Authorize.net Down

When an electronic payment gateway goes down, it affects many merchants and consumers. Merchants might not be able to complete the sale transactions. From what we have read, there was a fire at the data center and water destroyed some of the equipment.

Now, you would think they would know water and computers don't mix very well. They probably are using of FM-200 or the equivalent. However, if the fire became too intense, it could activate the water system.

Approximately 273,000 merchants rely on Authorize.net to process transactions. Authorize.net also shares the data center (known as Fisher Plaza) with Bing's Travel site (owned by Microsoft).

Some merchants have two gateways as added protection. This can be a good idea for some merchants if you are processing very high volume. Some merchants actually use two gateways to help process the transactions. Keep in mind to read your merchant account agreement, some have a clause that prohibits you from using another merchant account provider.