The payment gateway is exactly what it sounds like. It is the gateway from your website, where the buyer clicks the "Complete Sale" button, to your merchant account. This gateway allows you to accept both credit cards and checks on your website in seconds.

One of the surest features of a payment gateway is its security. We all know that the world is full of identity theft. This is rampant in people's minds. So a reputable payment gateway will encrypt your customers' credit card numbers and other sensitive information en route to your merchant account. 

After the transaction is either accepted or declined, it sends an authorization number back to the payment gateway. This entire process takes less than three seconds.

Your merchant account then transfers your approved transactions to the issuing bank and the payment is deposited into your merchant account usually within 2-3 business days.

Now I'm convinced and payment gateways for ecommerce want to know how I can get a payment gateway for my website. Well, this is actually quite simple as there are several companies that offer this service. Further