E-Commerce Payment Gateways: How to Choose the Best One

This ensures that all transactions are encrypted and protected from fraud. If you plan to sell internationally, your payment gateway must support multiple currencies and cater to customers in different regions. Some gateways are better suited for local markets, while others are designed for global commerce. If you already have a POS system, choose a payment processor that can connect to your existing hardware.

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  • However, most providers do not charge a setup fee anymore and instead charge monthly or per-transaction fees.
  • Your ecommerce payment gateway should be able to handle increased transaction volumes and offer additional features—such as multicurrency support and integration options—as your business grows.
  • We’re talking about online gaming, sports betting, financial services, adult entertainment, firearms, airline booking, jewelry, and pharmaceuticals.
  • Its advanced fraud detection tools and PCI DSS Level 1 compliance ensure that transactions are processed with maximum protection.
  • The payment gateway is a customer-facing, transaction processing platform that collects payment information and transaction data from customers.
  • Beyond these primary operations, the payment features your business will need depends on its size, sales volume and other factors.

The right ecommerce payment gateway depends on factors like business size, international sales, subscription needs, and security concerns. Up next, we’ll dive into how to choose the best payment gateway based on your business needs. However, Square is not as widely supported internationally as Stripe or PayPal. It is also not ideal for high-risk industries, as its security policies sometimes result in account holds or transaction disputes.

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For example, it gives customers the option to buy online but return in store or vice versa. It can also support larger businesses with multiple online sales channels as opposed to just one. Helcim is our recommended cheapest payment gateway for large-volume businesses.

E-Commerce Payment Gateways: How to Choose the Best One

Unlike many of its competitors, Authorize.net integrates with third-party merchant account providers so that your business can accept online payments. There’s also extensive support for international transactions and foreign currencies, as well as a host of advanced fraud protection tools to protect your account. This means you can most likely integrate Authorize.Net with an existing merchant account, including accounts for high-risk businesses. Stripe is one of the most popular payment gateways because it’s not tied to a specific ecommerce platform. It allows merchants to accept credit card payments and mobile payments, and is easy to integrate with most websites and mobile apps.

The payment gateway is a customer-facing, transaction processing platform that collects payment information and transaction data from customers. It captures the customer’s payment information and sends it through a system of authentication, verification, and approval (rejection) of a payment request. We looked for in-person and ecommerce, stored card information (for recurring payments), cross-border payments, and the ability to serve high-risk businesses. The company also has an excellent reputation for customer support, which is one of the most important features to look for in a merchant services provider.

Consider Ease of Integration with Your Ecommerce Platform

Have a complete view of your finances, and accept local currencies and payment types for a smooth checkout experience. Elavon Payment Processing is noteworthy for its additional attention to security. Payment data is encrypted until it reaches Elavon’s secure data center, for example. The provider also uses tokenization, converting cardholder data to a unique value; this “token” can then be 6 best payment gateways for small businesses used in subsequent transactions. You can search for payment information based on card brand, amount, user or date.

  • The payment gateway provider forwards the encrypted payment information to a payment processor, which then communicates with the customer’s credit card company or bank for authorization.
  • Get a free card swiper from Square at no cost when you create a free account.
  • Without a reliable payment gateway, your e-commerce business could face issues like failed transactions, security breaches, and a poor customer experience.
  • By leveraging these insights, businesses can refine their payment strategies to maximize revenue and enhance customer experience.
  • From online gaming to crypto, this provider caters to a number of industries that might be deemed too risky to work with by other providers.
  • If international is where you plan to take your businesses, for instance, we’d recommend a widely available and globally trusted solution such as PayPal.

Adyen provides a seamless payment experience for online and in-person sales with a focus on mobile payments. Besides real-time analytics, which offer instant insights into consumer behavior, Adyen employs dynamic card validation, elevating the security of each transaction. Without a payment gateway, retailers have to handle sensitive payment data directly, which increases the risk of fraud, and potentially limits the number of payment methods and currencies. As for online drop shippers and fashion stores, they’d appreciate something like Braintree. The built-in dedicated merchant account makes this payment gateway ideal for managing significantly higher returns and chargeback risks. It’s the type of payment gateway you’d want for high-risk business ventures that rank at the top of the digital fraud index.

The company offers sleek, easy-to-use gateways to clients that accept online payments. However, Square is most famous for its in-person payment solutions and is a much better solution for retail businesses. Online payment gateways such as Square and Stripe don’t charge setup or monthly fees, allowing small businesses to start processing payments without upfront costs. For ecommerce, Stripe and Shopify Payments are top choices for online payment gateways.

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The more payment methods you accept, the less likely you are to alienate a customer. The provider also allows for basic payment gateway functions, like invoicing and reporting. Elavon provides a lot of valuable insights into payment gateway security. We were also disappointed to learn that quite a few features are only available through third parties. All of that said, we do need to give Elavon points for its accessible customer service. If you’re a small business owner who doesn’t want to spend big bucks on a payment gateway, Helcim is a great starting point.