Payment gateways -Don’t you just love the convenience of paying online? Whether you are paying for lights, food or sending money to your grandmother, it’s just easier to do it from your phone/computer instead of physically travelling to do so. It is the same for organisations receiving online payments. There is a convenient element for businesses as it allows them to receive money directly into their account 24/7. Furthermore, it attracts more online clients that may be physically out of reach for the business.
Companies can attract more customers using a business website, social media platforms and other online channels, but these platforms alone cannot process online payments. This is just the first step. To ensure that their customers are able to pay them online, they need to integrate their business’s online platforms into a solution that will enable them to receive payments safely online. This solution is called a payment gateway.
Breaking down payment gateways
A payment gateway does the same job as an in-store point-of-sale terminal, just online. It allows customers to make online payments securely, while protecting businesses from fraudulent payments and transactions. How does it do this? Well, through verifying a customer’s card details and ensuring the customer’s account has enough funds before completing the sale transaction.
If we strip payment gateways to their technical process, the following is what happens each time a customer makes an online payment on platforms using this solution:
- The customer enters their details for their chosen payment method.
- The payment gateway securely verifies that the details are correct.
- It checks if the customer has sufficient funds for purchase before accepting or declining their payment method.
- When accepted, the payment gateway requests the issuing bank to initiate the transaction and deposit the funds to the merchant bank.
- Payment gateway notifies merchants once payment is complete.
Payment Gateway Process
The backend process sounds tedious; however, it takes place instantaneously, and it ensures that all online transactions occur safely, without any issues. In addition, payment gateways must comply with a number of security standards as they deal with people’s sensitive information. Thus, maintaining an elevated level of online security for both the business and consumer.
That is wonderful and all, but do payment gateways only work for debit and credit card transactions? Not at all. Payment gateways work for numerous payment methods, including eWallets, internet banking, and debit/credit cards. As a result, businesses can then expand the number of payment methods they accept online, making their brand more appealing to online shoppers.
Taking advantage of the benefits
So far, we know that payment gateways are great for increasing the security of online payments and increasing the number of payment methods customers can opt for. A few other payment gateway benefits every business should to know about are as follows:
- Speeds up payment process
- Simplifies payment process
- Makes checkouts easier
- Offers customers convenience
- Manages fraud
- Improves customer experience
- Creates opportunity for global sales
Choosing the right payment gateway
There are so many payment gateway solutions to choose from that it can take what feels like forever to decide which one is best for your business. Consnet, however, will make this process easier for you by offering you its top five payment gateway solutions, which you can find below:
PayPal
As of 2022, PayPal is the preferred online payment option in the USA, and other countries. According to a Statista, 83% percent of consumers have made use of the payment gateway between 2021 and 2022 when the study took place. This payment services provider enables businesses to easily receive payments and even assists you with fraud management and fund recovery.
DPO
DPO is the leading payment service provider in Africa, which accepts all currencies and payment methods used on the continent and the rest of the world. You can trust this payment gateway to offer the highest standard in payment processing.
PayGate
This payment gateway is the creation of DPO and is a great option if you want a fully managed solution with a month-to-month subscription that you can cancel any time.
Netcash
For an extremely user-friendly payment gateway that takes little time to set up, use Netcash. It offers secure payments for salaries, supplier payments, risk management, and of course eCommerce platforms.
Peach Payments
Peach payments strives to simplify payment processes for merchants as much as humanly possible, without compromising on security. This option also has a “subscription payment” function, resulting in a better checkout experience for your customers.
For help choosing, implementing, and integrating the right payment gateway into your business, get in touch with Consnet. Their experts know how to give you exactly what your business needs, in the time your business needs it.
