A payment gateway or portal is a kind of technology that reads card information and sends this to a sort of merchant bank for validating. If you are running an e-commerce business, you need this because it is a crucial aspect when it comes to online shopping. More about e-commerce in this link.
Lots of people may think that a seller sees their details. But this is not the case. A buyer is secured because the information is encrypted. The gateway acts as a background processor to transactions, including the encryption.
Gateway Components
There are a lot of components when it comes to these gateways. If you are running a traditional shop where you have a physical store set in your neighborhood, get a different type of portal that suits your business needs. This is also true in an online business.
Some websites will require you to run program interfaces or APIs that enable that will enable the gateway to function well. There are POS or point of sale technologies that are suitable for brick-and-mortar shops.
The terminals for POS are evolving over the years. Nowadays, some scans read barcodes that result in contactless cards. If you are selling goods in an RV, there are POS that you can bring along with you because they are mobile.
All of the payments are required to go through a portal as the first step. The portal’s technology will then transmit a debit or credit card information to a merchant acquiring bank. After this, the authorization and the transaction will be processed by the issuing bank where the debit card came from.
Choosing the Right Providers
Lots of merchants can connect with a gateway payment system that comes from bank partnerships. For example, if they have a JPMorgan Chase account, they can use the large and sophisticated system that this bank can offer to their clients.
On the other hand, some merchants can choose their gateway providers. These are independent and third-party providers that may provide better service and faster processing times compared to others. As long as the system is compatible with the issuing bank, then there should be no problem with the transaction.
Some of the popular ones, such as the NMI payment gateway, can integrate with a lot of sales funnels or shopping carts of many websites. You can choose between mobile and stationary ones. Choose ones that allow you to take payments from mobile phones and wherever you are in the world.
Things to Consider
1. Classic or Modern
You need to determine whether you want to have a traditional or a modern gateway. The classic version requires you to have a merchant account while the modern one can allow you to use services without needing to apply for the account. Most people find it easy to have the modern one as they can set this up quickly. They may send the customer to off-site pages, which can reduce conversion fees.
2. Compatibility
You have to choose a system that is compatible with other platforms. The integration should be smooth and updated periodically. This is because computer software, websites, and other technologies do updates from time to time. If your gateway is outdated, it might not be able to handle requests and other features from the new software.
3. Encryption
The encryption should be one of your utmost priority when choosing a portal. Read more information about it here: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/5507/encryption. You are handling sensitive data that can primarily affect the life of your clients. If a breach happens, you are not only endangering your company’s reputation, and you are also risking your customers’ lives. Hackers may use the stolen card information to purchase items that are worth tens of thousands of dollars if they have access to your customer’s data. For this reason, you need to have maximum security, remove data from the card, do tokenization, and a lot more.
4. Speed
There are lots of different speeds that are available for each gateway. Look for the fastest one that can complete a customer’s purchase under a minute. The card authorization should be processed in mere seconds. Quick processing times can provide added value to your business as you could make use of a payment that can arrive on your account a day earlier.
