Being an e-commerce store owner, you recognize the value of giving an exemplary user interface and functionalities in your website or app, but if the payment experience is not good, then eventually, customers stop trusting us, and sales and customer engagement will decrease.
The payment gateway performs a vital role in the customer purchasing experience, and the best online payment gateway should be uninterrupted, quick, reliable, and trustworthy.
The best online payment gateway guarantees the customer’s security and confidentiality, leaving a good impression and trustworthiness on the e-commerce website or app.
A practical payment gateway should allow merchants to accept multiple transactions facility (debit cards, credit cards, wallets, etc.) securely on the website and a mobile app.
The payment gateway in an e-commerce store should set up in the right manner; if it’s not correctly functional, your business could suffer from cart abandonment due to payment gateway issues, leading to customer loss and sales. Ensuring an active payment gateway set up with multiple forms of payment options (debit, credit cards, wallets, etc.) with trusted security certificates and symbols is the key to the long-term success of your online e-commerce store.
How Does a Payment Gateway Work?
The customer adds products or services to the cart to buy and continue with the payment page.
The customer is then asked to provide the details of the credit card or debit card. These details include a 16-digit card number, cardholder name, expiration date and CVV number.
After registering, the information is securely passed on to your payment gateway based on the integration type i,e. Server-to-server, payment page integration, or client-side encryption.
The payment gateway then encrypts the card details and goes through a security check before sending the card information to the acquiring bank.
The acquiring bank sends the information securely to the card schemes, i.e., Visa, Mastercard, Maestro card, etc.
The card schemes ensure another layer of security checks and then send the payment information to the issuing bank. After performing the security and scam check, the issuing bank authorizes the transaction. The approval or decline message is sent back to the bank from the card schemes and then to the acquirer.
The acquiring bank then sends the approval or decline message to the payment gateway, sending the message to the merchant. If the payment is successful, the acquirer collects the payment amount from the issuing bank and holds the funds in the merchant account.
Based on the message from the payment gateway, the merchant may either display an order or payment confirmation page or ask the customer to retry with other payment methods.
The best payment gateway provides even transactions, and the process happens in the background in real-time, and the whole process takes less than three seconds to complete.
Top 8 Payment Gateways
We have compiled the eight best online payment gateways below.
1: Amazon Payments
It provides your customers with a trusted and easy way to submit payments on your site.
Launched in 2007, Amazon Pay uses the consumer base of Amazon.com and focuses on giving users the choice to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites.
Key Features:
Reduce the learning curve for checkout processes and draw from the technical strength of an established platform. In 2016, Amazon reported 310 million active customer accounts; by allowing customers to use their current Amazon login information, Amazon Payments gives shoppers a simple, familiar way to make purchases.
Integration with your website is API-driven, meaning it’s easy to customize Amazon Payments into your site’s existing look and feel. Often, it is as easy as adding a free plugin. Plus, transactions are completed on your site.
Amazon Payments is a leader in responsiveness. It’s available across devices — and mobile capability is critical for users; in the last six months, 62% of smartphone users have purchased online using their mobile device.
2: Authorize.net
Designed for small and medium-sized businesses, the payment service at Authorize.net can help you grow your business with a host of adaptable and trusted payment alternatives. Established in 1996, Authorize. Net is one of the oldest payment gateway providers around. Today it serves over 430,000 merchants and manages over one billion transactions every year. It is the best overall because it’s easy to set up and use, works with nearly any merchant account, and accepts transactions from customers worldwide.
Key Features:
Aside from a long list of acceptable payment options — including checks and mobile payments — the service caters to businesses’ unique sales requirements, like recurring or subscription billing.
It provides customers with a positive — and secure — shopping experience with a verified safety label from the site, in-site ordering, simplified PCI compliance, and custom checkout pages. Plus, they have an Advanced Fraud Detection Suite, a free safety service. Score!
Authorize.net offers exhaustive support resources, including an online portal, toll-free phone support, online chat, eTicket response system, and email contact.
3: 2Checkout
With customizable options for freshman and senior businesses, 2Checkout’s services include heavily customizable hosted (in-site) checkouts and simple site integration, leaving your checkout experience seamless on brand.
Created in 2006 to allow companies to accept online and mobile payments from buyers worldwide, 2Checkout currently serves over 20,000 clients worldwide. It is the best for selling internationally because it gives localized buying experiences for customers in over 200 countries and territories and supports nearly 100 currencies.
Key Features:
Don’t leave the user experience up to chance. Whether you’ve chosen the standard or in-line setups, 2Checkout allows you to demo the customer’s buying experience with different settings to feel how the gateway works before using it.
Set your business up to be a global moneymaker with 15 different languages and 87 currencies. More international payments = more growth.
Provides an easy-to-incorporate payment API so credit card processing can be embedded directly on your site. Accessible documentation resources make customization onto your site simple and easy.
4: Stripe
Tailored exclusively for e-commerce, Stripe provides extensive functionality regardless of what your business sells and has a resume loaded with high-level customers like Pinterest, Lyft, Slack, and OpenTable.
Launched in 2011, Stripe is a payment gateway provider with a strong focus on technology and development. The company has over 4,000 employees in 14 countries and claims that 90% of online shoppers in the U.S. have bought from businesses using Stripe.
