Features of choosing a payment gateway for small businesses

One of the criteria customers consider when choosing an online store is the availability of convenient payment methods that ensure the security of personal data. Therefore, most entrepreneurs take a responsible approach to the choice of payment gateways, the reliability of which is crucial for business expansion.

How does a payment gateway work?

A payment gateway is a service that allows you to accept payments from a client's card and processes their personal data in real time. Itlinks the merchant's site, the payment processing service, and the acquiring bank. To protect the client's financial information, each transaction is processed using a special encryption algorithm.

In a few seconds that pass from the moment the consumer enters the bank card details to the transfer of funds to the recipient's account, the following actions take place:

1. Encryption of incoming data.

2. Sending the cipher through the gateway to the payment processor.

3. Transfer of information to the issuing bank.

4. Confirmation or rejection of the transaction.

5. Sending a response to the payment gateway.

6. Sending a response to the merchant's website.

7. Generating a response and executing the deal.

This scheme is used for all types of payments via the Internet.

Payment gateway selection criteria

When choosing a payment gateway for a small business, you need to pay attention to the following factors:

1. Security. The most common security protocol is TLS, which uses encryption algorithms such as RSA and AES in its work. Without these basic settings, the channel is vulnerable to fraud and passive hacker attacks. The PCI DSS is an innovation that implements a control function. The PCI DSSsets 12 requirements, which formed the basis for the operation of payment gateways. Compliance with this standard can be considered a criterion for the reliability of the resource.

2. The speed of the operation. The lengthy process of placing an order and processing bank data is why the client leaves their basket before the end of the transaction.

3. Efficiency and professionalism of the support service team.

Additional criteria for choosing gateways for small business

In order to make one-time transactions and recurring payments, small business owners must choose not only a secure, but also a convenient and affordable payment gateway. Therefore, additional selection criteria should be as follows:

Price. The payment gateway price includes setup fees, monthly fees, and transaction fees. Some companies do not charge a monthly fee but have a higher transaction fee. In order not to be mistaken in your choice, you should carefully check all these points.

A variety of methods to accept payments. Services that use Visa and Mastercard have a good reputation. But at the same time, it is necessary to consider the peculiarities of payment methods in each specific country.

Stability and continuity of work. Before starting the system, you should make sure that the payment gateway is compatible with the trading platform and does not malfunction.

When choosing a payment gateway, it is worth reading real user reviews and drawing appropriate conclusions, since this choice will largely determine the success of the business.