Merchant Account - An account setup by a bank that allows you to accept credit cards. Your merchant account will deposit collected funds into your business's checking account on a daily basis.

Discount Rate - A percentage that is paid to the credit card company on each transaction. If a customer makes a credit card purchase worth $20.00 and your discount rate is 2.4%, you pay $0.48 for the $20 sale. A competitive discount rate is roughly 2.40%. Discount rates made on the web are generally higher than that of brick and mortar stores.

Gateway Processor - A gateway processor charges your customers' credit cards via the web and sends the funds to your merchant account electronically.

Monthly Processing Minimum - The monthly processing minimum is the minimum monthly fee you must pay to the credit card company regardless of your total sales. A competitive monthly minimum is approximately $30.

Real-Time Processing - This method of credit card processing authorizes and charges the customer's credit card at the time of purchase.

Offline Processing - This method of credit card processing allows you to capture your customer's credit card information for charging at a later time. If you have an existing offline merchant account, this may be a good option for you.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) - SSL is a secure web protocol that uses 128 bit or higher encryption to keep your customer's card number and personal information secure.

Statement Fee - This charge is exactly as it sounds. The fee you pay for the bank to generate and mail you a statement outlining your transactions. Statement fees usually cost between $10.00 - $15.00 a month.