Key Features:
Stripe features the best applications of modern-day e-commerce payment solutions: secure, customizable, quick, and easy to set up. Plus, the extras will win you over, like allowing customers to buy products directly from a tweet or saving card information for one-click checkouts.
Stripe’s Sigma service allows businesses to easily view sales data and analytics in real-time, providing insight that can help you refine and improve operations for increased effectiveness and growth.
E-businesses need to think globally: international retail e-commerce sales will reach $4.5 trillion by 2021. With more customers across borders, your business needs to consider new payment types. Luckily, Stripe leaps beyond traditional payment types, allowing companies to accept the alternative — but increasingly more common — forms, like Alipay, ACH, and Bitcoin. Get your cha-ching! from any country.
5: PayPal
Well, you can easily recognize PayPal, which has e-commerce veteran status and is one of the most widely accepted digital payment methods for North American retailers.
Created as a digital wallet in 1999, PayPal was famously acquired by eBay in 2002 and has become one of the most versatile and recognized online payment processors.
Key Features:
PayPal has proven success, and the gateway boasts up to 44% higher checkout conversion for businesses who use it. What’s more, they offer fraud protection, live support, and extensive cart compatibility — it works with all major shopping carts and e-commerce platforms.
Scales to your business, whether you’re a high-traffic hotshot or growing local biz. They offer multiple versions of their payment solutions, like PayPal Payments Pro, PayPal Express Checkout, and Braintree.
In as little as 15 minutes, you can add a simple PayPal button to your site. With that extra time, you can focus on making more sales (or taking a much-needed break). Customers must leave your site to pay (upgrade to Pro for an in-site checkout — $30 monthly fee).
6: Square
It is the best for brick-and-mortar businesses because it lets users accept in-person and online payments with no setup and startup costs and includes a free mobile card reader.
Created in 2009 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square opened the door for retailers by providing an online payment solution that could be used on smart devices rather than bulky and expensive POS hardware.
Key Features:
Square started the opportunity for retailers by providing an online payment solution that could be used on smart devices rather than bulky and expensive POS hardware.
It is the best for brick-and-mortar businesses because it lets users accept both in-person and online payments with no setup and startup costs and includes a free mobile card reader.
Although Square accepts all major credit cards and other payment types like Apple Pay and Google Pay, it doesn’t support PayPal, one of its main competitors. However, it can process ACH or electronic check payments, and it allows users to accept payments by website, invoice, or over the phone.
One of Square’s best features is its easy setup. Users can download the software for free on any iOS or Android device and take payments using a plugin mobile credit card reader Square offers free of charge.
Merchants can accept credit card payments using just a smartphone or tablet, making it a perfect choice for food carts, farmer’s markets, craft booths, and other mobile merchants.
7: WePay
WePay is a platform payments company that prides itself on conforming to the unique needs of your site or e-biz and is free to set up.
Created in 2008 as a peer-to-peer group payment platform, WePay offers an integrated merchant account through Chase Merchant Services with a payment gateway. It is the best for multiple channels because it makes it easy for merchants to handle complex payment requests across various online platforms.
Key Features:
WePay accepts payments from all major credit cards, Chase Pay, and ACH payments and can handle complex payment requests, including multiple payers and crowdfunding campaigns.
WePay is provided to handle complex payment requests, like multiple payers or crowdfunding campaigns, and works for sites of different sizes.
Tailored for e-shops with international customers and domestic, WePay offers a helpful support centre for businesses using the gateway.
Hello, future! WePay offers modern payment options, like Apple Pay and Android Pay.
Merchants can create customizable checkout flows that support both online and in-person payments and refunds. Developers can use WePay’s APIs to create anything from simple payment links to leveraging Chase Merchant Services’ same-day deposit and transaction reporting features.
8: Worldpay
Worldpay is a complete, UK-based (but global) service that offers omnichannel payment solutions for businesses of all sizes. Plus, you can pay as you go or choose a monthly payment option.
It was founded in 1989 as a subsidiary of National Westminster Bank, and it was an electronic payment system. Nevertheless, it became the first electronic payment system operating in Europe.
Key Features:
As a new business, you have many things on your plate: meetings, marketing, and minutiae. Worldpay offers didn’t-know-you-needed-that payment services, including automated billing and card updates, customizable loyalty cards, card-on-file support, and simplified backend settlement.
Ideally, your business isn’t going to stay the same. With growth, Worldpay focuses on the future of your venture by offering expert advice and insight with support and personalized reporting of your business. Plus, they’ve outfitted their site with helpful content.
Never agonize over lost customers who abandoned a sale for the fault of their payment type. As its name suggests, Worldpay is comprehensive (think: “and,” not “either/or” features) and accepts the full gamut of payment options — more than 300 ways to pay — like all major cards and mobile wallet methods.
Conclusion
Your ecommerce site is ineffective if you can’t get paid. It’s time for you to understand that all of your customers don’t have the same choices. You need to give them as many choices as possible to improve your growth rates.
Digital wallets are growing in demand. It’s easier for customers to use these best online payment gateways instead of manually typing out their payment information. By decreasing friction in your checkout process, you will be able to make more sales and overcome shopping cart abandonment rates.
