In this growing E-Commerce industry, businesses must have an online payment gateway for their websites. If you’re selling products online, a payment gateway is the easiest way to accept online payments from your customers and get money directly into your bank account.
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Payment gateways are the “digital cash registers” of eCommerce that process credit card payments for online stores. They are online services that authorize credit card payments for e-businesses and online retailers.
A payment gateway is a part of advanced financial software development that links your eCommerce store to your merchant account and payment processor. If you want to sell products online, you will need a payment gateway so that you can receive money from the customers who buy from you.
When choosing the best payment gateway for your business, it is important to understand the importance of taking care of all aspects. You should always ensure the highest level of security measures on this website. This is why you must begin by choosing a reliable gateway that can meet all these requirements. Here’s how to choose the best one.
10 Important Factors to Consider when Choosing a Payment Gateway Provider for your Business
1. Choose an Appropriate Payment Flow
To increase the conversion rate, it is imperative to offer a simple and convenient payment experience.
If you make it too complicated for the customers to go through the checkout process, they will abandon their shopping cart.
To make sure that you have a high conversion rate and increase sales, it is pivotal to offer your customers a smooth checkout experience.
Therefore, make sure that you choose a payment gateway that offers the following features:
- Get rid of all the unnecessary steps in the checkout process.
- Include a guest checkout option.
- Make sure that the checkout page is mobile-friendly.
2. Choosing the Correct Product
Not every payment gateway will work for your business. Here are some key considerations to help you find the right one:
Supported currencies. If you sell internationally, choose a gateway that supports multiple currencies.
Card types – Make sure your gateway supports all the types of cards you want to accept. Many gateways support Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, but if you want to take other card types like Diners Club or JCB, make sure they’re supported.
Mobile support – Most people expect to be able to use their smartphones to pay in-store and through apps or mobile sites. Look for a gateway that supports all the latest technology, including Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Payment methods – In addition to credit and debit cards, many online businesses also want to accept payments like PayPal or gift cards. Look for a gateway that can process all the types of payments you plan to accept soon as well as those you take now.
3. Make Customers Feel Safe and Secure
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) regulates how businesses should handle debit and credit card information. If you want to accept payments from those cards, you must comply with the PCI DSS.
Payment gateways that are PCI-compliant allow you to protect your customers’ payment information and shield your business from security breaches. When choosing a payment gateway, you must confirm that it is PCI-compliant.
For customers to feel comfortable entering their card details into your checkout page, they need to be sure that their sensitive data is safe. A security seal can give them peace of mind that their information isn’t at risk of being stolen.
Check if the payment gateway you’re considering offers security seals and badges that help you reassure your customers of your website’s safety. These include the Verified by Visa, Mastercard SecureCode, and American Express SafeKey logos.
4. Consider Fees and Service Agreement Requirements
The most important factors to consider are the fees, service agreement requirements, and whether it is compatible with your platform.
To access a payment gateway, you need to sign a contract with the provider. The agreement will include many different things, but two of the most important ones are the transaction fees and the length of the contract.
Transaction fees typically fall into one of three categories:
Cost per transaction – This is a flat fee that you pay every time someone purchases your payment gateway.
Percentage fee – You can also pay a percentage of each sale depending on the type of payment method used by your customers (credit card vs debit card). For example, if you charge $100 for a product and have a 2% per transaction fee then $2 will go toward paying off those fees when someone buys that product through your site or app.
Monthly fee – Some gateways will charge you monthly in exchange for access to their services like customer support and training materials on how best to use their software tools or APIs (application programming interfaces).
5. Make Checkout Easy on All Devices
The checkout process is where you make or lose your sale. If it’s too long, too complicated, or clunky to use on a mobile device, then you may lose the sale. Here are some tips and tricks for improving your checkout process:
Make sure that your checkout page is responsive. It should look and feel great on mobile devices. If a customer has to pinch and zoom to find the “Buy Now” button, then they won’t have a good experience.
Think about your checkout process from the customer’s point of view. Does it seem like it has too many steps? If so, then try to reduce them. For example, if you can safely collect billing information at the same time as shipping information (instead of making customers submit two forms), then do that.
If you can’t reduce the number of steps in your checkout process, then at least make sure that each step is clear and easy to understand for customers who are new to it. Ideally, there should be no surprises for customers when they reach the PayPal login page or have to enter their credit card number on your website.
6. Multiple Features to Choose From
The best payment gateway providers offer a range of features that enable businesses to accept online payments in various ways. These include:
In-person payments – Enable your customers to pay with or without a card reader. This is particularly useful if you operate a brick-and-mortar business.
Online payments – Your customers can pay using their debit or credit card on your website.
Recurring billing – Automatically charge your customers’ cards regularly, such as monthly subscriptions, without having them enter their details each time. This option is particularly useful for subscription businesses.
Mobile payments – Your customers can pay using their mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets (which brings us to our next topic).
7. Mobile Payments
When you’re selecting a payment gateway, choose one that offers mobile optimization. Consumers do not want to be inconvenienced by clunky mobile checkout experiences.
According to the PYMNTS Mobile Order-Ahead Tracker™, order ahead usage has increased 19 percent over the last two years because consumers demand convenience.
For example, Google Pay and Apple Pay offer simplified checkout options that you can integrate into your website.
8. Easy Integration Process
Do you have the time and resources to integrate a payment gateway? It is important to choose a payment gateway with an easy process of integration. The right payment gateway should be able to integrate your website without any technical difficulties. Most payment gateways use APIs and plugins that can be easily integrated into different platforms.
It also needs to offer easy access from anywhere and on any device; if it is difficult for you to navigate and understand, it will be even more difficult for your customers, causing them to abandon the checkout cart before completing a transaction. This can lead to a loss of potential sales and affect the overall success of your business.
9. Merchant Account
A merchant account is a business account issued by a bank or other financial institution to allow businesses to accept payments online.
A merchant account allows you to make electronic transactions, such as credit card payments. Banks and other institutions provide these accounts for a fee. Some banks may also provide bundled packages of other services, such as data transmission and customer support, in addition to the basic merchant account.
Your goal with this is to get as much of your money as possible into your bank account as quickly as possible. Having a good merchant account can help you accomplish that. But you should also look at other factors that can affect the speed of your payments, such as the fees you pay for processing those transactions, fraud protection, and security features such as Two-factor Authentication (2FA).
10. 24×7 Customer Support
Payment gateways offer an array of services to their users. But one of the most important features that can make or break your payment gateway is the customer support service offered by them. You need to be able to get in touch with your payment gateway provider quickly and efficiently, especially if you encounter a situation where a transaction has failed or there is a sudden spike in chargeback rates.
Make sure that you check what kind of customer support is being offered by the payment gateway provider. The best option would be if they offer 24/7 email and live chat support, as well as phone support. If not, you should at least have access to email support 24/7, as some issues may arise after business hours and need immediate attention.
If you’re dealing with sensitive information like credit card details, you must choose a payment gateway provider who is always there for you when you need them.
Takeaway
We understand the importance of getting the best payment gateway service. A good payment gateway can sometimes make or break your business depending on how smoothly it operates. Allowing customers to pay with confidence and ease will increase your revenue.
The final choice to set up the best payment gateway for your business and online store is dependent on your needs.
Choosing the right payment gateway for your ecommerce business should be based on many factors. To choose the best service, you need to compare all the providers and identify their pros and cons. The most important factor that you should consider is security. You need to choose a provider that includes all the standard security measures.