5 Great Payment Gateways for Your Online Store
If you’re a business owner involved in eCommerce, you need to understand the payment options available for your online transactions. You’ll want to make sure the choices you present to your customers are convenient and safe. They should also be as easy to navigate via a computer or a mobile device.
So how do you choose the best payment gateway? First, it’s important to understand how such a gateway works.
What are payment gateways?
A payment gateway is a merchant’s technology that accepts customer debit or credit card purchases. The term “payment gateway” can refer to the card-reading devices in a physical store or the payment processing portals we often use when purchasing something online from a website.
In an online store, the payment gateway is the checkout portal, where you enter your name, address, credit card information, and other credentials needed by the companies providing the services. The payment gateway then sends the customer information to the merchant acquiring bank, where the payment is processed.
A payment gateway is different than a payment processor. The latter uses the information the gateway collects to charge the customers’ bank or credit card, provider. Both are essential parts of the process.
Choosing the best payment gateways for your business
There are so many choices for payment gateways that it becomes difficult to decide which will be the perfect one for your eCommerce site. Some might work better for small businesses, while others are ideal for larger companies. Indeed, one size may not fit all, so it’s essential to look at more than one.
You’re likely already familiar with names like PayPal and Stripe, but other less-familiar payment gateways also deserve a look. Here’s a list of 5 of our favorites.
1. Square
Square is popular with merchants because it’s super easy to get it up and running. Then are no monthly fees or long-term contracts to which you must commit. There are no refunds, chargebacks, or extra fees for American Express or international cards. The 24/7 customer support is excellent. Some other capabilities include customer management, team management, inventory management, and all-in-one reporting.
2. Stax (formerly Fattmerchant)
Used the most by small- to medium-sized businesses, Stax came on the scene in 2014 and has always been popular thanks to its low prices. It offers two pricing systems based on yearly sales volume (under and over a half-million dollars). The swiped and keyed payment fees are low, among the lowest available. Stax does require a three-year contract but won’t charge you for exiting the agreement early if you give 30 days’ notice.
3. Helcim
Helcim has become known for reasonable pricing that’s easy to understand, thanks to clear details on its website. Although it is not ideal for high-volume sales, it’s perfect for smaller companies that process about $2000-2500 a month in transactions. If you sell online, you’ll opt for the virtual terminal e-commerce plan, which includes a reasonable monthly fee and fees for each transaction. It also has excellent “Fraud Defender” software, which uses seven different factors to rate transactions, kicking out the ones that don’t pass muster.
4. Payline
Payline is excellent for speed and efficiency and fits businesses of all sizes. It has a lower monthly fee than many competitors and can integrate with nearly 200 online shopping carts. It also integrates with QuickBooks for payroll management and other business financial services. Its built-in fraud protection and security are, overall, excellent as well. Check out the free cost calculator on their website to determine what Payline would cost you.
5. Adyen
You may not recognize this name, but Adyen is a payment gateway used by some of the largest corporations in the world, including eBay, Uber, Spotify, and Microsoft. It accepts more than 250 payment methods and 150 global currencies, which makes it ideal for large businesses. It also lets you analyze transaction data to benefit from insights into customer behavior. Adyen’s 24/7 in-house support has proven to be excellent, there’s no set-up fee, and a full range of additional tools are available on the platform.
At Watershed9, our experts have reviewed countless payment gateways and are confident that we can help you choose the one that best matches your business needs. If you’re new to eCommerce or believe it’s time to switch gateways, we can help you crunch the numbers so that you locate an option that does what you need it to do and also fits your budget.
To schedule a consultation, call us at 604-339-1447 or get in touch using our contact form.
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