The difference between a Merchant Processor and a Payment Gateway can sometimes be challenging to understand. A merchant Account and a payment gateway are required if you want to process credit or debit card transactions through your Recreation Management software.
Important Note:
The Recreation Management Technical Support Team will assess and troubleshoot errors that occur between Recreation Management and the Payment Gateway. However, the Recreation Management Technical Support Team cannot assist with the configuration, general support, or troubleshooting of the Payment Gateway or Merchant Account. These entities will strictly work with the account holder only and will not remediate issues with Recreation Management directly.
Merchant Account
A Merchant Account, provided by a merchant processor, is a type of bank account that allows merchants to accept credit or debit card payments online and processes funds at the bank level.
Note: The merchant is responsible for establishing credit and debit card transaction fees (Example: 3% + $0.30 per transaction).
Payment Gateway
A Payment Gateway is a connection that allows Recreation Management to route transactions to the Merchant Processor.
Note: Typically, the payment gateway assesses a nominal fee (Example: $0.05 per transaction) in addition to fees incurred from the merchant account.
Compatibility
While there is flexibility in which Merchant Account you may choose to utilize; visit the Integrated Gateways article for the most up-to-date list of options.
Visual Example
In the visual example below, the Payment Gateway would be Global Payments Integrated, Authorize.net, or another compatible gateway; the Merchant Account would be US Bank, Wells Fargo, or another merchant of your choice.
CivicRec > Payment Gateway > Merchant Account