Ecommerce businesses share a common top priority i.e. to safeguard their customers interests while providing them with an easy-to-use payment system. This is precisely why the vendor you choose must meet both your company's and your consumers' needs. Over 21% of customers depart websites with a lengthy checkout process, and 17% abandoned websites that are not secure.
Therefore, integrating a payment gateway into your store will increase the security of your site while also improving the user experience. In this article, we will discuss how payment gateway integration is done in a website and how it works along with the types and costs of payment processor.
Everything You Should Know About Payment Gateways
Similar to what the term suggests, payment gateways offer customers a convenient method to checkout with their items at ecommerce stores. During the payment process, data is encrypted to ensure security and some companies immediately add tax if they suspect fraud. Payment gateways operate in the following manner:
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A customer places an order by entering their bank card information and clicking "pay now".
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The customer's web browser uses a secure socket layer (SSL) to encrypt the debit/credit card information for security reasons.
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Payment gateways receive information from the merchant using SSL.
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Payment gateways forward the information to the relevant payment processor.
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A banking card association will then receive this information sent via the payment processor.
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Any responses received will be carried forward by these processors to the payment gateway.
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Using the payment gateway, both the customer and the business will receive the response and know if the transaction is approved or not.
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The merchant submits all approvals to the bank card company in the batch form later.
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The credit card company transmits all accepted credit card transactions to the merchant.
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Keep in mind that payment gateways incorporate three primary aspects: reporting, authorisation and settlement.
Simple Ways To Integrate A Payment Gateway On Your Ecommerce Platform
CHOOSING A PAYMENT GATEWAY
The first step would be to select a payment gateway out of the several alternatives available. The customer's bank card information is processed by sending it to the payment gateway's web server, which completes the transaction and delivers the confirmation back to the website. This is precisely why it's important for people and businesses to elect a payment gateway that meets their requirements conveniently.
CONSULT YOUR WEB HOST
Payment gateway services may be available from your web host or online store software supplier, which you can rapidly integrate into your suite. Visit the admin page on your ecommerce store to see if any other payment gateway options are present. You can also go through the site’s control panel for the same.
TAKE THE PRICING STRUCTURE INTO CONSIDERATION
Regardless of what sort of payment gateways you wish to incorporate, these software will generally cost you a one-time fee or a monthly subscription charge. A few payment gateways even include small fees for varied transactions in their pricing structure. Compare prices to locate the service that best suits your requirements.
CHOOSE BETWEEN AN EXTERNAL GATEWAY AND A DIRECT GATEWAY
External gateways (also known as "redirects") direct your clients to a different website to complete the transaction. Direct gateways (sometimes known as "transparent") handle transactions within your store, allowing customers to remain on your site.
APPLY FOR A MERCHANT ACCOUNT
Without possessing a merchant account, e-commerce businesses cannot receive payment transactions from people shopping on their platform. A merchant account enables you to link a payment gateway alternative and receive payment transactions simultaneously. You'll usually be charged per transaction if you have a merchant account.
CREATE AN ACCOUNT
Post creating an account, you can then exchange information regarding payment transactions between your payment gateway and your e-commerce store accordingly.
How can Businesses Integrate a Payment Gateway on their Platform?
SETUP YOUR E-COMMERCE STORE
Most internet businesses will establish a webshop for their clients using third-party software. This program creates the ordering page and all of the code for sending payment information to the gateway.
INCLUDE PAYMENT OPTIONS.
The procedure varies for each provider, but in general, you'll need to enter your payment gateway credentials for each type of payment you plan to accept (Visa, Mastercard, etc.).
CHECK THE GATEWAY'S FUNCTIONALITY
Your payment gateway service will usually supply you with Test or Sandbox accounts. These allow you to make fictitious transactions to confirm that the payment system is functioning correctly. Before you make it live, remember to check it out.
How do Payment Gateways Safeguard Sensitive Banking Information?
A payment gateway's capacity to safely transfer funds is a critical feature. Payment gateways should ensure that merchants are always paid when a purchase is made, reducing the risk of fraud and credit risk. To secure payments, payment gateways employ some of the following measures:
SECURITY STANDARDS (PCI-DSS)
Banking industries facilitate tons of security requirements when it comes to the usage of banking cards for expenditure. It ensures the security of payment solutions by requiring businesses to install firewalls on their internal networks, encrypt cardholder data, and prohibit cardholder data storage on discs or paper.
ENCRYPTING DATA
Payment gateways primarily utilize data encryption to protect payments. Customers' card information is encrypted using a public key, which can only decode with the private payment gateway.
AUTHENTICATION
A ‘double verification’ sort of authentication mode has been quite common since the past few years where users generally receive a text on their contact number or email. You have to follow the formalities to validate yourself accordingly.
In the next section, we will focus on the types of Payment Gateway, such as PayPal express, and the cost of payment gateway integration.
Payment Gateway Types And Costs
Payment gateways are divided into two categories: hosted and non-hosted. After pressing the purchase button on a hosted payment gateway, the customer is taken to the payment service provider's page. For instance, let’s take a look at PayPal Express’s payment gateway software.
With PayPal Express, e-commerce businesses are able to receive payments through credit cards or via the customer’s PayPal account. Customers, on checking out, are simply directed to PayPal’s official website to proceed with their payment formalities and then checkout securely. Such convenience can contribute directly to a boost in sales for e-commerce businesses.
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Non-hosted payment gateways, on the other hand, require shoppers to input their banking credentials while checking out, on the e-commerce platform itself. Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at a few popular service providers that are doing great these days:
NON-HOSTED PAYMENT GATEWAYS
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Authorize.net
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BrainTree
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PayPal Pro
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PayU
HOSTED PAYMENT GATEWAYS
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PayPal
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Amazon Pay
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Stripe
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SagePay
The expense incurred by business owners to support online payment processing through the chosen payment gateway on their website or app is known as payment gateway costs or fees. It is usually calculated as a percentage of the transaction value and varies depending on the consumers' preferred payment method and the risk level involved.
Your total revenue determines the total cost of employing a payment gateway. However, keep in mind that transaction fees range from 2.9 percent to 3.5 percent, plus an additional $0,30 for each transaction.
Bottom Line
There are numerous payment options available. When deciding how to construct a payment gateway integration for a website, there's no need to recreate the wheel. You have the option of using both hosted and non-hosted gateways and locating ready-to-integrate components for your website. If you want to be more creative and integrate payment into a website that stands out from the crowd, design your own.
While several payment gateways will cost you a monthly usage fee, there are a few payment services for ecommerce platforms that charge users per transaction. Depending on whom you partner with, some companies can be more flexible compared to others.
For a better understanding on integrating the Payment Gateway, you can contact us!