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Paypal or Other Payment Gateways?

By Christina Jovillar-Ebeling in Featured

Okay, now you have your ecommerce website design and you want to set up a payment gateway. Where do you begin? You can find these payment gateways on the Internet and see which one is more suitable for you.

First things first, what is a payment gateway and why do I need one? A payment gateway connects your ecommerce website to your merchant account. It connects payments by a secure order form with your merchant account at a bank.

I would start by researching all the different payment gateways companies and compare security, features, price and reliability.

Some differences I found when researching are mainly the fees and services offered. Some have higher fees than others and some have services such as fraud protection, eCheck processing, and risk management you should look into. Fraud protection identifies suspicious transactions with built-in fraud tools provided by the online merchant company. Electronic checks (eChecks) are another payment method that allows customers to enter their banking information online. Risk management is where sensitive data is stored in the online merchant’s PCI-compliant data center, never on your computer.

Some fees to look into are the setup fees, monthly fees, and transaction fees. Most providers will charge a monthly fee and transaction fees. Some companies will waive the set up fee.

Reliability is an important thing to look at. Make sure your gateway is up 24/7 especially when your customers are ordering online throughout all hours of the day, all over the world.

Authorize.net is a company that offers payment gateways. I would also look into Paypal, especially Paypal Websites Payment Pro. Your customers won’t even need a Paypal account to purchase your products or services if you go with Paypal Websites Payment Pro. This is a very good choice, plus you will save on fees as there is no monthly fee for this type of account. Websites Payment Pro accepts all credit cards and all Paypal payments, and works with a number of shopping carts.

Considering security, price and reliability features for the payment gateway will help you on your way to getting your ecommerce web site ready to go live.