There are many things to consider when shopping for the perfect payment gateway for your small business. Most of the top payment platforms for small businesses have several significant features and offer functionalities that enhance the payment experience for both merchants and their customers. It can seem a little complicated, especially for a new business owner — but don’t worry, we are going to remove the guesswork for you and take a look at some of the features that small business owners should look for in any payment gateway they may be considering for their organization.
Security
In addition to speed, the best payment gateways should have impeccable uptime. This means you can rest assured that your payments will be securely processed as expected, every time.
The use of cashless payments is consistently on the rise with more and more Americans using their smartphones to make purchases and pay their bills. So it only makes sense that security should be a priority for any small business when deciding on a payment gateway. Things like PCI compliance, tokenization and other security features can greatly protect you and your clients.
In recent years, Americans have unfortunately witnessed several types of security breaches, ransomware attacks and other malicious acts. These events can sometimes negatively impact the views consumers have about using smartphones and other types of technology to make payments. Therefore, we suggest only using payment gateways that incorporate hosted tokenization or two-factor authentication and are PCI-compliant.
Enhancements
A reliable payment gateway should have available add-on features that will enhance your customer’s payment process. 3-D Secure Authentication (3DS) is a security protocol that provides an extra layer of security for card-not-present transactions. It was designed to allow a cardholder to easily authenticate their identity in order to prevent payment fraud and reduce chargebacks. 3DS makes the payment verification process quicker and more customer-friendly with less cart abandonment. Therefore, more and more merchants are giving this new security protocol a shot.
3DS is not as widely used in the U.S. as it is in some other regions. As part of a European Union mandate, merchants operating in the European Economic Area must use payment service providers that offer what is known as strong customer authentication. Although this is not a requirement in the U.S. yet, it will almost certainly be in the future. As a small business owner, gaining and keeping your customer’s trust is a key to your success. The option of adding 3DS is a surefire way to do that.
Accessibility
Providing customers with the option to make purchases and payments from any of their devices is simply par for the course these days. And with consumers spending more and more time on their smartphones, a payment platform that is mobile-friendly or has a mobile-first design is imperative for any small business.
Speed and Uptime
Speed is also a top concern for payment platforms as it is a major part of the user experience. Consumers do not want to even attempt to make payments on a slow-moving payment platform. They want a platform that is not only secure but one that incorporates technology with a swift customer flow to make the payment experience fast and efficient.
In addition to speed, the best payment gateways should have impeccable uptime. This means you can rest assured that your payments will be securely processed as expected, every time. No business owner wants to lie awake at night thinking about whether or not their customers are able to make purchases due to some kind of technical issue. That’s why it is important to test the gateway for performance. It is important that payments not fail even if numerous clients are attempting transactions simultaneously.
Simplicity
When developing payment gateways, payment solutions companies that focus on user experience often end up with a payment system that allows customers to effortlessly make payments from their devices. Payment platforms that focus on the user experience and develop a payment flow based on research and studies of human behavior often deliver a technology that improves ease of use for your customers.
When consumers are comfortable with the design of a payment platform, a business using that platform will notice that their customer service departments do not become strained. In short, a flawless user experience can save you time and money in the long run.
Recurring Payment Functionality
Recurring payment functionality can benefit many different types of businesses. By incorporating recurring payment functionality into their design, payment platforms provide customers with the ability to make automated payments, which often can ensure that customers pay on time and that businesses get paid on time. Another major benefit of automated payment functionality is that it provides small businesses with the technology to offer payment plans to their customers.
Integration
With all of these different options available, another important feature when choosing a payment gateway is a seamless integration with all major financial networks around the world. A top-notch provider should cover the basics that you will need to get you set up. Usually, it is a piece of code that needs to be inserted into your site, plus your list of payment options. That may sound like something that would normally require a computer science degree, but with the right provider, this type of integration will be a piece of cake.
Virtually every small business can benefit by using a top-tier payment platform. The best platforms will include everything that we’ve discussed and most likely some additional features such as multilingual support. Keep in mind that although choosing the right payment platform for your business might initially seem like just one task among many, it is an especially important decision that can go a long way toward helping you establish trust with your customers.
Jonathan Corona has two decades of experience in the electronic payments processing industry. As chief operating officer of MobiusPay, Corona is primarily responsible for day-to-day operations as well as reviewing and advising merchants on a multitude of compliance standards mandated by the card associations, including, but not limited to, maintaining a working knowledge of BRAM guidelines and chargeback compliance rules defined in both Visa and Mastercard operating regulations.