Payment gateways are essential for growing businesses looking to streamline their payment processes and enhance cash flow. With an online payment gateway provider, accepting and processing various electronic payments, including wire transfers, becomes easier. You don’t have to set up and run all the hardware, software, security, and connections because a payment gateway service offers an all-in-one solution.
Before your business accepts online payments, a secure system that lets you handle sensitive customer data should be in place, necessitating a payment gateway. As the need for payment gateways rose, provider competition also increased, making it harder to select. Here are five tips for choosing the right payment gateway provider.
Table of Contents
1. Confirm the security features
Your payment gateway’s feature is crucial, mainly because you’re handling sensitive financial data. Ensure the potential gateway providers are PCI DSS compliant to provide a secure environment for debit and credit card transactions without exposing financial information to fraud and card theft vulnerability.
The ideal gateway provider uses data encryption for transaction data security. Consider checking other security features, such as secure socket layer (SSL), secure electronic transaction (SET), tokenization, 3D secure 2.0, and more.
2. Consider cost
When choosing payment gateways, pricing depends on various factors, including the payment methods you accept, the amount you receive monthly or annually, your business model, the number of transactions, set-up fees, and more. Based on these factors, research and shortlist at least three prospective gateway providers before requesting quotes.
Compare the pricing strategies of different providers and select the one offering competitive transaction rates. If you handle high-value transactions, choose a payment gateway provider offering a low transaction fee and services at a set periodic cost.
3. Look at the features provided
Different payment gateway providers have varying features based on their business needs. For instance, if a business sells its products or services around the globe, the right payment gateway should have a global solution, including accepting different debit and credit cards and currencies based on those countries.
A payment gateway impacts your site’s efficiency. Determine if the preferred gateway service supports all types of payments, electronic billing, innovative chargeback management, email or text reminders for customers, and more. Choosing a payment gateway with multiple features enables you to cater to the varying customer needs and preferences, boosting customer experience and retention.
4. Ensure easy and smooth integrations
Payment gateways don’t function independently. They’re a part of an infrastructure. It’s up to you to determine if your preferred gateway connects with your site. Consider whether it can integrate with your accounting or invoicing system to ensure that once payments are made, the corresponding invoices automatically update in your business’s bookkeeping system. Since you don’t have to track and update payment details manually, you save a lot of time and effort.
5. Consider customer experience
Poor customer experience causes customers and prospects to abandon your eCommerce website. Suppose there are many forms to fill, unsupported payment on mobile devices, few payment gateway options, mandatory account creation requests, slow page loading time, and others. In that case, customers will likely abandon your site in favor of a competitor. This can also make it hard to convert visitors into new customers. Make your purchases simple, safe, and fast and ensure the payment gateway can function on any device.
Endnote
Selecting the wrong payment gateway can negatively impact your business’s reputation. Use these tips to choose the right payment gateway provider.
