Udemezue John
Introduction.
As the world shifts to a more virtual and automated system, it continues to move fundamental trends from the way we used to know. One of these trends is the way we collect money.
Payment gateways simplified the way payments are made in the virtual world, making it easy to capture revenue from any part of the world without restrictions.
What are Payment Gateways?
A payment gateway is a merchant service provided by an e-commerce, finance or general application service provider that authorises credit card or direct payments processing for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks, or traditional brick and mortar.
Payment gateways generally help reduce the transfer of physical cash. Payment gateways can be in two primary forms: virtual form, which can be found on websites and web apps or in physical form inform of POS (Point Of sales).
Payment Gateway Stats You Should know.
Payment gateways are becoming part of our everyday lives. Their frequent use has been used to fight corruption and money laundering and make business transactions more straightforward than the traditional model of physical cash.
Here are very few stats you out to know about using Payment gateways.
1. Global Use of Mobile Payments Forecast To Increase To 28% In 2022 And Surpass Credit Cards And Cash in the world.
2. More Business Plan To Increase Support For Mobile POS Payments.
3. Demand For Mobile Payments Is Highest In China, Mongolia, Brazil, Kenya and Nigeria.
4. It has been estimated that Global Mobile Payments Will Exceed £3.5 trillion By 2023.
5. The US Mobile Payments Market Is 35 Times Smaller Than World Leader China.
6. Hunger for Mobile Payment Solutions Is On The Up – 51% Are Interested In Using The Technology.
7. Mobile Payments Are Going To Dominate Point Of Sale Payments.
8. It has been discovered that Gen X – want to share their online payments on social media, compared to only 3% of baby boomers, and this is only possible via the integration of a payment gateway.
Benefits of Using a Payment Gateway.
Nowadays, when there are a lot of robberies and robberies going on for money, nobody feels safekeeping a lot of cash in hand with them. Enhancing customer service, making more money, and rising late payments help them prosper their business. Here a very few reasons why you should subscribe to payment gateways.
1. Secure Processing.🤣
Payment Gateway keeps customers’ data secure and protects merchants from hefty fees. In addition, they help prevent dangerous results of getting data such as payment info from being compromised to ensure safety from hackers.
2. Flexibility.
There is no better feeling within you when you realise that you can make excellent sales from the comfort of your location in any part of the world.
3. Reduces Labor costs.✌
With payment gateway in vogue, long gone are the days when we have to hire a cashier to collect money or an account to do accounting stuff. Instead, all these data are provided by the payment gateway platforms.
4. Boost cash Flow.👀
Most businesses have been killed because of credit purchases in times past. This has been eradicated with the use of Payment Gateways. Any customer cannot make purchases online without having to pay the price.
5. Data and Insight.
At one point in time, we need to account for one thing or the other, and this can be hectic with enormous bookkeeping. This has been made possible and accessible through the integration of
Payment gateways.
6. 24/7/365 availability with zero downtime policies.☺
Whether sun up or sundown, payment gateways never go to sleep.
7. Support for modern communication protocols.
Modern communication protocols such as SMS and emails are usually integrated alongside payment gateways.
8. Quick integration.😁
Payment gateways might sound like a big deal, but they are familiar. You need just a little or no coding knowledge to get started with integrating payment gateways.
How Do You Choose a Payment Gateway?
With over one thousand payment gateway in existence, more still being released and being developed, it is pretty hard to make a selection. However, based on my experience, here are the perfect criteria to base your choice of a payment gateway.
1. Company Profile.
This is very important that every business partner with a reputable payment gateway company. I advise you to do so because of days when the issue might come up.
We have heard of micro-companies folding up in the past because they care about profit and making money. But on the other hand, a reputable payment gateway company can trigger the interest of global customers to do business with your company.
2. Global Reach.
Do you want to collect payments globally in different currencies? Then I suggest you search for a payment gateway company that can help you manage money globally.
Most payment companies state that they help you collect payment globally, but in a real sense, they do not. I mean all forms of credits card or debits cards known globally from American express, visa and Master Cards when I say globally.
There are very few payment gateways that offer such a service.
3. Service Charge.
Most payment gateway out there is just there to extort all you can make as a business.
