“The world has a crucial opportunity to build a more inclusive and resilient economy and provide a gateway to prosperity for billions of people,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

The World Bank, an organization that works in every major area of development providing a wide array of financial products and technical assistance, and helping countries share and apply innovative knowledge and solutions to the challenges they face, established the Global Findex database in 2011. This database provides data on global access to financial services from payments to savings and borrowing. In the 2021 findings, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital payments. Three quarters of adults now have an account at a bank, other financial institution, or with a mobile money provider, up from 68% in 2017 and 51% in 2011 have access to a bank account or mobile money account. The rise in the use of digital payments highlights the importance of merchants being able to take action on the opportunities to offer their goods and deliver their services to both established, developed markets and new and emerging markets. 

Gateway payment processors serve an integral role in granting merchants to showcase their businesses’ goods and services and offering customers the payment options to purchase those goods and services. Merchants need the right gateway payment processor that can handle their business needs locally, regionally, and globally, without delays or disruptions. However, a balance in costs need to be established,to ensure merchants are choosing a trusted and inexpensive gateway payment processor 

In this article we will discuss what gateway payment processors, payment gateways, and online payment processing are. Following, we will discuss the factors on how to choose an inexpensive gateway payment processor . Finally we will discuss benefits of gateway payment processors and explore examples of the online payment processing highlighting key features and integration solutions of gateway payments. 

Understanding What is a Gateway Payment Processor 

A gateway payment processor is a third party payment service provider that provides services to merchants with online businesses including payment gateways and online payment processing services that allow the transfer of funds between customers, merchants, and financial institutions. The services that gateway payment processors provide serve as part of the merchant processing services. Physical and online card issuance, payment gateways, and online payment processing are all factors that merchants require tools for in payments other than cash. Moreover, merchants want to be assured that their online businesses are able to have a wide variety of payment options that match that aligns with the markets their businesses operate in; safely and securely processing credit and debit payments; and leveraging technologies to remain competitive and increase profits and market share. 

Gateway payment processors help merchants to grow their online businesses by providing security, convenience, speed, and flexibility to their payment options infrastructure. Gateway payment or payment gateway (we will use the term interchangeably) is a merchant service technology that merchants use to expand their ability to receive payments from customers without high costly fees or lost customer cart opportunities. High online card processing fees can prevent merchants from scaling their online business to be aligned with the mission, purpose and goals of the company. That is why choosing an inexpensive gateway payment processor that is aligned and able to meet the needs of merchants and their business needs is important to growing and scaling a company.

The Payment Processing Chain and the Role of Gateway Payment Processors 

As noted before, gateway payment providers are 3rd party service providers that help merchants achieve successful processing of their payments. Merchant processing is the acceptance, processing, and settlement of payment transactions for merchants. To accomplish this:

1. A bank that contracts with (or acquires) merchants. This is called an acquiring bank, merchant bank, or acquirer.  
2. Acquiring banks sign up merchants to accept payment cards for the network and also arrange processing services for merchants. They can contract directly with the merchant or indirectly through agent banks or other third parties.
3. Bank can be both an issuing bank and an acquiring bank, but banks most often specialize in one function or the other

Merchants, through their merchant accounts receive payments utilizing various methods, but a majority of payments are made by customers who use either debit or credit cards. An acceptor and merchant acquiring bank create merchant accounts to address payment transactions. 

Merchant processing involves the gathering of sales information from the merchant, obtaining authorization for the transaction, collecting funds from the issuing bank, and reimbursing the merchant.  It also involves charge-back processing. 
Merchants now have various payment options to accept and offer their customers in today’s economy. Majority of merchant transactions are electronically originated (aka a form of online payment processing and come from credit card purchases at merchant locations online, or the point-of-sale (POS).  Debit cards, smart cards, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) products are also included in these transactions.

Gateway Payments and Online Payment Processing

Gateway payments or payment gateways is a technology solution that allows merchants to securely process payment transactions from their customers online. Payment gateways act as an intermediary between the customer’s payment information and the merchant’s bank account. A convenient and safe way for merchants to accept online payments for their businesses, payment gateways encrypt sensitive financial information such as credit card numbers, and ensure that it is transmitted securely between the customer, the merchant, and the bank.

Online payment processing services is a part of the suite of tools that include gateway payments that merchants can use to leverage the power of technology and accept online payments.

Different Types of Payment Gateway Software

There are many different types of payment gateway software available. To choose the best payment gateway, know the types and the features they offer:

• Hosted Payment Gateways: Payment processing is handled on the server of the gateway payment processor. This means that the merchant does not need to handle sensitive customer information or store credit card data.
• Self-Hosted Payment Gateways: Merchants to host their own payment processing on their own server. Self-hosted payment gateways provide more control over the payment process, but require more technical expertise to set up and maintain.
• API Payment Gateways: Application Programming Interface (API) payment gateways allow developers to integrate payment processing into their own software. This type of payment gateway software provides more flexibility and customization options for the merchant, but requires more technical knowledge to implement. 
• Mobile Payment Gateways: Mobile payment gateway software is designed specifically for processing payments through mobile devices. This type of payment gateway often uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, allowing customers to pay by tapping their mobile device on a payment terminal.

