Recently I started the process of setting up a merchant services account. However Authorize.net’s standalone reseller page mislead me into believing they were packaging together the merchant gateway with the processor which I thought was an excellent deal. However, I quickly realized that this was not the case when I started being led through payment processor applications finalized with lists of more fees.
Authorize.net’s main website clearly depicts however, they are only the gateway service so you will also need a payment processor, it’s just the standalone reseller pages that don’t clearly depict the services offered. Which is where I found this excellent diagram of the payment process.
There are a few merchant service providers out there that do in fact package processing and gateway together, but they don’t always work with all ecommerce systems. Authorize.net is still one of the most universal payment gateways available for online. Just keep in mind that they are only part of the equation and without other components, they can’t process credit cards for you.
Click the below thumbnails for a tour of the process. The “Authorize.net” icon in the graphic can be replaced with “Merchant Gateway” as the same process occurs for other ecommerce transactions.
Source: http://www.authorize.net/resources/howitworksdiagram/
