What is the difference between a POS terminal and an Internet Gateway?
If you are a retail business and do a lot of face-to-face transactions, a POS (Point-of-Sale) terminal is best for you. Mainly because you are able to swipe the card and you also get signed customer receipts; hence you obtain a better discount rate. If you do business over the Internet, a Gateway is recommended, as your customers themselves are able to pay for goods online in a secure environment. For mail order or telephone order business, either a terminal or Gateway can be used. A Gateway has a ‘virtual terminal’ built in that allows you to log in and process transactions like a terminal online – you can perform these transactions at any computer that has Internet access.
A point of sale (POS) terminal is a card swipe machine used in face-to-face settings, like retail or wireless settings. If you conduct business across your website, then you will use an internet payment gateway. Your AmeriTranz representative can explain to you exactly what you will need to get your business up and running with credit card processing from AmeriTranz.