They offer their service in exchange for crazy commissions, so I recommend you take time to read out their terms and conditions and the Frequently Asked Questions on their websites.
4. Documentation.
Ease of use is another primary reason you should subscribe to a payment gateway.
Most payment gateways do not offer comprehensive documentation, and I suggest you go after them because you might run out of options when the time comes.
5. Customer Support.
Another essential factor to consider when choosing a payment gateway is customer support.
You will always run into errors or API jams, and you need real-time customer support to help you navigate your way through.
Most payment gateways are very reputable, but they offer poor customer support, which isn’t suitable for the end-users.
Requirement Needed To Get Started With A Payment Gateway.
Now you are aware of the benefits you can derive from integrating payment gateways alongside your business. Here are the basic things needed to get started with any payment gateways. Also, note that the requirements for each payment gateway differ from each other.
1. Online credentials.
Online credentials like Username and emails are usually required if you want to subscribe to a payment gateway service.
2. Website.
The more reason why it is called an online payment gateway. Most websites that fall into this category are usually E-commerce.
The use of payment gateways is restricted to E-commerce only and to all manner of web platforms that want to integrate payment processing alongside their architecture. Websites based on subscription, wallet, and cryptocurrency services are also valid.
Here is an article I recommend you read to help you get started with a website or blog.
3. Government Issues ID.👣
Payment Gateways are open to doing business with anonymous persons from all over the world. This has, however, prompted identification exercises to be carried out in most cases before cash is released to the business owner.
Government Issued ID such as a National ID card or, better still, an International passport is usually the norm. Don’t fret about the need to provide unnecessary items. Only one of the two is enough for starters.
4. Business Documents.
Now you want to scale your online business into a larger company; probably because you earned a more significant profit, you might need to provide some business documents. A few of these business documents are your business corporation certificate and maybe tax certificates.
Some Top International payment gateway In The world You should know.
Not all payment gateway service providers are available to do business globally. In most cases, most of them are restricted to a particular location.
These few to be mentioned can be used to accept payments globally.
1. PayPal.
PayPal is an American company that operates an online payment system worldwide that facilitates online money transfers and serves as an electronic alternative to conventional paper methods such as checks and money orders.
The company acts as a payment processor for online retailers, auction sites and many other business customers, charging a fee for benefits such as one-click transactions and password memory. It’s free to use for buyers. It supports both credit and debit cards.
By using PayPal for credit card purchases, store owners would have to pay a quick transfer fee of “3.4 per cent USD 0.30.” The best part is that you only have to pay after making a sale. No setup fee is required to use PayPal. About 1M Internet sites use PayPal payment gateway, including Facebook.
PayPal can be used with CMS like WordPress, Magento and Shopify. If you are based in Nigeria and would like to learn how to accept international payments with PayPal in Nigeria, here is an article I recommend you read.
TRY IT NOW – Paypal.com
2. Authorize.Net.
Authorize.Net was established in 1996; it remains one of the oldest payment gateway providers. Today it serves over 430,000 merchants and manages over one billion transactions every year.
Due to its stability, Authorize.Net has partnerships with most merchant account providers, allowing its users to accept payments from major credit cards, debit cards, digital payments, e-checks and foreign payments from most countries.
Authorize.Net’s platform is easy to use, making it an excellent choice for new sellers and experienced users alike. In addition to accepting more payment types than most other payment gateways, it is also one of the very few to accept PayPal.
Authorize.Net makes it easy for its customers to use their existing merchant accounts with its payment gateway.
Authorize.net boasts of More than 400,000 merchants. Its payment gateway accepts online payments through credit cards and electronic checks. You need to pay $49 as setup fees and $29 as monthly gateway fees.
However, the company also offers an all-in-one package that includes a merchant account and a payment gateway.
Authorize.net has other features, including recurring payments, invoicing, fraud prevention filters, customer information management, mobile payments, a virtual point-of-sale (POS) system, and an optional card reader.
There are no setup fees for either plan, so therefore it is free to use, but usage attracts additional costs such as stated below.
