Payment Gateway: Guidelines on the advantages and features of an authentic payment gateway

Payment gateway is a special service designed with a built in billing processor that allows and systematizes the collection of credit card information and its transmission across the Internet. A payment gateway, which is a digital equivalent of a credit card processing terminal, is a software application that offers the functionality of a credit card company, allowing merchants to accept credit cards online and thus fulfill the merchant's payment services needs.

Types of Payment Gateway: Payment gateways come in two styles

The most commonly used style of Payment Gateway is a secure order form that takes the customer to a third-party site for ecommerce credit card processing and payment into the merchant's individual merchant account.
The second style of Payment Gateway is merchant-side application program interface or API. This is a code integrated into the server that is hosting the merchant's ecommerce site.

Advantages of Payment Gateway : Payment Gateway makes accepting credit cards online easy & offer the following advantages to the merchants:

Reduces the geographical barrier in ecommerce. Merchants can accept credit card payments from customers located anywhere in the world in seconds.
Provides convenience to online shoppers. Customers can pay online with ease and speed.
Helps customers to know instantly whether their credit card payment has been accepted or not. This real time monitoring of online payment has saved a lot of time on the customers end.
Guarantees 100% safe and secured online payment transaction. The charge back facility that comes with online ecommerce credit card payment offers the consumer money back guarantee if the service fails to satisfy the customer.
Widens the business horizons of merchants by offering unlimited access to the global market.
Saves the infrastructure cost of setting up a shop. Payment processing online also cuts down the manpower cost.
The order and payment processing is very fast.
Saves the hassles of payment through check and also the time taken for check clearance.
Facilitates shopping even at odd hours.

Popular and trusted Payment Gateways : Here is a list of the most trusted payment gateway service providers :

Verisign
Authorize.net
Linkpoint payment gateway
2CO
Paypal
CCAvenue

Verisign, authorize.net & linkpoint offers both an API and a secure website for storing consumer's credit card records. Because of API the required data are captured on the merchants ecoomerce site. The advantage of these payment gateways is that the consumer never leaves the merchant's ecommerce site. The ecommerce credit card processing is done in the payment gateways' secured site itself. Once processed, they will be re-directed back to the merchant's web site.

In case of third party credit card processors like 2CO, Pay pal, CC Avenue, the merchant needs to use the ecommerce credit card processor's own proprietary gateway. This helps to stay in compliance with Visa and Master Card. In such a case, after the customer checks out, the third party processor's secure web page will open. Merchants can customize this page and personalize it with his ecommerce site. But the logo of the third party credit card processor will tell the customer whom they are paying to.

Payment Gateway checklist: While choosing the payment gateway best suited to meet the payment services of your ecommerce web site, keep the following points in mind:

Payment Gateway Compatibility is very crucial. After you have already purchased a shopping cart package for your ecommerce site, make sure that the payment gateway service is compatible with that.
Address Verification System or AVS protection is a must for payment gateways in order to reduce the incidence of accepting fraudulent transactions. AVS does this by verifying the credit card holder's billing address with that of the credit card issuer's. So, always make it a point to see that your chosen payment gateway offers AVS protection.

Payment gateways include costs additional to merchant account charges. This cost to be borne by the merchant varies. Payment Gateways are available for as low as $40. A payment gateway acts as the mediator between the merchants shopping cart and the ecommerce credit card payments. Making the right choice of payment gateway is crucial as on this may depend the success or failure of the ecommerce venture.

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