Sooner or later, all eCommerce platforms owners face the problem of choosing the best payment gateway for their business. All systems have pros and cons, but the bottom line is that you don’t have to limit yourself to one option. Add as many payment gateways as you want, and this review will help you understand which of them suits the needs of your website most of all. So keep reading, as you will find an extended list of available options at the end!
What a Payment Gateway Is and How to Pick One
It goes without saying that an eCommerce website needs a payment gateway to accept money in exchange for a product or service it provides. A payment gateway is an e-commerce system that processes customers’ payments, transferring the funds to the merchant’s account. The most famous example is PayPal. So it’s like a bridge between the transactions placed on your eCommerce store and the payment processor that receives the payment from the customer.
Regardless of what you sell and at which price range, you should take the matter of picking a payment gateway seriously. First of all, pay attention to the system security features to be sure that money is safe. Then discover payment integration capabilities and what types of payments this platform accepts.
It will also save you lots of time and nerves. And certainly, you can’t ignore such an important metric as cost. Make sure that the fees for processing the payments are reasonable and find out if there are any hidden ones.
Top 7 Payment Gateways
This is a highly important decision, so be careful and think twice before installing any software, as it will get access to the sensitive data of your customers as well as yours. It is better to choose a well-known and popular company which values its reputation. So here is a selection of the top 7 payment gateways that are proved to be both efficient and trustworthy.
PayPal Payments Pro
There is probably no person who has not heard of PayPal. It’s the world’s largest and most popular payment gateway that has over 200 million users. The business version of their product for merchants is called PayPal Payments Pro. Customers are allowed to use their credit/debit cards, including Visa, Amex, PayPal, and PayPal Credit, to pay for the product with the help of this system. SMEs prefer this type of payment gateway because it requires no monthly fees or any contracts.
Braintree
This payment solution serves businesses’ needs of different scales, from small eCommerce websites to large enterprises. It is a full-stack system that allows your customers to pay both via an app and directly on the website. Braintree is so popular among businesses worldwide due to its smooth checkout experience with a high safety level that customers repeat orders more often.
Authorize.Net
In the case of Authorize.Net, customers and SMEs quickly got used to the platform, thanks to its affordable pricing and top security level. On top of that, it is much easier to set up this system and operate it rather than other payment gateways such as PayPal and Stripe. Magento-based businesses are the main users of this platform, as it is a reliable and trusted solution for online shops.
Stripe
Stripe is a global payment company available in 25 countries. It supports over a hundred world’s currencies and offers such features as subscription billing, mobile payments, and one-click checkout. Stripe is really awesome, and we totally recommend paying attention to this payment gateway, especially when you accept international transactions too.
Amazon Payments
Since its launch in 2007, Amazon Payments has been a solid payment gateway that allows customers to make transactions on-site using only one account. The payments are accepted in all major currencies, and the system supports some of the most spread languages. In addition, it is 100% secure and flexible.
There are two effective services that you can use, namely Checkout by Amazon (CBA) and Amazon Simple Pay (ASP). The first one allows merchants to use Amazon account data and utilize the Amazon platform for processing payments. Meanwhile, ASP redirects customers to Amazon’s secure payment website so that they can fill in their banking details.
2Checkout
This payment gateway supports 87 currencies and 15 languages. Customers can use credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal to pay for products or services. If you are a merchant, you can integrate 2Checkout’s API with your website to manage customer’s checkout experience. A huge benefit of this platform is that you don’t have to code. Just register an account, verify it, and begin operating payments. It is one of the easiest solutions for your eCommerce business.
Dwolla
Dwolla supports payments from all US-based banks. It allows merchants to integrate bank transfer service into native tools with flexible ACH (Automated Clearing House) API. Such integration enables business owners to manage payments, validate banking details, supervise the financial activity, and the like.
Explore Your Options
Having considered a handful of payment gateways to add to your eCommerce website, you may feel confused as there are so many of them, and each one has a unique range of benefits. If you like two or more payment gateways, don’t hesitate to install them. There is no downside to such a decision. In fact, multiple gateways help you increase global coverage, provide a customer with choice, increase conversion rates, and much more.
Feel free to check out the bonus list of some extra payment gateways:
- BlueSnap
- AliPay
- BitPay
- WePay
- Square
- Skrill
- SagePay
- Bambora
- WorldPay
- eWay