E-commerce businesses accept payments through different online modes for the customer’s ease. Credit card payments make up most of the online spending around the world. People love to spend the available credit limit on online shopping. For the same reason, e-commerce businesses incorporate the credit card payment mode on their website or digital marketplace. By uplifting the customer experience on digital platforms, an e-commerce business can gain an edge over competitors. As a business owner, one has to know some basics for integrating online credit card payment. Read on to learn how to start accepting credit card payments.
Understanding The Journey Of An E-Commerce Transaction
Two main components for accepting credit card payments via a digital platform exist. These components include a payment gateway and a payment processor. To understand these components in context, let us explore the journey of an e-commerce transaction via a credit card. After selecting a product, the customer moves to the checkout page. The customer must enter the credit card details at the payment window to initiate the transaction. The e-commerce website encrypts the credit card information entered by the customer; this is done by the payment gateway embedded into their website.
Once the payment gateway has the customer’s credit card information, it forwards it to the payment processor. Every business has to open a merchant account with a bank. The merchant account is the payment processor for credit card payments on an e-commerce website. However, some companies do not choose to open a merchant account with a bank. In such cases, they can partner with a third-party payment aggregator to process a credit card payment online. If e-commerce business partners with a payment aggregator, the payment gateway will forward the credit card details entered by the customer to the aggregator.
Once the payment processor has the customer’s credit card information, it forwards it to the card issuer. The card issuing bank can either authorise or deny the payment collection request. The issuer can reject a payment collection request when funds are insufficient in the source. Sometimes, the issuer refuses the payment collection request because it might look like a fraud or unauthorised transaction. Once the transaction seems legal, the issuer withdraws the respective amount from the customer’s account. Then, the money is forwarded to the payment processor. In the end, the payment processor deposits the money into the business’s bank account.
By opening a merchant account, businesses can receive credit card payments quickly. However, the merchant must add an effective payment gateway on the official website. An effective payment gateway can offer a better shopping experience to the customer on an e-commerce website.
Built-In Payment Gateway Integrations For E-Commerce Businesses
E-commerce platforms have built-in payment gateway integrations for accepting online credit card payments. If a business wants to start accepting credit card payments immediately, choosing an integrated gateway is the right option. An integrated payment gateway can be embedded into the e-commerce website quickly. An integrated payment gateway is added to the e-commerce website with a simple admin interface.
There are many reliable integrated payment gateways in the market. With an integrated payment gateway, the e-commerce business will deal with only one provider. Since the company only focuses on a single provider, things work out smoothly. Note that a built-in payment gateway can facilitate a simple checkpoint process. There will not be any added features or customisation options with an integrated payment gateway. A built-in payment gateway might not be the right choice if the business wants to offer a personalised checkout experience to customers on its online portal.
Elevate The Shopping Experience With A Custom Payment Gateway
Businesses can choose to offer a custom payment gateway to customers to enhance the shopping experience. With a custom payment gateway on an e-commerce website, customers get a better checkout experience. For example, some website display add-ons for a specific product/service on the checkout window. Also, some e-commerce websites add their upsell products or services to their checkout page.
By adding these unique features to the payment gateway, the customers will enjoy a personalised experience. A business must choose the gateway provider if it wants to offer custom payment options. Very few payment gateway providers offer customisable options to businesses. Therefore, it is better to compare the customisation features before selecting a payment gateway provider.
An e-commerce business can also choose to develop a legacy payment gateway from scratch. It is a lengthy process, and the company will have to spend more funds to start accepting online credit card payments. However, there are endless possibilities for developing payment gateways for e-commerce websites. First-time business owners can start by integrating a simple built-in payment gateway into the e-commerce website. Deliver an exceptional customer experience by accepting credit card payments online!
