Gateways and You...

What is a Gateway? Sounds like something from a Transformers movie.

A gateway is a way to process credit card transactions. Simply put, it's the medium used to get your customer's credit card data to a processor, so that you the business can get the money. generally it comes with what's called a virtual terminal that sits on your computer. You open up the virtual terminal, put in the credit card info and send it through the gateway.

Sounds like magic. Lost yet?

Well the industry is generally hoping you are. To speak plainly, it should be called a Tollbooth, not a gateway as that is what is really happening. Why? Because every time you cross it, there is a charge. By the by, that charge is OVER AND ABOVE any other charges you have in terms of your basic fees. What's worse, is you can never make enough purchases to own the gateway. Think of your cell phone. If you called Japan 23 hours a day from the States, every day, you would never make enough calls to own Sprint. Gateways are simply going to make a per click every time you use it.

What if the gateway goes down? I have literally seen customers rabid and foaming like a chained Schnauzer watching cats dipped in bar-b-que sauce run by because their gateway (and thereby their business' ability to accept credit cards) was down for two weeks. Two weeks?

Would I lie to you? Come on, we went to different high schools together...

Don't get me wrong. Gateways have their place, I just tend to think that 99% of them should be in my backyard near the trashcan so I can take it out once a week. Still, if you are launching an e-commerce sit, and do not have the full ability to set up your own system and shopping cart, a gateway can be used as a crutch to get you through. But remember, you are paying to use it even above your already negotiated fees.