A reliable payment gateway makes an integral part of a business. It keeps the payment processing environment rolling without any hassle by enabling both businesses and consumers to pay online. This is the reason why more and more online businesses are turning towards payment gateways to keep their transactions safe and customers happy.
In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about a payment gateway, from what it is, and how it works, to its amazing advantages. Keep reading!
What is a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway refers to a technology or simply software that collects and transfers payment data from the consumer to the business or merchant. In simple words, it safely validates the payment details of customers, ensures they have sufficient funds available, and finally allows merchants to accept the payment. We can say that it acts as a reliable interface between the customer and the online business.
How does Payment Gateway work?
Most payment gateways are customer-facing. This is how they work:
- A customer fills his cart with desired items and moves to the checkout page of the website.
- He chooses his desired payment option and enters the necessary payment details.
- Then, a payment gateway receives an approval/denial order from the bank of the customer.
- In case of an approval message, the business begins the shipping and delivery process.
- The total amount is then settled by the customer’s bank to the payment gateway, which in turn reflects payment in the merchant’s account.
During this transaction process, all the private information and data of customers are kept secured and encrypted by the payment gateway. Therefore, businesses, as well as customers, don’t need to worry about security.
How does Payment Gateway Keep Your Transactions Secure and Customers Happy?
Below are the benefits of the payment gateway that make it the most sought-after technology for online businesses:
1. Better Security
The biggest advantage of using payment gateways is the top-notch security and high transaction speed they provide. The best payment gateways like the Cashfree payment gateway allow you to receive payments much faster than you normally do. This means you can provide a better shopping experience to your customers
2. Minimum Initial Set-Up Cost
Many business owners have a misconception that setting up a payment gateway requires a huge budget and hence can only be afforded by large businesses. However, that’s not true. In reality, the right payment gateways require a minimum set-up cost. While they incur certain transaction charges, they are worth looking at the benefits they offer.
3. Help in Keeping Up Future Trends
The best payment gateways in India offer all the possible features and functionalities that are very relevant for the upcoming future. Moreover, most payment gateway providers keep their systems fresh and up to date. This ensures that your business stays ahead of the competitors in the present and future.
4. Saves a Lot of Time
Perhaps the biggest reason why payment gateways are favoured so much by users, as well as businesses, is that they are very time-saving. It takes a few seconds to make online payments via a payment gateway. Not just that, payment gateways allow you to make and receive payments from any part of the world. This offers a great deal of flexibility, convenience and satisfaction.
5. Better Customer Experience
Cart abandonment is one of the most problematic issues for online businesses. One of the major reasons behind it is the unavailability of enough payment options. When a customer doesn’t find the desired payment method at the time of checkout, he is very likely to leave your site and abandon his purchase.
Not just this, this also compels your customers to shop from your competitors. So, if you want to retain your customers and provide them with a great purchase experience, then a payment gateway is a must for you.
6. Accept Payments From All Across the World
Another benefit of using payment gateways is that they allow you to accept payments from customers sitting anywhere across the globe. This allows you to grow your business in the international markets very swiftly. Further, you can accept payments in any currency you want as most of the reliable payment gateways offer flexible multi-currency support.
7. Higher Transaction Success Rate
Declined transactions are another nightmare for online businesses. They tend to incur hefty additional charges and impose many inconveniences. The best way to prevent this situation is by integrating with a reliable payment gateway system.
Note that the payment gateways confirm the availability of funds as soon as the customers enter their payment information like credit/debit card details. Therefore, the payment request made by you is accepted or declined in the initial phase only. By having a payment gateway, you don’t have to run after customers in case of failed transactions.
8. Smooth Cash Flow
Believe it or not, the best instant settlement gateways reflect money in your merchant account in less than 15 minutes. This means you don’t have to wait to have the money earned from your customers. With a smooth cash flow, you can operate your business in a much better way.
9. Payment Processing Automation
This is again a huge perk of having payment gateways. A good system reduces the need for human intervention which is involved in payment processing. By automating the entire payment process, the payment gateways help in saving a lot of money, time and human effort. Moreover, automation also reduces errors in payment processing, which is another great benefit.
10. Security and Fraud Detection
Protecting customers’ confidential information is the primary responsibility of an online business. However, security threats and chargebacks are still among the major concerns of online merchants. The right payment gateways offer strong security features like fraud detection, data encryption, PCI-DSS compliance, etc to offer the highest security to businesses as well as their customers.
Bottom Line
This was all about how payment gateways can benefit your business. By integrating with the right system, you can improve your entire payment processing ecosystem to a great extent. So, don’t wait any more and find the best payment gateway TODAY!