Choose?a reliable and competitive payment gateway service provider and find out how to work with them

How to integrate a payment gateway into a website. Source:shutterstock.com

Starting an e-commerce business requires receiving payments from your customers in a quick and secure way. Learn how to start accepting credit cards and other payment options at your website.

Many small businesses that start trading over the internet postpone adding online payment means to their web-store. Surely, it’s possible to pay on delivery or transfer funds to the merchant’s bank account. Perhaps, in the beginning, customers will be fine with that. However, ultimately they’ll seek for immediate transactions without extra fees to the mediators. Furthermore, when customers see a well-known payment processor form at the check-out, the seller looks more trustworthy and professional to them.

Selection

To begin with, choose a reliable and competitive payment gateway service provider. You can find more information about some of them in our previous article.

The software support site should have a list of compatible options. Source: shutterstock.com

Your web host or software provider most definitely supports popular third-party payment applications that you can quickly implement. The software support site should have a list of compatible options. Check those first and learn more about them. Adding other alternatives will be technically more difficult. It will take longer too.

If possible, choose a direct gateway, as they don’t need external websites to complete the transaction. The quicker the procedure is for the client the better. Let speed be your ally.

Read the information about the fees and terms of use carefully. Choose a service that reflects your needs and goals. Avoid those gateways that charge clients extra service fees. Nobody likes hidden costs at the final stage of their purchase. Calculate all your expenses with the few chosen gateways and compare possible net profits and losses.

Application

Don’t forget to include all your business details in the written application form. Source: shutterstock.com

It is only natural that the application process for a payment processor takes place online. Thankfully, you don’t need lots of hard copy paperwork to be able to accept payments over the internet. However, don’t forget to include all your business details in the written application form.

Different business forms need different payment solutions. Mention whether your enterprise is owned by a sole proprietor or a partnership, if it’s a corporation, LLC, or cooperative. The forms of business organizations are no less meaningful than the business types such as service business, merchandising business, manufacturing business, or a hybrid one.

Include your regional preferences. Some enterprises serve international clients while others concentrate on their native country. Perhaps, your business is aimed at specific locations. The payment processor providers need to know that to choose the best financial alternatives.

Legal details are also very important. Mention the jurisdiction of your business entity, the state where it is officially registered. Otherwise, you may face high commission fees as your transactions will be handled via a foreign bank. If you have a license, consider including its number too.

Financial volumes of your sales are essential for an adequate payment gateway. Specify the range of your money turnover, smallest and the biggest cheque sizes (at least approximate), and be ready to provide the processing history (not applicable to startups with no sales experience).

Specify the range of your money turnover. Source: shutterstock.com

Be attentive to your website. Most payment service providers demand the webpages to comply with Visa and MasterCard requirements. Therefore, the websites must include such basic sections as: Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Contacts, etc. The PSPs need to make sure their customers and their personal data will be protected by the corporate rules.

Some businesses must have age verification at their websites (for instance, adult content, gambling, financial services). The setup process isn’t possible without this feature. If you fall to this category, add it before applying.

Supporting documentation

The list of documents you need to attach to your application varies from one service provider to another. It is also different for various business types. However, the basic ones are usually the same.

• a certificate of incorporation;
• share certification;
• company extracts (will include: nomination of a director, owner details and registered address of the company);
• POA (power of attorney) to act on behalf of the director of the business entity, if applicable;
• the official settlement bank account which would be used for payments. The paper usually needs to show the bank’s name and logo, full address of the bank, and the IBAN numbers (IBAN number per currency you want to process in);
• scanned passports and the proof of the address of the directors and beneficiary;
• processing history;
• proofs of domain ownership;
• proof of the office address of the company;
• proof of activities (copyright or supply agreements, licenses, etc.)

The list of documents you need to attach to your application varies. Source: pexels.com

Incorporating payment gateway

Once you’ve done with the legal part, it’s time for a technical one. Setup of a payment gateway is quite easy.

You need to sign up for a merchant’s account, choose your login and password, fill in some personal details, etc. Then you can choose an applicable pricing plan. The payment gateway will provide you with the necessary information for your online store software provider.

Usually, the new stores are allowed some testing period. Source: shutterstock.com

Generally, you need to enter your payment gateway information for each method of payment you intend to accept (Visa, Mastercard, etc.). This can be done from your online store’s administration page.

Usually, the new stores are allowed some testing period. You are given some test or sandbox accounts by your payment gateway service. These allow you to perform fake transactions to ensure that the payment process is working correctly. It is a seller’s responsibility to test all the available payment methods beforehand. This way, you make sure that everything will go smoothly when you go live.

If you have doubts about some setup details or test transactions, contact support. They will gladly help you to bring your online store to perfection.

SEE ALSO:?12 best online payment services for your business