6 Features to Seek in a Payment Gateway

By Kovich On March 4, 2010 Under Running Online Business

An online payment gateway is defined as a service provider that enables e-commerce websites and other Internet retailers to accept and authorize online payments, often in the form of credit card payments. If you’re setting up an e-commerce site, here are six features to look for when choosing the payment gateway that’s right for your new business:

1. A Myriad of Payment Options – Generally speaking, the more payment options you offer, the more customers you’ll have, so make sure any payment gateway you are considering offers a myriad of payment options. These should include all major credit cards, signature debit cards, and perhaps payments via electronic checks or eWallet accounts.

2. Fraud Prevention Features – Most well-established, reputable payment gateways offer their clients a variety of fraud prevention features. Such features should help you identify suspicious transactions and offer standard fraud prevention tools.

3. PCI-Compliance – Remember that the payment gateway you select will be handling all of your customers’ sensitive, confidential information so make sure they are PCI-compliant and store such data on a secure server.

4. Comprehensive Customer Service – Look for a payment gateway that offers a comprehensive customer service platform that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Be wary of any service that only offers email support. Many good payment gateways also offer live technical support to merchants and online user guides and how-to’s.

5. Quick Turnaround Time – Ask potential payment gateways how long it takes for funds to be deposited. Many services allow merchants to receive payments quickly, depositing funds into merchant bank accounts within just a few business days.

6. User-Friendly Interface – The payment gateway service should offer an easy-to-use and intuitive interface that allows you to manage all your transactions. You should be able to control and monitor payments directly through your website and access built-in features and tools.

If you’re looking to start an e-commerce website, you can check out the following posts of mine:
6 Things Needed to Start an eCommerce Site
7 Tips for eCommerce SEO