Wondering what is a payment gateway? Well, payment gateways are the key to any online business' success, and if your website doesn't have one, it's like driving through the mud - you'll get stuck and never get where you want to go. Payment gateways for eCommerce work on the principle of a service like any normal online business. The online customers are sent to a payment gateway to make transactions without any hassle by getting connected to a financial institution or payment processor. Payment gateways for eCommerce provide a quick, safe and secure way to receive and transact payments online, with a minimum of fuss.
There remain several different types of payment gateways available out there for eCommerce businesses. Different kinds of gateways may have their own set of benefits and drawbacks. To ensure a smooth eCommerce business, pick one that's best suited for your site's needs. An online payment gateway that offers multi-currency support along with fraud protection and secure transactions is highly recommended. Also, check the company's technical issues and make sure it's compatible with your website technology.
Let’s discuss some of the payment gateways that work effectively to elevate up eCommerce businesses:
Best Payment Gateways Operating in 2021
1. PayPal
PayPal gets to be considered one of the most secure and reliable mediums of accepting payments and one of the greatest payment gateway providers. The main reason behind its popularity is that it is free for everyone to use, eliminating the risk of chargebacks. On the other hand, PayPal is an ideal solution for all kinds of eCommerce businesses. Still, there are certain conditions that a particular business should meet to take advantage of PayPal.
One of the most obvious advantages of PayPal is that you do not need to maintain any special service or application for processing credit cards. You do not have to write checks or even have a system in place for collecting payments. The system handles all transactions, and your clients can go about their daily lives while waiting for their payment. It is the best payment gateway for small businesses as well as a well-established business. PayPal offers a safe payment option, and this means that all of your customers will have an account with PayPal, and you do not have to worry about giving them any login credentials.
2. Skrill
It's been witnessed that several people are using Skrill payment gateway for eCommerce. Skrill is one of the best payment gateways and leading providers of online banking solutions available in the market. The payment gateway is a service that allows merchants to handle their various credit card transactions online with ease. Skrill offers a very convenient and simple, user-friendly gateway for accepting payments online. The customer need not go through any hassle to process his or her payments as it happens instantaneously. The merchant only needs to be an authenticated, authorised eCommerce web host to use this service.
With the help of Skrill, any merchant in the world can accept any credit card online at any point in time. Since eCommerce websites have many visitors who visit them regularly, it is always important to process the payments of these visitors in a fast and secure manner. For this, one should use a dedicated and reliable eCommerce gateway that can simplify the entire process. Skrill is a perfect solution for all kinds of e-commerce transactions. Skrill is the ideal choice as it offers a secure and convenient gateway for payment processing.
3. Stripe
Stripe connects a merchant's online shopping cart with the Stripe payment gateway, which then validates the credit card's billing address and passes the information to accomplish online payments. So in effect, the Stripe payment gateway acts as a broker between the customer's shopping cart and the payment gateway. It takes the client-side details and passes them on to the further payment processors, where they are transformed into a final 'committed' payment.
Stripe is simple to use and enables you to accept payments from multiple Stripe merchant accounts. For eCommerce businesses, a currency payment gateway integration will enable you to accept payments from any of the following high-risk businesses: Online casinos, gaming stores, credit card payment processors, eCommerce stores, telemarketing, real-time bank transfers, non-traditional point of sale retailers, and anyone else that this internet payment gateway can support.
4. Braintree
Braintree can provide numerous payment options, including the most popular credit cards such as VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and Diners Club. One of the major advantages of using this as one of the best payment gateways is that it can be used for multiple currencies. This is very helpful for eCommerce merchants who deal in different currencies and need to process their payments accordingly. Thus, it enables the merchant to offer a wider variety of products to its customers.
Braintree is an independent eCommerce solution that you can integrate into your eCommerce solution for accepting payments. You can consider the Braintree payment processor and customize it to fit the needs of your online store. Several plugins out there can allow you to process payments, but Braintree offers a few key features that you definitely won't find in any other software product out there. When you consider the time, effort, and security needed to keep up with the payments flow on high-risk merchant accounts.
5. WePay
WePay is a safe and reliable online payment gateway that accepts payments from bank accounts and credit cards to supercharge your e-commerce growth instantly. It helps any buyer easily shop using their bank account or credit card information without any hassle. This way of accepting payments has come as a great boon to all the E-commerce site owners and has made their online businesses swiftly successful.
WePay is easy to install and customize. It uses an intuitive interface that makes the usage easy and simple for both neophyte and experienced users. WePay provides a wide variety of currency options, check-out options, shipping options, currency conversion, and many more options. In addition, WePay gateway offers support for different payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, and even cash via phone, internet banking, etc. WePay offers a free demo account that allows you to test out the software's functionality without any risk.
The Final Say
Payment gateways are basically a reliable and safe way to carry out any online purchases involving credit cards, debit cards, electronic checks, and other types of financial transactions. Today most online stores do most of their business through a payment gateway because it takes away much of the risk and hassle of doing business online. Payment gateways are a must when doing business through the Internet and greatly increase the chances of success and profitability for any online store.
Also read:
1) E-Commerce Tools Every Small Business Needs
2) The Rise of Ecommerce over the years
3) E-commerce Business Ideas: What Should You Sell?
4) E-Commerce Customer Service – 10 Best Practices [guide]
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FAQs
Q. What is a payment gateway?
Ans. A payment gateway is an electronic transaction processor that authorises and allows for fast and secure electronic transfers of monetary value from one financial institution to another. Payment gateways act as a go-between, taking payments from the financial institutions and passing them on to the financial institutions. This process is made secure through an encryption layer, which acts as a defence break.
The encryption also ensures that all financial information passed onto the payer's side remains private and confidential, both during the entire transaction and after the transaction. Several types of payment gateways ensure there is no double entry, leading to possible fraudulent activities by other parties.
Q. What is the process of a payment gateway?
Ans. The concept works by allowing clients to make purchases through your website in just one simple step. Once an order is confirmed, the customer enters the shopping cart and selects the products they want. Once a purchase is made, the information is stored securely with the help of a secure payment gateway, and the details are transmitted to the payment processing company. Then the company sends the payment to the seller. That's all the processing - the transaction is completed.
Q. What are the perks of using a payment gateway?
Ans. There are so many advantages of using payment gateways:
- The main and the most important advantage of payment gateways are that it saves time, money, and energy.
- A payment gateway functions as a link between the customer and the merchant.
- It allows you to focus on more important things like the development of new products or improving the efficiency of your existing product or service.
- It also does the task of integrating payments between various platforms.
- Apart from this, a payment gateway also acts as a connector. Thus, it allows the customers to use multiple platforms at the same time.
The benefits of payment gateway are in realisation now, even before you start using online businesses. To understand it better, you should use one on your own and understand its importance.