Posted on
July 12, 2018
Updated on
March 26, 2024
Read time
11 mins read
These days e-commerce and online business websites have popped up all over the internet. The reason behind it? Introduction of tools that have made it easier to build robust and functional websites with alluring aesthetics.
That may sound amazing and you would probably want to jump off to develop your own e-commerce website or an online store, right?
But wait there! No matter how great your product is, no matter how high demanding it is among your customers and no matter how dexterous is the web development company you hired, if you neglect the most important part of an online business, i.e. integrating the right payment gateway, you may not get the results you are looking for. It’s just like building a swanky store without an efficient billing counter.
Payment gateways are quintessential for any e-commerce store. While an ideal payment gateway seamlessly processes the payments, accepts all major cards and processes international transactions, it also provides convenience to the customers and reassures the trust while they provide their card details.
In this article, we have listed down the popular payment gateways you should integrate with your e-commerce or online store for smooth transactions.
However, first let’s understand what exactly is payment gateway and how does a payment gateway work?
Suggested Read: How an E-commerce Website Benefits Your Retail Business?
We answer all these questions and more in this blog:
What is Payment Gateway and How Does it Work?
In simple terms, a payment gateway is a service that authenticates and processes the money transaction between you and your customer. What happens under the hood is that it exchanges the information between the customer’s bank account to the seller’s web server and the receiver’s bank and validates the payment. Check the following infographic for a clear idea on how the payments gateway work.
Now let’s check the list of best payment gateways.
List of Top 10 Payment Gateways
1. PayPal
Paypal is indeed one of the most popular payment gateways out there. Even if a layman who has no idea about payment gateways, he would have definitely heard about PayPal and probably know what it is used for. It has been facilitating websites with online payment processing since last two decades and has 218 million active customer accounts, with more than 17 million merchant account. That’s a huge number! Another amazing part that augments its awesomeness is the simple pricing structure. No startup fee, no termination fee and no monthly fees. It charges flat on each transaction made online.
Key Features
- Trusted brand
- Flat-rate pricing per transaction
- Different plans available as per the needs
Price
- U.S – 2.9% of the transaction amount + USD 0.30
- International Transaction – 4.4% + fee according to the currency
Suitable for
If you are looking for a reliable name, quick and easy integration and have no developer background, PayPal is a perfect match for you.
2. Amazon Payments
Inviting all big names to the party, but didn’t list down Amazon? That’s ridiculous! The multinational behemoth is one of the most trusted brands in the world and no doubt when they launched their payment gateway in 2007, it received a huge success. Amazon Payment also referred as Amazon pay is packed with some amazing features. Thanks to Amazon Login and Pay by Amazon. Using the Login and Pay with Amazon, merchants can provide personalized service by using the customer’s details such as name and email address. It also provides fraud protection service for free, protecting your business with any kind of fraud transactions.
It is among the payment gateways that are easy to integrate along with offering enough options to integrate custom API at a competitive price. It accepts all major networks but doesn’t handle PayPal, ACH or Bitcoin transactions.
Key Features
- Trusted Brand
- Easy integration
- Low international charges
- Features using Amazon Login and Pay
Price
- US – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- International Transaction – 3.9% + $0.30
Suitable for
Amazon Payment is ideal for any online business starting out and looking for a reliable payment gateway.
3. Stripe
Launched in 2010, Stripe is relatively a new payment gateway. However, when it comes to popularity, it overshadows its two-decade-old competitors. Now you must be wondering what makes it so popular? Stripe is way more than just a payment gateway. It was made keeping the developers in mind and to provide superior customization for the e-commerce website. Anyone with a developer background looking to create exceptional experience can make it possible through stripe. It also has the best documentation that you may need to implement stripe in vivid use cases. Stripe also provides some overwhelming products according to your business needs. For instance, Stripe Connect for marketplace platforms and Stripe Billing for a recurring business model. Wondering who all are using this amazing service? Just to name a few- Lyft, Postmates, Doordash, TaskRabbit, Deliveroo, Slack, Kickstarter and Pinterest.
Key Features
- Best developer and marketplace tools
- Vivid and detailed documentation for developers
- Ideal for international transactions
- Flat-rate pricing
Price
- US – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- International – Additional 1% + (1% currency conversion fee, if applicable)
Suitable for
Stripe is recommended for the companies looking to create a customized experience. Usual for the large companies who can employ the developers in the house or hire web development companies for their project. However, if you are a small enterprise looking for a simple payment solution, there are better options on the list.
4. PaySimple
PaySimple is one of those payment gateways that provides rich features such as customer data collection, automating billing and invoice, built-in reporting and more. It is also considered as the best choice for the service industry, However, all these features come at a price. If the price is not a concern and you are looking for a feature-rich payment gateway, then Paysimple is the one for you. However, if you are a small business, just starting out or need a cost-efficient payment gateway, you can go with the others on our list.
Key Features
- Ideal for service industries
- Billing and invoicing automation
- Built-in in reporting to monitor cash flow
Price
- US – Per transaction fee 2.49% + $.09 + Monthly fee depending on your plan (Pro: $49.95 and Enterprise: $99.95)
Suitable for
Suitable for mid-to-large sized businesses where recurring and billing automation is required as well as those who need an online customer database.
