov.au/e-commerce/setting-up-an-online-store/online-payment-gateways/
