What is a Payment Gateway?

Introduction

Payment gateway software facilitates transactions by communicating transaction information and thus it is similar to physical point of sale used in retail outlets. The platform authorizes credit card and other payments for e-commerce ventures, conventional stores, brick-and-click shops, and online retailers. It protects credit card details by encrypting the confidential information. This procedure ensures secure transmission of private details between the merchant and customer.

A payment gateway works in the background to facilitate and authorize credit and debit card and other transactions. It securely sends and receives information between the e-tailing site and credit card network to facilitate speedy processing of e-commerce transactions. Websites that wish to accept credit card payments online or via a mobile device need to deploy a payment gateway. It connects your product sales and the consumer to help you get paid for the transaction.

Features of Payment Gateways

Fees

Each gateway has its own fee structure, so pick one that isn’t prohibitive and suits your budget and available funds.

International Acceptance

Unless your website is restricted to your local market, make sure the payment gateway facilitates international transactions. On the internet, you can get customers from any country in the world. So pick a gateway that allows you to accept global payments.

The Consumer Experience

The gateway should offer a secure, convenient, and smooth purchasing experience for your consumers. If the process is cumbersome, needs multiple steps and a lot of time or personal details, the customer may abandon the transaction and go elsewhere. Select a payment gateway that enables you to accept all top debit and credit cards, and integrates seamlessly with leading shopping carts. In addition, the platform should be optimized for mobile purchases.

Network Security

The payment gateway should be fully secure. This will instill confidence in your customers that they can safely trust your site with their personal and financial details. Select a platform that is PCI-compliant which is important for accepting online credit card payments.

Benefits of Payment Gateways

Convenience

Physical establishments cannot offer consumers the comfort of buying products sitting at home. A payment platform facilitates this as your customers don’t need to leave their home to get the service or product they want. Plus, online purchases can be made round the clock and are not restricted by working hours.

Payment Confirmation

Merchants get digital confirmation after a purchase is completed, which allows them to continuously track customer activities on their website.

Quicker Transactions

A payment solution is much swifter than manual processing, thus saving time and offering convenience for both buyers and sellers.

Comfortable User Experience

Top payment platforms provide more than just payment assistance; they deliver real-time user experience. Your customers can easily select products and add them to a shopping cart, save the chosen goods for later purchases, and also include them in their favorites list. PCI-DSS compliant solutions allow buyers to save their credit card details securely which saves them time as they don’t need to enter the info every time, and this enhances engagement with the seller. As a result, you get more sales because happy customers purchase more.

Wider customer base

A payment gateway enables you to expand globally which is not possible for physical stores. This helps you to increase your customer base and sales, and boost your business performance.

Impulse Purchases

An InvespCro survey show that impulse purchases make up about 40% of the revenues of e-commerce stores. A payment gateway enables your customers to buy basketball shoes late in the night after they are inspired by watching an NBA game. This impulse buying decision would not be possible if they had to go to a physical store at that time.