Payment Gateway Only
1. $25 per month
2. $0.10 per transaction
3. $0.10 daily batch fee
4. Fraud prevention
5. Customer information manager
6. Recurring payments
7. Invoicing
8. Simple checkout
All-in-One Option
1. $25 per month
2. 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction
TRY IT NOW – Authorize.net
3. 2Checkout.com.
2Checkout.com was founded in 1999. It offers services in 196 countries and accepts payments in credit cards, PayPal, and debit cards.
2Checkout was created in 2006 to allow companies to accept online and mobile payments from buyers worldwide; 2Checkout currently serves more than 20,000 clients worldwide.
2Checkout offers a payment gateway called 2Sell that accepts all major credit cards and payments, including MasterCard, Visa, American Express, JCB, and PayPal.
It also supports payments in nearly 30 languages and 100 different currencies. In addition, with 2checkout, merchants get to sell services, digital products, physical products, and subscriptions and feature an account updater to keep customer information up to date.
2Checkout also offers users a commerce dashboard with instant insights into sales and other customer metrics, and lastly, 2Checkout takes only 3.5% + $0.35 per transaction, making it quite flexible if you may ask me.
Nonetheless, 2Checkout is loaded with excellent features such as.
1. Sell instantly in 200 countries/territories
2. Integrate quickly with any of 120+ carts
3. Scale-up for international growth
4. Sell any product
5. Access to recurring billing
TRY IT NOW – 2checkout.com
4. Stripe.
Stripe is an American technology company based in San Francisco, California. It was created by industry experts who have established partnerships with the broader payments industry.
Stripe is a payment gateway provider with a strong focus on technology and development. Stripe has over 4,000 employees in 14 countries and claims that 90% of online shoppers in the U.S. have purchased from businesses using Stripe.
Customers can build the platform they like or take advantage of Stripe’s native integrations with existing eCommerce platforms, including WooCommerce, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and BigCommerce.
Stripe supports over 135 currencies and payment types, mobile payments, subscription billing, one-click checkout, and a user dashboard with robust transaction tracking and reporting.
Stripe is one platform that does not shy away from exploring other venues as it also offers a virtual POS that makes it easy for users to unify their online and offline channels. Stripe Terminal works on mobile devices and computers and with pre-certified card readers that support chip cards and contactless payments.
Stripe does not have a monthly gateway fee. It also offers 24/7 email, phone, and chat support and access to an extensive online support centre. Customers can contact Stripe to get pricing for customised solutions. Stripe also comes with a lot of unique features, such as
1. Embeddable checkout
2. Recurring subscriptions and invoicing
3. Local payment methods
4. Real-time reporting
5. QuickBooks and NetSuite support
6. iOS and Android apps
7. 450+ platforms and extensions
8. Payments for platforms and marketplaces
9. Machine learning fraud prevention
Stripe optimises routing paths for revenue optimisation through direct integration with payment networks such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
TRY IT NOW – Stripe.com
5. Amazon Pay.
Amazon also offers a secure and streamlined payment service to everyone
The service is available to merchants and shoppers to facilitate their online purchases.
It is worked by using a user’s Amazon account information to complete check-ins and checkouts.
All you need to do is log in with your Amazon credentials, and it immediately charges you with no single extra charge.
TRY IT NOW – Amazon pay
6. Braintree Payment.
Braintree is an excellent online payment processor with loyalty to the mother platform Paypal.
With Braintree, users access a global market covered by more than 40 countries and supported by more than 130 currencies.
Braintree equips you with advanced anti-fraud software that will assist you in managing risk and preventing current and next-gen fraud.
TRY IT NOW – Braintreepayments.com
7. Skrill.
Creating an account on Skrill is free, and users are only charged a fixed percentage of what they’re sending/receiving.
This fee can come for as low as 1% of the transaction’s value on the sender’s side. This makes skrill very cheap as compared to other payment gateways.
TRY IT NOW – Skrill.com
8. BitPay.
Do You need to collect payments in cryptocurrencies, then BitPay is the right platform for you?
BitPay lets you accept and send bitcoins, store and securely spend your bitcoin funds, or turn them into dollars using your unique BitPay card.
BitPay allows you to invoice in 40 languages, ensuring your company can go global and appeal to foreign customers.
At the same time, it allows payments in 8 different currencies, including composite structures and bitcoins.
