Yes, a merchant account is required to process live credit card transactions. A merchant account is a financial intermediary that lets your business accept and process credit card payments from customers.
Integrated Payment Gateways
Your e-commerce section includes integrations with major payment gateways and merchant account providers, among others:
Authorize.Net: Industry-leading payment gateway with robust security features.
Braintree: PayPal-owned payment platform with comprehensive features.
Stripe: Payment processing with API key authentication.
Square: Integrated payment processing with access token authentication.
NMI: Comprehensive payment gateway with optional customer vault support.
FluidPay: Advanced payment processing with username/password authentication.
Inovio: Payment processing with merchant account ID, site ID, and dynamic descriptor support.
Paysafe: Global payment technology company with processor ID support.
PayPal / PayPal Payflow Pro: PayPal integrations with multiple authentication options.
Sezzle: Buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution — does not require a traditional merchant account.