Guide
Three terms get used interchangeably, and mixing them up leads to expensive misunderstandings.
✓ Installed by our team and supported by phone. Rates and equipment are quoted to your business.
Merchant Fund Express explains payments in plain English so owners can make better decisions about equipment and processing.
Three terms get used interchangeably, and mixing them up leads to expensive misunderstandings.
The POS is the system you use to ring up and manage sales. The processor moves the money between the customer's bank and yours. The gateway is the online connection that lets websites and software send payments to the processor.
Some companies combine all three; others sell only one. Knowing which piece you are buying helps you compare offers honestly.
Hardware and software where you take the order and the payment.
The company that handles authorization and settlement.
The online link between a website or app and the processor.
The account where your approved sales are deposited.
A retailer buying a new POS learns the quote includes the software and hardware but processing is separate. Asking which piece each line covered let her compare two offers honestly.
This comes up for almost every owner at some point. Most of the stress is not the problem itself but not knowing the next step, so having the steps written down before you need them is the real fix. Print the steps, put them where your team can see them and rehearse them once.
If you would rather hear it from us, call (305) 384-8391. We will walk through the decision with you, quote the equipment and processing for your business and look at your statement while we are at it.
As explained by Merchant Fund Express. Updated 2026.
Clover is a POS platform, and processing is arranged as part of your account; we explain exactly how it works in your quote.
Only for online or phone-order payments.
It depends on the arrangement; we explain the options.
We help directly and connect you to our install partner when needed.
Call Merchant Fund Express. We install it, train your staff and stay on the line after launch. Ask for a free rate review while you are at it.
