Error: The market type is invalid/Transaction of this market type cannot be processed on this system. What's going on?

Problem Statement

This article helps you understand 'error: the market type is invalid/transaction of this market type cannot be processed on this system. what''s going on?'.

Solution

On signup, merchants are given the choice between a CP (Card Present) account, which processes payments by reading the magnetic strip behind the card, and a CNP (Card Not Present) account which processes payments by keying in card information. An online merchant requires a CNP account with Authorize.Net to process payments; these errors occur in the absence of one. They indicate that you've signed up with the wrong account.

If you receive one of these errors while using a test account, simply go to your test account application page to request a new test account, selecting CNP. If you receive one of these errors with your live account, on the other hand, then you would need to contact your reseller or MSP for a new CNP account.

Finding out which account you have is simple. On the Authorize.Net interface, in the left-hand menu, under Tools, if all you see is a Virtual Terminal link, then you have a CP account. If you see any other links like Upload Transactions, Recurring Billing, Fraud Detection Suite and so on, then you have a CNP account.