Manual payment methods, both through ATMs and Internet banking, are widely used by online stores. The working principle is very simple. After the customer transfers money, the online shop owner then checks the payment and then the goods will be sent.
If there are still a few transactions that occur at online stores, it’s not a problem. However, if the number of transactions that occur reaches hundreds or even thousands per day, manual payment methods like that are very inconvenient. Chances of error will be very large.
A more practical and efficient payment method is using an online payment application called the Payment Gateway.
What is a Payment Gateway?
Payment Gateway is an online payment application or software that acts as a bridge between buyers and online stores. Payment Gateway provides an automatic payment system that will speed up the transaction process that occurs in online stores.
There are many advantages if an online store uses a Payment Gateway, which include:
- Online store owners no longer need to check payments manually because payment verification from customers occurs automatically.
- Security is guaranteed because payment transactions are made through a more trusted third party.
- Buyers from abroad can make transactions easily.
There are many Payment Gateway service providers that can be used by online stores. Each offers varying facilities and transaction fees.
In this article I will discuss the 10 most popular Payment Gateway service providers in the world.
PayPal
PayPal is the most widely used online payment system on the Internet. With PayPal, online store customers can make payment transactions with funds stored in their PayPal account or by credit card. In addition to payment transactions, PayPal also provides facilities for sending money to other PayPal users.
The fee charged by PayPal for each payment transaction is 2.9% plus $ 0.30. There are no setup fees or monthly fees.
Amazon Payments
Amazon Payments is an online payment system managed by Amazon.com. With the big name Amazon.com as the most popular online store in the world, of course Amazon Payments has quite a lot of users. With Amazon Payments, online shop owners can take advantage of the provided API to accept payments through their online stores.
The fees charged by Amazon Payments differ based on the number of transactions. If it’s over $10, the fee will be 2.9% plus $0.30. If it is less than $10, the higher fee will be 5.0% plus $0.05.
Google Pay
Google Pay is an online payment system owned by Google.com. With Google Pay, customers can pay for the products and services they buy through an account that is connected to their Google account.
One of the advantages of Google Pay compared to other online payment methods is that millions of Internet users already use Google for other services, making payment transactions via Google Pay easier.
The fees charged by Google Pay vary, depending on the transaction volume. If the total transaction per month is less than $3000, the fee will be 2.9% plus $0.30. The greater the monthly transaction volume, the lower the percentage of transaction costs.
ACH Payments
Aside from being a payment gateway and credit card processor, ACH Payments has the advantage of being able to handle payments using the ACH system and can be used as a payroll system.
What is the ACH system?
ACH stands for Automated Clearing House, which means an institution that organizes interbank clearing electronically, automatically, semi-automatedly or manually for its participants, which are generally commercial banks.
Clearing payment instructions are in the form of checks, giro slips, credit or debit notes and transfer receipts or transfers. Payments via ACH are usually made for large payment amounts or periodic payments, such as paying employee salaries or monthly bills such as electricity and telephone.
Stripe
Stripe is a popular online payment method among web developers. Stripe provides an API that can be easily integrated into web development projects.
With Stripe, web developers can create their own payment forms that are tailored to the project being developed without the need to follow payment procedures as with payment gateways in general.
The transaction fee charged by Stripe is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. There are no monthly fees or setup fees for Stripe.
Authorize.net
Authorize.Net is the most used payment system on the internet and has been around since 1996. Today, there are more than 375,000 online merchants using it.
Each year Authorize.Net handles more than $88 billion of transactions securely via credit cards and checks.
The transaction fee charged by Authorize.Net is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. In addition there is a monthly fee of $25.
Skrill
Skrill, formerly known as Moneybookers, has some great features such as free setup, low fees, and the ability to send text messages directly from your account.
Besides being a popular and simple alternative to PayPal, this service is great for international merchants as you are allowed to transfer your account balance to a prepaid debit card instantly.
WePay
WePay is a payment method that enables internet merchants to accept credit card and bank account payments online. WePay’s system is very simple, in fact you can start receiving payments in less than a minute.
The downside to WePay is that it’s only available to US citizens.
Transaction fees charged by WePay are 3.5% for transactions with credit cards and $ 0.50 for transactions with bank accounts.
2CheckOut
2CheckOut is a payment method that is a combination of a merchant account and a payment gateway that does not require PayPal or a Merchant account.
Just register and verify your account and you can start accepting credit card payments, and even PayPal payments. The company also offers international payments, shopping carts, and billing features.
The transaction fee charged by 2CheckOut is 3.5% plus $0.35 for each successful transaction.
Dwolla
Dwolla is a direct competitor of PayPal. Dwolla is a payment option that acts as an on-ramp to the ACH network, with some great benefits, for example, you can transfer funds via email, phone, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
For businesses, you can integrate a bank account into a wire transfer as part of the payment.
The fees charged by Dwolla vary according to the package selected at the time of registration. For the Start package, it is 0.5% per transaction provided the transaction is less than $ 5.
Conclusion
Online payment methods such as PayPal, Amazon Pay and others are very important if you want to create an online store targeting customers from abroad. You can imagine how difficult it would be if there was only a payment method by bank transfer.
Besides being more practical, with this online payment method you can process transactions from abroad easily and quickly.
