Do they both accept all debit and credit cards from Visa And Master Card? I mean do they accept them once they have the logo on it, whatever is it, and whenever it was issued in?

Also, what is better, API or virtual terminal?

And with virtual terminal, what are the information that I need to charge my customers cards?
Is AVS optional to prevent fraud, or is required by the Linkpoint and Authorizenet?

I think authorize is more famous than linkpoint.

Both are only gateways. If you signed up for Visa & MasterCard on your merchant account, that is all you can accept. If you also applied for AmEx and you were accepted, then yes you can accept AmEx.

Both use the First Data Platform to help verify transactions as well.

AVS is an archaic way that most acquiring banks use to help verify transactions. At the very least, you need a credit card number, expiration date, and amount. But then your MAP might charge you more for a non-qualified transaction since you did not enter the address and AVS was not performed.

The API is used by the website. It allows the website the ability to capture and process credit cards on it. The virtual terminal is used only by the merchant to process credit cards (if someone called you and wanted to buy something). It is never used by consumers.

Thanks

So Corey, I can via the virtual terminal take only the credit card number, expiration date and the amount to charge my customer cards? And how much is that amount which my MAP may charge me to not performing AVS?

Also, do they both accept all types of cards from Visa & Master Card?

As far as charges - you need to review the merchant account agreement. They always vary but usually it is about 2% more since these transactions have a higher risk of chargebacks.

And yes as long as you have been approved, both gateways you mentioned can process Visa and Mastercard, usually thru the First Data platform. I do not think there is actually a gateway out there that cannot handle both of these.

Thanks Corey

Is AVS required and important even if I'm selling services not tangible products?

And if I performed the AVS procedure, and I found the billing address is different from the shipping address (talking about tangible products) , will my MAP require more info, or I can settle the transaction and I make my self the one who is resposible for this?

It depends on the MAP. Usually yes because the MAP is not doing it to help you out - they are doing it to get more information from the consumer to help protect against fraud.

And if you did it & the AVS did not match - this should be a red light for you - and it could potentially be fraud and you would want to maybe think twice about excepting the card

Thanks Corey

What are the info that my MAP may require if the billing and shipping addresses did not match?

It is more up to you - the merchant to make that determination. If you are shiping a product to an address that is not the same as the billing address - you should try to maybe find out why. Of course, I would hope you would never ship anything whereas the billing address is in California and the shipping address is to Nigeria.

Corey,

Actually my business will depend on the idea where the shipping address in most cases is different from the billing address. The reason is I'll be working on selling computer parts bought from US online sites and shipped to US street addresses that were given to the customers as a forwarding service. So my customers will use their local credit/debit cards, and ship the items to their US street addresses.

Regards,
Mohammad

Well it is still up to you to actually make sure that it is not fraud. The gateways all will provide extra fraud measures and some give you numbers based on those measures. They hope that this will allow the merchant to do further checking if he / she wishes to accept the transaction.

What about your service Corey in merchant4less? What is you policy on this?

There is no policy on the AVS. It is up to the merchant. If the address does not match - it is up to the merchant to make that determination. Afterall, if it turns out to be fraudulent, it is the merchant who will get a chargeback because of a fraudulent transaction.

Thanks Corey for the information. Please check your pm

Also, is it possible to have have ans use multiple payments gateways with one merchant account?

Moreover, is it possible to have both API and virtual terminal with each payment gateway?

Originally posted by moh2004
Also, is it possible to have have ans use multiple payments gateways with one merchant account?
Yes it is possible as long as the MAP is compatible with other gateways. With the possibility of gateways going down, if you are very high volume, it is recommended that you get another gateway - similiar to insurance.
Moreover, is it possible to have both API and virtual terminal with each payment gateway?
As long as each gateway provides the API and virtual terminal yes. Most gateways do and some gateways charge more for these services though.