You purchase your Authorize.Net® Payment Gateway account from a Reseller like Pictor Design. You purchase your Credit Card Merchant Account from a Merchant Service Provider (MSP). The company your merchant bank account uses to process your transactions is your Processor.
Authorize.Net acts as a bridge between your company and the financial entities that handle the processing and settlement of credit card transactions. Authorize.Net does not store your funds—they simply transfer them from the credit card issuing bank to your merchant bank account. Your Reseller is the entity from which you purchased your Authorize.Net account (Pictor Design). A reseller can also be an MSP that provides transaction processing solutions (including the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway) to its merchant clients. Most merchants rely on resellers who provide all merchant's payment processing needs in one place. Your Merchant Service Provider (MSP) is the company that acts as your Financial Institution. They do the depositing into your bank account for credit card processing and maintain your merchant account with Visa and Master Card. They are also the company that charges you the percentage discount rate on your batch settlements. They may also assess transaction processing limits on your merchant account. Unless your MSP is CyberSource, Authorize.Net may be unable to determine who your merchant service provider is due to the role in credit card processing that Authorize.Net fills. However, by looking at your credit card processing statements you should be able to find who your Merchant Service Provider is, along with their contact information. Your Processor is an entity that processes credit card transactions for your acquiring bank. They post transactions for authorization, clear and settle consumer credit card accounts at the card associations, and settle funds to merchant bank accounts.
Note: The bank that holds your merchant bank account is also known as your acquiring bank. Therefore, the acquiring bank's processor is your processor as well.
To fully understand how each of these entities works together to complete a transaction, please see How does the credit card transaction process work?
Since Authorize.Net is not a financial entity and is not directly involved in determining the financial policies that govern your transaction processing, neither they nor Pictor Design can provide guidance or resolution for transaction-related issues that may arise. As each of the organizations described above provides you with valuable services, it's helpful to know whom to contact with concerns regarding your transaction processing.
Contact Authorize.Net when:
- You have questions regarding eCheck.Net® deposits, processing limits, batch settlement, and reporting.
- You have questions regarding your payment gateway configuration (any setting in the Merchant Interface).
- You would like to add an additional Authorize.Net service such as Automated Recurring Billing™ or Fraud Detection Suite™.
Note: Your bank will contact and work with your Processor as needed. You usually will not need to contact your Processor directly.
Contact your MSP when:
- You need information about additional transaction processing services and adding credit card types.
- You have questions regarding your merchant bank account deposits and statements, settlement reports, processing limits and fees, or your Processor configuration.
Note: In some cases your MSP may direct you to your merchant bank or even work together with your merchant bank to help resolve concerns and issues.
Contact Pictor Design when:
- You have questions about your MSP, transaction processing service fees, and payment gateway account or other payment services account activation and status.