5. Square
Another payment gateway that is a combination of cost-effectiveness and features is Square. Formerly known as Squareup, it was known for processing card payments on smartphones. However, in past years it has been providing payment processing software services to help businesses grow. It is a great option if you are looking for a payment gateway for your online as well as offline store. One of the most amazing features of Square is it’s online dashboard that allows you to monitor sales, generates reports and manage inventory that helps you to run your business smoothly. And all this at no extra cost.
Key Features
- Perfect for low-volume business
- Perfect for the online/offline transaction
- Full of tools and features at no extra cost
Price
- US – 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction.
Suitable for
It is an ideal payment-gateway for low-volume merchants looking for online and offline payments.
6. Braintree
Braintree is a Payment gateway by PayPal that offers a high level of customization at an effective price. It is ideal for merchants with developer experience allowing them a high level of customization to their e-commerce site. Another feature that makes it ideal for your business is its low international transaction charges, i.e. 1% currency conversion fee. It also provides special pricing for nonprofit organizations. Though Braintree is not a name that you frequently hear while talking about payment gateway yet it is a huge company with more than one billion transactions per quarter. The developer-first approach, backed by PayPal and flat price rate per transaction makes it one of the best payment gateway today.
Key Features
- Decent developer tools
- A PayPal company
- Low International charges
Price
- US – 2.9% + $0.30 and 2.2% + $0.30 for nonprofit.
Suitable for
It is suitable for companies with available developer resources and for those business processing lots of international transactions.
7. Authorize.net
Authorize.net is the oldest payment gateway provider on our list. Established in 1996, it has the reputation of being most secure and reliable. And this is the one feature that makes it so unique. Authorize.net comes with Advanced Fraud Detection Suite™ that improves the fraud detection on your site. However, it is also known for being expensive. It charges a monthly fee of $25 for the same and a one-time setup fee of $49. If you are a small business and have low volume transaction, you must consider other options. However, is perfect for mid to large enterprises looking for extra security.
Key Features
- High level of security and fraud protection
- Multi-currency support
- One of the oldest and most trusted payment gateway
Price
- US – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- Authorize.net have special price for American Express: 2.3% for transaction below $75, 2.79% for transaction between $75 – $,1000 and 3.19% for for transaction above $1,000
- Set up fee- $49/mo
- Monthly fee- $25/mo
Suitable for
Suitable for mid to large sized business looking for extra protection.
8. Adyen
One thing what Adyen can really brag about is its list of prestigious clients. Just name the corporate behemoths and you’ll realize they are already on the list. Uber, NetFlix, LinkedIn, Spotify, Evernote, Crocs and more. Recently even eBay announced its plan to replace PayPal with Adyen as their default payment gateway. This star-studded list of clients is itself the advocate of Adyen’s reputation and service. One of the factors that make Adyen an ideal payment gateway is that it accepts more than 250 payment methods. It is even ideal for international payments as it supports more than 150 currencies.
Key Features
- Trusted by big names
- Perfect for international transaction
- Suitable for mid to large scale business
Price
- Adyen is considered to be the best for international transactions and has a list of different pricing for different places. You can see the whole pricing in here.
Suitable for
Adyen has been providing services to the big players and if you are a mid to large size business or even small business but has to deal with lots of international transactions, unequivocally, Adyen is perfect for you.
9. Bluepay
BluePay was established in 2002 and since then it has been a leading payment processing service provider in the US and Canada with 21 billion transactions annually. Handling such a large number of transactions, Bluepay understands the importance of customer satisfaction and solving their queries. Thus it provides an amazing in-house customer service available 24×7. It also provides a range of features like recurring billing & invoicing, interactive voice response (IVR) and fraud protection. However, it is quite pricey and comes with an early termination fee of $295, though the price is not mentioned online on their website.
Key Features
- Excellent customer support
- Developer tools
- Full of rich features
Price
- Fixed 15/month + transaction fee depending on the plan you purchased.
Suitable for
Business looking for a feature-rich and secure payment gateway. However, if the price is a concern, there are better options on the list.
10. WePay
WePay is another excellent payment gateway allowing seamless and secure online payment processing. Established in 2008 as an alternative to PayPal, it has been recognised as the best payment gateway for crowdfunding and is used by crowdfunding giants like GoFundme and Fundly. Not only crowdfunding but it is also proven to be effective for different business and fulfilling their needs. Even the charges are pretty standard and similar to it competitors.
Key Features
- Quality marketplace tools
- Good developer tools
- Allows you to customize the e-commerce experience
Price
- US – 2.9% of the transaction amount + USD 0.30
Suitable for
It provides a perfect suiting API for crowdfunding platforms, though it is ideal for other business too.
Wrap Up
Now you know the top 10 payment gateways that you can integrate with your e-commerce platform. Some of them are quick and easy to integrate while some of them may need some developer experience providing you with a customized experience. However, the lack of developer experience should not stop you from getting your own e-commerce store. There are many web development companies that would love to do it for you! This is the time when the tools and services have made web development and online business easier than ever. So why not take the advantage and built your e-commerce empire? Thanks for reading!
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