Developer's Guide

Submitting Credit Card Transactions
Obtaining an Internet Merchant Account
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58 07 January 2014 Gateway Developer Guide and Reference
Obtaining an Internet Merchant Account
To accept credit cards over the internet, you need a special account called an Internet Merchant
Account. If PayPal is your merchant bank, you do not need the Internet Merchant Account.
Your account provider or merchant (acquiring) bank works with a PayPal-supported credit
card processor. Examples are First Data, TSYS Acquiring Solutions (formerly Vital
Processing Services), and Paymentech. To accept live credit cards, provide details about your
account to PayPal during the “Go Live” part of enrollment.
NOTE: An Internet Merchant Account is different type of merchant account. It has additional
risks associated with card-not-present (e-commerce) transactions. It is different from a
merchant account used for face-to-face/card-present (in-person) retail transactions .
Obtain an Internet Merchant Account even if you already accept credit cards at your
location.
To apply for an Internet Merchant Account, contact your merchant (acquiring) bank.
About Credit Card Processing
Credit card processing occurs in 2 steps — a real-time authorization and a capture (settlement)
of the funds that the cardholder’s issuing bank authorizes. You perform these 2 steps either as
a single transaction or as 2 transactions, depending on your business model.
For an authorization, the server sends the transaction information to a credit card processor.
The processor routes the transaction through the financial networks to the cardholder’s issuing
bank. The issuing bank checks whether the card is valid. It evaluates whether sufficient credit
exists, checks values such as address verification service and card security codes, and returns a
response such as Approved, Declined, or Referral.
You receive the response a few seconds after you submit the transaction to the server. If the
bank approves an authorization, it temporarily reserves the credit for the amount of the
transaction to prepare to capture (fulfill) the transaction. The hold on funds typically lasts for
about a 3-7 days.
Capturing a transaction actually transfers the funds to your bank. At least once a day, PayPal
gathers all transactions flagged for settlement and sends them in a batch file to the processor.
The processor then charges the issuing bank and transfers the funds to your bank. It typically
takes a few days before the money is available in your account, depending on your bank.
NOTE: For card-not-present transactions; such as online transactions, merchants are required
to provide a service or ship goods before or on the same day the transaction is
captured.