Decide Payment Gateway. When it comes to e-commerce business, aside from the design, the payment gateway is also as important. After all, it is what authorizes and processes payments. It should be safe, quick, and easy to use. Or else you’ll lose sales due to abandoned carts and negative buzz. Your cash flow will be affected too. Basically, having a payment gateway that is reliable would benefit both you and your customers. So, you must choose the right one. How? Read on.
What is a Payment Gateway?
Before I tell you how to choose the right payment gateway, let’s see if you understand what it is first. Basically, the payment gateway serves as a hub for easing the flow of transactions between customers and merchants. But let’s take a look at its position in the flow of e-commerce transactions.
The process starts as soon as the customer provide their card details on the “checkout” section of the online store. The payment gateway will process those details. It will encrypt and send it through a secure connection to the processing bank. After that, the issuer approves or declines the transaction through Visa or MasterCard’s payment network. If the transaction is successful the payment gateway will deposit the funds into the online store’s account. The customer’s account, at the same time, has been deducted off the payment money including transaction fee.
Best Payment Gateways to Choose From
When it comes to choosing the best payment gateway, it actually depends on your e-commerce business model. When it comes to choosing the best payment gateway, it actually depends on your e-commerce business model. But preferably, it’s best to choose between hosted and integrated payment gateways.
- Hosted Payment Gateway
In a hosted payment gateway, the transaction is handled by a third party (i.e. PayPal). Whenever a customer wants to make a payment, they will be routed to the third party site to complete the transaction. For a business, using a hosted gateway requires no PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance and offers easy integration. However, this will also mean that you can’t control your customer’s experience with the payment process.
- Integrated Payment Gateway
In an integrated payment gateway, customers don’t have to leave your site at all. Through API (Application Programming Interface), the payment gateway is directly integrated into the e-commerce website. However, this also means that you handle everything from processing payments, security, ease, and speed. Luckily, there are plugins (like WooCommerce, an integrated payment gateway processor) that you can use on your e-commerce website to make this type of gateway easier.
How to Choose the Right Payment Gateway Provider
Once you’ve decided which type of payment gateway to use, you have to decide which provider to choose. When selecting, keep these factors in mind:
- Pricing
Any party involved in the verification or authorization of payment charges fees. And they also have their own terms of use and fees. Usually, these fees are for monthly gateway, gateway setup, each transaction processed, and merchant account setup. With those fees in mind, you have to read all documents about pricing to avoid additional expenses or hidden charges.
- More Payment Methods Capability
If you want more payment options for your customers such as through credit card, mobile payments using an e-wallet (i.e. Apple Pay or Google Pay), choose a payment gateway provider who can enable such options. Also, if your business sells to international customers, choose a provider that supports multi-currency.
- Reliability
Payment security, ease of use, and speed are the determination for a successful payment process. Your chosen provider should have those. Do your research. Read feed backs, and testimonies from customers and merchants.
