Most businesses operating within the online payments realm tend to choose their payments gateway without truly making an informed decision.
Before you go selecting a payment gateway for your SaaS application, you need to understand:
1.The Different Components of a Payment Gateway
2.The Specific Needs of Your Business
3 particularly important components of a potential payment gateway are flexibility, security, and the customer experience:
Flexibility
A payment gateway provider that offers flexible payment capabilities should be at the top of your list of potential providers.
Businesses have ever changing needs. Understanding not only what your business needs now, but also planning for the needs scalable growth is pivotal!
Does the potential gateway provider allow for the addition of additional payment rails? Will payments be able to be processed in different ways (e.g. single vs. recurring payments)?
These are questions that MUST be considered to inform your decision.
Security
The PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Security Standard) has a set of guidelines established to secure customer information, and there are large fines for any businesses that are not PCI compliant!
The ideal payment gateway provider should be compliant with the highest PCI DSS standards possible.
By the same token, your payment gateway provider should offer fraud protection to offset any chargeback fees, fraudulent activity, etc.
The Customer Experience
The payment gateway is the area on a business website where payments are made. Simply put, a streamlined customer experience for online payments will mean more returning customers.
DON’T overlook the importance of a simple, well designed web form for payments, regardless of whether the form is completed on your site, or in a new page!
While the above three are most important factors to check out when selecting a payment gateway, here are a few more things you need to keep in mind:
Watch Out for Hidden Fees
You might be tempted to go for the payment processer that offers you the lowest rates in the market. But how sure are you that you will not be charged anything extra for things like batch processing, withdrawals, and cancellation.
Although they don’t highlight this fact, most payment processors will charge special fees that you may not be aware of. Also, the rate that you get from them might apply only to selected types of cards.
Make it a point to go through their terms carefully before signing the deal. But how sure are you that you will not be charged anything extra for things like batch processing, withdrawals, and cancellation.
Select The Option That Gives Fastest Access To Your Funds
Having control on your receivables is very important if you want your business to run efficiently. Therefore make it a point to choose a payment processor that gives you quick access to your funds.
Make sure they don’t freeze your money on the pretext of investigating suspicious activity or anything that might cause delay. Their processing formalities will have to be simple and quick. Go through their reviews before making your decision.
Look for Setup And Support Assistance
It might be simple to set up your payment processor; but if you don’t have the required technical knowhow you might need support and assistance. Hence it is always better to look for a service that provides you 24/7 support.
In case you face any problems with your sales transactions, the provider should be available to help you resolve your issues without any further delays.
Conclusion
Choosing a payment gateway without being well informed is an all too common mistake for businesses that accept payments online. Don’t just choose the first provider that you stumble upon. Do your homework thoroughly and make sure the one you choose caters to your specific requirements. Make sure you keep all the factors mentioned above, while making your decision.
