Selecting a payment gateway company in India is a thorough evaluation process for any business, especially those operating online and physical shops. A payment gateway enables you to safely carry out a monetary transaction with the buyer via a credit card, debit card, or electronic payment system. Many payment gateway provider India, and knowing which service provider will meet your business’s needs becomes confusing. This blog will explain how one can select the payment gateway company in India.
How do payment gateways work with businesses?
Businesses that accept electronic payments or undertake online sales must have payment gateways. An outline of how they collaborate with businesses to enable safe, simple payment acceptance using a range of popular payment methods is provided below:
- Transaction authorisation: When a customer purchases and submits credit or debit card information, the payment gateway processes that information. It connects with the customer’s bank to ensure adequate money and authorises the transaction.
- Securing data: Payment gateways employ encryption and tokenisation to secure sensitive data, such as credit card details, during transit. This protects both the company and the client against potential fraud.
- Order fulfilment: Once a transaction has been authorised, the payment gateway sends a message to the business instructing it to proceed with the order fulfilment. This can range from distributing a product to offering a digital service or product.
- Settlement of funds: Once the transaction is completed, the payment gateway facilitates the transfer of money from the customer’s bank to the business’s bank account. This consists of multiple processes: fund collection and deposit, reconciliation, and reporting.
- Fraud prevention: Payment gateways play a crucial role in fraud prevention. They use various methods and technologies, including IP tracking and geolocation, to detect and prevent suspicious activity.
- Integration with other business systems: Most payment gateways can be integrated with other business systems, such as accounting software, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and e-commerce platforms. This enables businesses to improve operational efficiency.
Benefits of using a payment gateway
An ideal payment gateway can improve several aspects of a business. Payment gateways can facilitate transactions and dramatically improve the user experience and financial procedures. Here are some of the possible advantages of using a payment gateway:
- Enhanced customer experience: E-commerce clients desire an intuitive, straightforward, and rapid checkout process that allows them to utilise their preferred payment method. Payment gateways provide quick and easy transactions, allowing customers to pay using various methods such as credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and more.
- Secure transactions: One of the key benefits of a payment gateway is its security. It employs advanced encryption technology to preserve sensitive data, protecting the company and the client against fraud and data breaches.
- Increased sales: Payment gateways can help firms reach a larger audience, including customers from various locations, increasing sales.
- Real-time transaction processing: Payment gateways provide rapid feedback on whether a transaction was approved or refused. This speed helps to give customers the smooth payment experience they increasingly anticipate.
- Integration and compatibility: Payment gateways are typically easily connected with other e-commerce platforms and payment systems. This streamlines the handling of online transactions and helps to streamline business processes.
- Automated processes: Payment gateways simplify the payment process, minimising human labour and saving businesses valuable time and resources.
- Fraud detection: Many payment gateways include built-in fraud detection capabilities that help identify and prevent suspicious activity.
A payment gateway is more than just a tool for processing payments. It’s an investment that may promote customer happiness, increase sales, improve security, and streamline your business processes—but only if you select the right one for your needs.
How to choose a payment gateway company in India
Choosing the right payment gateway for your business is an important decision. Choosing a gateway that doesn’t fit your business model might also lose money and customers. Here are the most important factors:
1. Cost
The overall cost is the primary consideration when selecting a payment gateway. There are three payment gateway fees: setup, monthly, and transaction.
The volume and value of your transactions must be considered when determining the best cost-effective option for your organisation. Most payment gateways charge a competitive transaction cost. This may be useful for businesses when the value of their transactions is little; however, if they are substantial, transaction fees can significantly increase your expenses. If your company specialises in high-value transactions, seek payment gateways that provide services for a fixed monthly charge and a minimal transaction fee.
2. Types of cards allowed.
The most commonly used credit cards are Visa, MasterCard, and Amex. Most payment gateways accept all of these card types. However, if your customers usually pay you using other card types, such as a debit card or a Diners Club card, you must ensure that your payment gateways support that card.
3. Holding time
Even though payments are usually approved almost immediately, the money is held for a few days before it is settled in your account. This is to allow for the handling of refunds and chargebacks. Depending on the payment gateway provider India, these holding periods can vary from 1 to 7 days. Depending on your cash flow, you can wait or get paid immediately.
4. Multiple currency support
If you do business internationally, you must ensure that your payment gateway can handle payments in different currencies and from various countries. It is of utmost importance to let your customers pay in their currency. You’ll also want to check for fees involved in foreign currency transactions.
5. Recurring billing
If you run a subscription-based business, you must pick a payment gateway equipped to handle all the moving parts that go into recurring billing. Any payment gateway provider India you choose needs to be able to save and store customer details for future transactions, automatically charge credit cards on preset subscription schedules, and offer retry options for failed transactions. Otherwise, you may have to do all this additional work manually.
6. Hosted vs. non-hosted
A payment gateway can either be hosted off-site (the customer is taken to the payment processor’s website to enter their details) or non-hosted (the customer can enter the details without leaving your website).
Each of these different modes of hosting payment gateways has pros and cons. One benefit of hosted gateways is that they reduce the risk of storing sensitive information on your site. Although this is a considerable advantage, the downside is that redirecting your customers to another site adds another step to the payment process, making it longer than usual. If customers go through this lengthy process and the transaction fails due to a glitch or other error, they may become frustrated and not try again. For this reason, businesses with high transaction values prefer to have non-hosted payment gateways integrated with their stores.
7. Security
When it comes to receiving payments online, because you’re storing sensitive financial information, the security of your payment gateway should be a high priority. Keep in mind that different payment gateways adhere to various security standards. Make sure that the gateway you choose is level-1 PCI DSS compliant. Some gateways come with fraud detection and other screening tools to protect your business from fraudulent transactions.
8. Mobile payment support
Nowadays, most customers shop using mobile phones and tablets, so selecting a gateway that supports payments made from mobile devices is essential. This will allow your customers to pay you regardless of their device.
9. Limits
Some payment gateways set an upper limit on the transaction amount you can process monthly. This might not be a problem for small businesses. However, if your business deals with high-value goods or processes many transactions, you must be aware of such limits, as you may lose potential customers.
10. Integration with other systems
Finally, it’s worth considering if your payment gateway can connect with your invoicing or accounting software so that the corresponding invoice will automatically update your bookkeeping system when an online payment occurs. This will save you a lot of time and effort because you won’t have to keep track of expenses and manually update that payment information in your accounting system as it comes in.
Conclusion
Choosing the right payment gateway is a critical decision that can significantly impact your business’s success. Considering cost, security, integration, customer support, and other essential aspects, you can make an informed choice that aligns with your business needs and goals.
Whether a small startup or an established enterprise, a well-chosen payment gateway can streamline your payment processes, enhance customer satisfaction, and contribute to your business’s growth.
FAQ’S
- What factors should I consider when selecting a payment gateway in India? Consider transaction fees, supported payment methods (cards, UPI, wallets), security (PCI-DSS), integration ease, settlement time, multi-currency support, and customer support responsiveness.
- What is the difference between hosted and non-hosted payment gateways? Hosted: Redirects to a payment page (secure but slower checkout). Non-hosted: Payments happen on your site (better UX but higher security responsibility).
- How do payment gateway fees work? Fees include setup costs, monthly subscriptions, and per-transaction charges. High-volume businesses should prioritise low transaction fees; others may prefer flat monthly pricing.
Why is PCI-DSS compliance important? PCI-DSS ensures secure card data handling, prevents fraud, and avoids penalties. Always choose a PCI Level 1 compliant gateway for maximum security.
