Choosing the best online payment platform for your business

Key quotes:

• "Here are 7 tips on how to choose the best online payment gateway for your business."
• "If you are looking for a new payment gateway for your online business, consider these tips to help you make the right decision."
• "The payment solution you are choosing should be able to integrate with your platform and allow the customer a smooth buying/checkout experience."
• "Several online payment providers have different set-up fees — a first-time charge for integrating with your website and some also have annual maintenance charges, just like Credit Cards! Don’t forget to consider how much your payment platform charges you to set up your account."
• "What is the transaction fee your payment gateway is charging? We suggest you choose a platform that offers you flat pricing without any hidden costs and charges."
• "When setting up with an online payment provider, especially a payment gateway, the providers might require you to submit business documents and many other such papers."

Key quotes:

• "If you carefully assess what your business needs and take your time in identifying a fee structure that meets your requirements, you’ll surely find the right solution."
• "Since online transaction volumes tend to be exponentially higher than in-store, you’ll most likely want to accept American Express right off the bat."
• "Inquire About Payment Turnarounds As a business owner, you’ll typically want to see money deposited into your bank account as quickly as possible."
• "For example: Platform A has a settlement batch cut off time between 5AM — 6PM (EST) and deposit schedule of 2–3 business days."
• "Ask About Contracts Not all payment platforms will require a signed contract, but for those that do you’ll definitely want to take a look."
• "Here are some things to keep in mind when inquiring about accepting cross-border payments: Whether you’re looking to accept payments in different currencies or open up shop in Hong Kong, make sure you have a good understanding of the international payment capabilities of your prospective platform."

Key quotes:

• "Choosing the right payment gateway determines the currencies you can accept, the transaction fee, how fast money gets in your merchant account, and the payment methods you’ll offer."
• "Generally, there are four main methods to integrate a payment gateway: A hosted payment gateway acts as a third party, as it requires your customers to leave your website to complete a purchase."
• "The pros are that you have full control over the transactions at your website."
• "Like any service, a payment gateway requires a fee for using third-party tools to process and authorize the transaction."
• "Popular gateway providers offer multi-currency support processing with or without an additional fee."
• "Stripe accepts all major payment methods, including mobile payment providers such as Apple Pay, WeChat Pay, Alipay, and Android Pay."

Key quotes:

• "A payment gateway is a piece of software that allows an online store or a paid service to request payments from customers."
• "Just like with other decisions regarding the future of your startup, at the fintech app development stage you can’t just pick a payment gateway randomly."
• "I’m going to discuss the types of payment gateways, security and design features, as well as pricing and acceptable payment methods."
• "A payment aggregator is a service provider that facilitates payments between startups (merchants) and consumers using various payment methods, like bank transfers and credit/debit cards."
• "You need to account for two things: first — what is the most appealing payment gateway for your customers? When choosing a payment gateway, you must ensure it has certain security features (like anti-fraud protection) so that your customers can feel familiar with your new (unfamiliar) service."
• "Some payment gateways, like Stripe, allow white-labeled payment processing (i.e, the ability to customize the checkout to include your company’s brand identity)."

Key quotes:

• "Pros: Developer friendly, growing quickly Cons: Can be tough to set up if you’re not familiar with code Fees: 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge to credit and debit cards for pay as you go, with enterprise pricing available; add 1% for international cards Stripe is a US company that has recently expanded overseas, and it is quickly becoming one of the best-known online payment gateways in the space."
• "Pros: Cross-border friendly Cons: Not as well known as other online payment gateways Fees: Use this transparent fee calculator to find out exactly how much you’d pay You may have heard of Transferwise as a company that facilitates transferring money internationally, but they also have an ecommerce payment system that can be used with credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, bank transfers, or iOS and Android apps, which makes them a great solution if you do a lot of cross-border business and need to give your customers plenty of options to pay."