Help with merchant account/gateway?

[gourmets]

My site will be ready to go live within the next few weeks, so I was looking into the merchant accounts but I was a bit confused. I'm unsure what to do or where to go or how to implement this with the cart.

I just clicked on the cardservice international link from this site and filled out the application since they said no setup fee, etc. that I saw authorize.net charges. So now what? Do I also need to setup an account with a gateway? I'm assuming here that cardservice intl was the merchant acct? Do I have to pay the merchant acct people a % plus a cents per transcation AND pay the payment gateway people as well? Who is the actual gateway?

So, then once I get setup with these, how do I tell Zen-cart to be able to go through my account? Will I get an account number, username, etc. that I have to put somewhere in my cart?

As you can see, I'm a bit confused with the process of being able to take credit cards. Can someone please explain this to me? Thanks!

[Kim]

http://www.merchantseek.com/merchant_accounts.htm

[gourmets]

Thanks for that link, which did provide some information on merchant accounts, however it didnt answer all my questions.

1. Once I setup my merchant acct, where do I go for the gateway? And do I have to pay fees to both? Seems like any profit made from products would be eaten away by the percentages plus transaction fees it seems that are due.

2. How do these services fit into Zencart? Do I have to add a module or something to make it work?

3. Which services does Zencart work with. I understand that only some companies are compatible with Zen? Before I continue to setup the account with Cardservice Intl and whatever gateway, I need to make sure they will work with Zen first.

Any other info I need to know? Or can someone help me with these questions? Any recommendations or reviews on merchant accounts or gateways that are good to work with, cheap, easy, etc.? Thanks!

[Merlinpa1969]

Yes Card Services International works with Zen Cart using the built in linkpoint module