how exactly does credit card payment integration work?

I am a newbie to setting up an e-shop. I have zen-cart setup successfully. What I don't exactly understand is what do I need to do in order to be able to accept visa/mastercard/amex/discover.

Don't I need an account with a payment processor to do that? Which one(s)? How will that integrate with zen-cart checkout process?

Thanks in advance for the help.

D

yes you do , or have a credit card machine and collect the details yourself using SSL and process the cards manually . Or the simpler way is to employ a payment gateway provider sucha s Secpay , Worldpay , paypal even . ( others are available ) then install the relevant payment gateway module , this will intergrate seamlessly withing zencart and take away the potential problem or storing credit details.