An Internet merchant account permits merchants to accept payment for their services over the Internet. Once a merchant has decided to accept credit cards over the Internet, he must obtain a payment gateway or a virtual terminal, and a bank or a processor, to process the credit card transactions.

A payment gateway is a safe Internet bridge between the credit card processing networks and the merchant's website. The merchant can carry out online credit card transactions or other payment processing methods (for example, electronic checks) through the payment gateway.

There are a couple of ways for a website owner to carry out online credit card processing or some other alternative payment processing. The virtual terminal facilitates manual authorization and processing of credit cards, as well as the checking of payment transactions, from any computer. Here, an Internet connection is essential. The virtual terminal is a substitute for a standard authorization terminal, and allows a business owner to process transactions without the need for a check or a credit card to be present. All the business owner requires is the basic information from the check, credit card and the consumer to store the data on a computer with an Internet connection.

WebLink is another alternative. This permits Internet-based businesses to approve and process transactions without the need to enter consumer and credit card information. When a customer is ready to purchase products or other services from the web site, he gives the necessary information. The function of WebLink is to capture the information (which includes name, credit card number, etc.) from the website's secure transaction page. When the authorization is complete, the customer gets a reply, either an approval or a decline, within seconds. The business owner is also informed of the same. Transactions are routinely settled each day and funded within a few days to the business owner's bank account.