admin wrote this on 28 Sep 2012
Most people today would simply search for most popular payment gateways or do a price comparison without really knowing what features do payment gateways offer. The best way in my opinion would be to search for a payment gateway that would serve all your needs before zeroing down on one.
A few things you should keep in mind while evaluating payment gateways
1> History of the gateway:
Its a good idea to evaluate how long the payment gateway has been around for and the clientele list of the payment gateway. A payment gateway that has been around for a while is most unlikely to shutdown anytime soon ( hopefully 
). The clientele list also would give you a good insight on the reliability and integrity of the payment gateway. A list of reputed companies on their client list would show more confidence in the payment gateway.
2> Payment Methods:
The nature of your site would determine what are the various payment methods that you would like your customers to pay on the site. Popular payment methods areĀ credit / debit cards, online / paper direct debit (via internet accounts) and echecks which are currently gaining popularity. Echecks however like normal checks have a high probability of bouncing.
3> Processing Speed:
It can get rather frustrating for an end user if they had to wait long periods to have their payments processed. Ideally a payment method should process your transactions in seconds rather than minutes.
4> Price:
Price has been and will always be on of the most important factors while making your selection. It would be a good idea to compare prices with other payment gateways that offer similar solutions. Also keep an idea out for per transaction costs and any other hidden costs that may be charged. These could add up to large amounts.
5> Merchant Account:
Payment gateways come in 2 types, those that require merchant accounts and those that donāt. Getting a merchant account can take weeks whereas no merchant account payment gateways you can start almost immediately. However, the per transaction fee on non merchant accounts is much higher. Merchant accounts would ensure your name comes on the credit card bills and their charge back costs are minimal.
6> Multi-Currency:
Choosing a payment gateway that offers multi-currency support for your customers to able to pay through is very essential. Customers would prefer to pay in the currency of their choice rather than being forced to pay in a default currency adds tremendous value.
7> Bounce Rates:
Bounce rates can lead to unhappy customers and a loss in many orders. It would be a good option to evaluate what is bounce rate percentage of a payment gateway. The lower the percentage the better the payment gateway.
8> Test Account:
This would be essential before the launch of your product. Being able to simulate live orders on a test environment that would behave the same was as a live account can come quite handy while deciding your workflows.
The above evaluation points may not get you a perfect payment gateway but would help narrowing down your search for one.
Contributor : Govind Dalwani
Tags: ecommerce, gateway, payment gateway
© 2013 Blog | Neev Technologies
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.