A payment gateway is the single most important thing for online sellers if they wish to accept digital payments from customers. Without a payment gateway, you would be stuck with only conventional payment options, such as cash, cheque, etc.
What is a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway connects the customers, merchants, banks, and credit card networks to enable the seamless processing of online payments across various digital payment methods. It provides a secure connection helping eCommerce sites and online stores conduct day-to-day business without compromising the safety and security of the customer’s financial data.
How to Choose a Payment Gateway Service Provider?
There are a few things to keep in mind while choosing online payment gateway service providers. Let’s look into some of the most crucial points that you must consider:
Reputation, Setup Fees, and Charges:
Firstly, it is crucial to check a payment gateway provider’s reputation in the market. Only choose the one with a solid presence for providing the best of services. Also, almost every payment gateway integration requires you to pay a setup fee, so compare the top gateway providers. Moreover, there are other associated charges, including recurring charges like transaction fees, so ensure that you thoroughly compare all of the shortlisted gateway providers to get the most cost-effective solution for your business.
Safety and Security:
Whichever service provider you choose, they must comply with PCI DSS, 3D secure, and other security measures. These ensure that when your customers shop online on your website, they are safe. Choose a payment gateway service provider with a reputation for providing the best security and taking financial data protection seriously.
Can Handle Large Volumes of Transactions:
The ability to handle large volumes of transactions is critical. Once your business starts picking up and you have hundreds of customers checking out at the same time, you don’t want the system to crash. Ensure that the service provider has the adequate infrastructure to handle this extra load unless you are a fan of cart abandonments and failed payments, both of which are not business at all.
Ability to Accept International Currency:
Should you decide to expand your business in the future to other countries, your service provider must be able to accept the international currency. Even if you currently only operate within the domestic circuit, it’s best to have that ability since once your business grows, you won’t have to hunt for a fresh service provider who does accept international payments.
Downtimes:
Frequent server downtimes can prove detrimental for your business. Even though it’s expected that even the best servers will have some downtimes, it happens rarely. Therefore, choose a service provider who can offer you the maximum uptime so that your customers can complete transactions and there are fewer card abandonments.
There are many online payment platforms these days, so the choices you have are virtually limitless. However, it’s important to choose one that ticks all the points we discussed in this post, ensuring that you partner with the absolute best. It’s a cut-throat business world out there, and you must make the best of any edge you can get over the competition.
Your payment gateway service provider is one of the single most important things that can make or break your business.
While an excellent payment gateway will ensure maximum customer acquisition and retention, a bad one will have the exact opposite effect on your business.
So, when it comes to choosing a payment gateway service provider, do spend some time researching and comparing before making a choice!
