One of the most lucrative ways to make money online is to sell a product or service that people want, need and/or desire.
But to do this, you need to have a good, reliable and secure payment gateway to accept those payments. Without this, you’ll be stuck on the Dark Ages, and will be losing out on potential sales – we all want things as quickly and as fast as we want these days, and if we can’t get it from one place, we will go to the next. Don’t let your customers start going to your competitors because you don’t give them the ease of purchase that they do.
What is a Payment Gateway?
Payment gateways allow websites to accept payments from customers electronically (i.e. card payments or payments from the balance of the customer’s payment account).
A payment gateway is not the same as a merchant account
Many people confuse merchant accounts with payment gateways but they are not the same. Merchant account services act, for the most part, as a liaison between your business bank account and the payment gateway. When a customer orders a product from your website their card is processed via the payment gateway. The money is then moved over to the merchant account service. The merchant account service then moves the money to your business bank account.
Three tips for choosing a payment gateway:
1. Is it PCI-compliant?
PCI compliance refers to the payment gateway’s security – it basically shows that they have been audited by a third party and found to be up to industry standards. Since payment gateways store all your customers’ credit card information (sparing you the stress), it also means you can sleep better at night, knowing your customers’ valuable information is safe and sound.
Payment gateways will not only allow you to collect the money from your online sales – many also offer an array of security features, some of which will help you avoid becoming a victim of fraudulent orders! In the end, they will make your ecommerce business a less-stressful, more pleasant experience for both you and your customers.
2. Does it offer good customer support
If you have a problem, or your customer has a problem, will they be able to speak to or email someone who will respond in a timely manner at the payment gateway company?
Poor customer service creates a lot of stress, and your customers will not only distrust the payment gateway, but they may also think twice about buying from you again.
3. Can the payment gateway you choose be integrated to the third-party solutions you are planning to use.
Your online store will be built using some sort of content management system – WordPress, Magento and Joomla are just a few examples. You must ensure that your payment gateway will integrate with this content management system.
If you’re thinking of taking online payments, payment gateways you might consider are:
- Paypal
- Google Checkout
- Sage Pay
