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Businesses can significantly reduce payment processing costs by accepting checks or ACH payments instead of relying solely on credit cards. Credit card fees include percentage-based charges and per-transaction fees, unlike ACH which primarily involves a small per-transaction fee. Switching to ACH, especially with a merchant account, can lead to substantial savings, particularly for larger transactions, compared to credit cards or using third-party processors with higher fees.

Visa has announced global mandates for PCI DSS compliance to establish a consistent security framework for merchants and service providers worldwide. These mandates include new validation requirements and deadlines for merchants, especially larger ones, to demonstrate PCI DSS compliance and avoid storing sensitive cardholder data. Adhering to PCI DSS is crucial for businesses to protect themselves from data breaches and maintain the integrity of the global payment system.

ACH transactions have been around a long time.

Businesses seeking to accept credit cards to satisfy customer demand should obtain a merchant account, which is categorized based on business type like eCommerce, retail, or mail order/telephone, influencing pricing and processing tools. eCommerce businesses require virtual terminals and payment gateways, retail uses point-of-sale terminals, and mail/telephone can utilize either. Selecting the right merchant account type is crucial for businesses to efficiently process credit card payments based on their specific sales environment.

Payment gateways are essential for merchants to securely process credit card and eCheck/ACH payments from websites, terminals, or batch uploads. These gateways encrypt transaction data and route it to card associations for authorization, providing a real-time response to the merchant. Often included with merchant accounts from service providers, payment gateways may also offer extra features like identity and address verification to enhance security.