With a rapid growth of e-commerce businesses each year, the world of payments is also getting diverse. There are multiple ways available to shop online and merchants are ought to stay updated on the latest methods of payment. This is for the most interest of their customers to check out with ease. Since credit card processing can be complex, a selection of an expert can be a good choice. For this reason, merchants are increasingly opting for payment gateway providers that are a one-stop-shop in providing secure payments solutions.
A payment gateway is beneficial for online businesses to make payments easier for customers and helps build a strong relationship between owners and their customers. Several online payment processing has made it convenient to accept a range of payment methods, from credit cards, debit cards to digital wallets. These tailored solutions for taking payments are secure payment solutions.
Before moving on to the tips to find out the secure payment gateway, it is important to discuss what are the different types of payment gateways.
Types of Payment Gateway
Payment gateway are categorized into two types:
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Hosted Payments Page (HPP)
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Integrated Payment Gateway
Lets discuss both types one by one.
Hosted Payments Page (HPP)
It is the most basic version of payment gateway. When a customer proceeds for transactions, a hosted payments page redirects them to a secure payment page to enter their credentials. This lets customers to buy the products and complete their purchase while going through an extra layer of security.
The payment credentials are secured from outside threats as this backend process is taken care by the payment provider independent of the merchant’s system.
Integrated Payment Gateway
It is a feature that allows customers to complete their transactions using your software. An integrated payment gateway is used for a more customizable experience although it can have a complicated setup. Instead of redirecting to a third party website, payment gateway provider uses API integration to manage transctions.
Tips to Choose the Secure Payment Gateway
It is not wise to choose the first payment gateway you come across. Give in-depth research and pay close attention to a brand that provides secure payment solutions.
Secure Payment Solutions
For many online businesses, cybersecurity is the key issue and should be dealt with in priority. A secure payment gateway is the one that protects your business by authorized and verified transactions. Choose the one that efficiently combats fraud by implementing increased security checks and identify any suspicious activity before it further gets into the system.
Encryption Standards
The payment gateway you will be partnering with will have access to your customers’ sensitive payment data, and a slight breach can have a detrimental effect on your business. Some payment gateways advertise their encryption standards. Always choose the one that prioritizes encryption.
Cost
Cost is one of the key factors in choosing a payment provider. Usually merchants charge a small percentage of the transaction fee. This fee can be settled either for each sale, monthly transaction, or annual fees. It is possible that some payment gateway providers have useful features compared to others and come with a greater cost. While others have negligible cost for setting up. The choice greatly depends on your budget.
Ask for Advice
One important tip is to review multiple options before making deal with a final payment gateway provider. Whenever you feel stuck during the process, always ask your peers and mentors for advice and ask about how was their past experience with a particular merchant.
Compatibility
A selection of a payment gateway provider should be able to integrate quite well with your business technological system to maximize user bases. All businesses have unique needs, a best payment provider should be compatible to your involving software and financial data management platform.
Needs Being Met
Make a choice between modern or classic payment gateway. It is important to talk your bank provider before choosing a payment gateway for your online business. There are some payment gateways that are industry-specific and so they are specialized to meet those industry needs.
Handle Overseas Sale
It is important to consider how the payment gateway provider is handling transactions in foreign currencies. In all cases, customers prefer to see the final transaction amount in their own local currency. Not all gateway providers offer this option, and should be on the list while choosing a secure merchant.
Reporting Features
A thorough reporting feature is important to review all transaction activity or review any chargebacks. This is undoubtedly the most important thing to check, because finance are the core of a business and tracking them is a vital task for any business, either its from online market or physical market. Different payment gateways offer different formats and types of reports. Try them well before committing.
Time
Online transactions can be processed manually which is quite demanding and time-consuming with chances of error. Through a secure payment gateway, their will be ease of pain in growing your business. Consider how much time a particular merchant takes for the money to land in your bank account. Overnight transfer or same day settlements are mostly preferred.
Concluding Remarks
After the choice of a beneficial payment gateway for your online business, don’t consider yourselves locked with a single merchant for lifetime. It is important to keep in mind that for business growth, your needs also continue to change and evolve. It is intelligible to regularly review the facility provided to you to ensure it is meeting your needs.
Don’t wait. Explore!