© 2012 by Bart Smith, TheMarketingMan.com & Founder of MyMarketingCart.com, MyTrainingCenter.com, ReallyCheapNames.com & MyPaymentServices.com

A payment gateway (in Internet / eCommerce terms) is a secure Internet connection between a customer's computer, your shopping cart and your merchant account, which ultimately processes credit cards safely and securely online when people buy through your web site.

Payment gateways encrypt sensitive information, such as customer credit card numbers and billing information, to ensure that the information passes securely between the customer and you, the merchant.

This prevents opportunity for fraud and adds additional security to every transaction. A MUST if you plan to sell online and accept credit cards through your web site.

If you don't have a web site and you only want to process credit cards offline, then you do not need a payment gateway. You might need a virtual terminal, but you would not need a payment gateway linked to your web site's shopping cart. It's when you start accepting orders online through your web site that you will need to get a payment gateway associated with your merchant account.

Simply ask the company that issued you your merchant account if your merchant account has a payment gateway account assigned to it, or do you have to order that separate. Call them up and ask, "Hi, I need to know if my merchant account came with a gateway or if I have to order one." If they say you have a payment gateway associated with your merchant account, then ask them for the username and password login information associated with your merchant account so you can start using it with your shopping cart.

If you don't have a payment gateway , but need one, request it from your merchant account provider. Typically, there may (or may not) be a one-time fee involved with setting it up, in addition to a small transaction fee for every sale you run through your online payment gateway account.

Either way, if you do not have a merchant account, or a gateway to process credit cards online through your web site, apply online through MyMarketingCart.com, and start accepting credit card payments from your clients and customers with your own merchant account. The online application is quick and easy.