TRY IT NOW – Bitpay.com
10. Payoneer.
Payoneer helps businesses pay their contractors or remote workers quickly from any place they operate through its innovative mass payout platform.
Payoneer is one of the most widely used payment networks of all time, accepting 150 different currencies in over 200 countries worldwide.
It allows users to receive and make payments similar to a bank account.
TRY IT NOW – Payoneer.com
11. Paystack.
Paystack is a Nigerian online payment gateway platform; they also operate in some central African nations.
Paystack allows users to accept payment via debits or credit cards. As a Paystack merchant, you can directly withdraw your money to your local bank account.
Paystack can be used across various web platforms like WordPress, Magento, Presta Shop, etc.
Paystack is one of the very first to be able to accept payments outside Nigeria, meaning in nations Like the US and Canada, their recent update makes it easier for merchants outside the US to be able to get fees globally without any restrictions; they are gradually developing into a global payment system.
I recommend Paystack to anyone starting an online business for the very first time.
TRY IT NOW – Paystack.com
12. Flutterwave.
This is another excellent payment gateway in Nigeria. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola founded it. It allows you to collect money via debits or credit cards. Flutterwave is home to many subsidiaries, including GetBarter and Moneywave.
Flutterwave can be used across various web platforms like WordPress, Magento, Presta Shop, etc.
TRY IT NOW – Flutterwave.com
13. Vogue Pay.
With VoguePay, a website owner can receive payment without any setup fee for their goods and services.
They operate majorly in Nigeria but have now started to spread their tentacles across all other African nations.
The global reach of VoguePay enables customers and companies to make and receive payments conveniently in all significant currencies, irrespective of where they are located.
You can receive and make an online payment from anyone, even if they have a Voguepay account or not. In addition, vogue Pay can be integrated with WordPress, Magento and PrestaShop.
TRY IT NOW- Voguepay.com
14. Interswitch.
Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the electronic circulation of Cash and the timely and effective exchange of interest between individuals and organisations.
Interswitch was one of the first starters of payment gateways in Nigeria; they have now grown beyond the border of Nigeria even to start their own debit card business called stamina, which is now commonly used in Nigeria alongside Visa and Master Cards.
A web merchant can receive online payment by cardholders through Interswitch WebPay.
The downside is that it requires a setup fee of N150,000 Naira, roughly equivalent to $500.
TRY IT NOW- Interswitch.com
15. Remita.
Remita is one of the first payment gateways in Nigeria. It’s the number one choice from the Nigerian government to collect digital payments meaning it’s a reliable party to work with.
Remita offers a wide range of payment methods from Internet Banking, Debit/Credit Cards, Bank Branch, POS Terminals, Mobile Wallet, Cash Agents, mPOS, Direct Debit, Standing Order and Electronic Purse.
TRY IT NOW- Remita.net
16. Square.
Another payment gateway that every wanting to be a successful business is Square; It was created in 2009 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. It allows users to accept in-person and online payments with no setup and startup costs and includes a free mobile card reader.
Square accepts all major credit cards and other payment types like Apple Pay and Google Pay; it doesn’t support PayPal, one of its main competitors.
However, Square is one payment processor that can process ACH or electronic check payments, and it allows users to accept payments by website, invoice, or over the phone.
Merchants can accept credit card payments using just a smartphone or tablet, making it a perfect choice for food carts, farmer’s markets, craft booths, and other mobile merchants.
One of Square’s most desirable features is its easy setup. Users can download the software for free on any iOS or Android device and take payments using a plugin mobile credit card reader Square offers.
You should also know that it comes with a few transactions fees such as 2.6% + $0.10 in-person or e-commerce transaction, 2.9% + $0.30 invoice transactions and 3.5% + $0.15 manual or card-on-file entry. Lastly, It comes with lots of features such as
1. Free POS app
2. Free magstripe reader
TRY IT NOW – squareup.com/
Conclusion.
The online payment industry has evolved so fast that the projection into its future is purely enthralling.
However, like most business processes, online payments are constantly changing, and companies must adjust to the latest development to remain competitive. Make sure to select the Payment gateway that is more suitable for the size of your business.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings
3 Comments