Virtual Payment Gateways: Virtual terminal payment gateways allow merchants to accept payments by manually entering credit card information into an online terminal. This type of payment gateway is useful for merchants who do not have a physical storefront or need to process payments remotely.

Benefits of Gateway Payment Processor for Merchants

There are many benefits of gateway payment processors for merchants. These benefits include: 

• Security: Gateway payment processors use the latest security technologies to guarantee and protect customer data.
• Efficiency: Gateway payment processors can help merchants process payments quickly and easily, reducing the friction in every sale and maximizing sales opportunities..
• Cost savings: Gateway payment processors can help merchants save money on high and excessive processing fees.
• Customer support: Great gateway payment processors offer 24/7 customer support to help merchants with any problems they may encounter.

When tapping into the power of payment gateways and online payment processing, gateway payment processors offer advantages merchants including:

• Increased sales: Gateway payment processors can help merchants increase sales by making it easier for customers to pay for products or services.
• Improved customer satisfaction: Gateway payment processors help merchants improve customer satisfaction by providing a convenient and secure way to pay.
• Reduced fraud: Gateway payment processors use fraud prevention measures to help reduce the risk of fraud, protecting customer data privacy and ensuring cybersecurity.
• Compliance: Gateway payment processors can help you comply with PCI DSS and other payment processing regulations.

To summarize, gateway payment processors offer a number of benefits to merchants. They can help to improve security, efficiency, cost savings, scalability, convenience, and customer satisfaction. If you are looking for a secure, efficient, and cost-effective way to accept payments, then choose a great gateway payment processor.

Choosing an Inexpensive Gateway Payment Processor: Factors to Consider

Here are the factors to consider when choosing an inexpensive gateway payment processor:

• Transaction fees: Payments may have high and excessive transaction fees charged by gateway payment processors. These fees may vary on factors such as the type of card used during payment, the amount of the transaction, and the card provider. It is important to compare the transaction fees charged by different providers to find the gateway payment processor that offers the lowest fees.
• Monthly fees: Some gateway payment processors charge high monthly fees, while others do not. 
• Setup fees: Some gateway payment processors charge setup fees, while others do not. It is important to factor in the monthly fees when comparing gateway payment processors.
• Customer support: It is important to choose a gateway payment processor that has quality customer support. This is especially important if you have Any problems merchants have with their accounts or questions they may have about their online payment processing will be greatly impacted by the quality of customer service and support.
• Security: It is important to choose a gateway payment processor that remains on the cutting edge of the industry.and utilizes the latest security technologies to protect your customers’ data and ultimately the success of your business.

Tips on Deciding on an Inexpensive Gateway Payment Processor

• Choose a provider that offers volume discounts:. Many gateway payment providers offer volume discounts, which can save you money if you process a high volume of payments.
• Consider using a payment aggregator. A gateway payment processor with partners that allow the the ability to work with multiple gateway payment providers through integrations.. This can give you access to a wider range of providers and help you find the one that offers the lowest fees.
• Negotiate with your provider. If you are a high-volume merchant, you may be able to negotiate lower fees with your gateway payment processor.
• Use a credit card processor that offers interchange-plus pricing. Interchange-plus pricing is a pricing model that charges a flat fee plus a percentage of the transaction amount. This can be a more cost-effective option than traditional pricing models, which charge a higher percentage of the transaction amount.

These tips can aid merchants in saving money on gateway payment processing and choose an inexpensive gateway payment processor.

Integrating with Popular E-commerce Platforms

With Bankful, merchants are able to boost and empower their businesses with the proper tools to empower linked you to the most innovative applications in e-commerce. We provide seamless integrations that take the complexity out of payments. Our platform integrations include:

• Square
• Wix
• Shopify
• Kount
• Woo Commerce
• Plaid
• Magento
• GPay
• OpenCart
• BigCommerce
• Shift 4 Shop
• Sezzle
• Intuit Quickbooks
• Authorize.net
• Ecwid
• Apple Pay
• And more!

Bankful, Customising Solutions for your Business

Our mission is to give our merchants a first-rate experience throughout the payment process. With offices in the US & Europe, we are focused on providing the best possible experience for merchants globally. We offer subscription billing, invoicing, hosted gateway payment page, Fraud Shield, eCheck Plus, SMS Invoicing, Cryptocurrency, Quickbooks, and Buy Now, Pay Later options. With an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, 4.9 rating Google reviews, and award winning service recognized in payment processing, our company is committed to being your best, cost effective, and inexpensive gateway payment processor and online payment processing service provider.

Bankful is a great option for businesses of all sizes to start processing payments with a payment gateway software almost instantly! Sign up and start accepting payments today.

Conclusion

To summarize our discussion, we learned what gateway payment processors, payment gateways, and online payment processing are. The factors on how to choose an inexpensive gateway payment processor . And finally we will discuss benefits of gateway payment processors and explored examples of the online payment processing to highlight key features and integration solutions of gateway payments.