If youre a merchant, you likely have worked with or are currently partnered with a credit card merchant account service provider of some kind, that is if you need to accept your customers credit card payments and facilitate such transactions from day to day. But what are some of the ways a credit card merchant account service processes its clients customers cards?

A credit card merchant account service provider processes credit cards in a few major ways:

Credit Card Terminal:
A credit card terminal allows a merchant to swipe a credit card, and to gather additional information for processing a credit card transaction. A credit card terminal generally processes credit cards, but also gift cards and check verification, if necessary; a CCT is typically provided by your credit card merchant account service.

Automated Response Unit:
An Automated Response Unit, or ARU, allows the manually keyed entry and authorization of a credit card over the phone. A merchant typically imprints their customers card to create a receipt and merchant copy, then processes the transaction over the phone through their credit card merchant account service.

Payment gateway:
A payment gateway is an e-commerce service that authorizes payments for e-businesses and online retailers, heavily linked to credit card merchant account services. It is much like a POS (point-of-sale) terminal in many retail stores. A credit card merchant account service is typically a separate company from a payment gateway, and some credit card merchant account services have their own payment gateways, but most businesses implement third-party gateways.

Credit Card Merchant Account Service Marketing:
Credit card merchant account services are marketed to merchants in two ways: by the processor or sponsoring bank, or by an authorized agent for the bank and directly registered with card issuers as an ISO/MSP (Independent Selling Organization / Member Service Provider). Marketing details are regulated by card issuers like Visa, and enforced by rules and fines.

Marketing from (ISO)/MSPs:
To market credit card merchant account services, an ISO/MSP must be sponsored by a member bank. This mandates that the bank back the financial stability of the businesses marketing for the bank. The ISO/MSP usually pays a fee to be registered with Visa and Mastercard, and must comply with regulations of marketing a credit card merchant account service.