Merchant Accounts and Payment Gateways

Funds for credit card transactions are moved from issuing banks to acquiring banks over payment processor networks. These networks are connected via payment gateways but none of the payment gateways or the acquiring banks connect to all networks. Because of this, you must have a merchant account from an acquiring bank (or Independent Sales Organization) that is on the same network as your payment gateway.


Payment Gateways and Payment Processor Networks

This table shows the payment gateways that work on each payment processor network. If you already have a merchant account, find out which networks it connects with, and then apply for an account with a gateway that is on the same network.

Processor Network Authorize.Net Payeezy Optimal Payments PayPal Advanced
PayPal Pro
PayFlow Gateway Orbital TSYS Genius ACH Direct
Aurora              
Concord EFS              
EDS              
FDC Omaha              
FDR              
First Data (FDC)      
Global Payments      
Elavon (formerly NOVA)        
NDC East            
NDC Global              
Chase PaymenTech          
PayPal              
FDC Nashville            
VITAL (VisaNet)            
VPS