All You Need To Know About Payment Gateway

Standing in the 21st century where everything ranging from education to business is going online. Payment gateway is playing an impactful role. Most e-commerce merchants are taking their businesses online by making an online store and in such a case, if your online platform is not integrated with a payment gateway, your customers will not be able to make payments online and therefore, you will be unable to accept credit card payments online.
However, when it comes to the payment gateway, merchants often start talking virtual terminal, merchant account, and many more. But, the fact is that a gateway is completely different from a virtual terminal or a merchant account. Here, we have made a brief breakdown of the gateway. So, if you are into an online business, don’t miss to go through the following points:
Virtual Terminal vs. Payment Gateway
Well, a virtual terminal is a web-based version of the credit card machine and here, the merchant has to log into their virtual terminal account and put the credit card number of the customer. The entire credit card payment is processed manually by the merchants and there is no need for any integration.
On the other side, a payment gateway otherwise known as payment API is a kind of URL. Unlike the virtual terminal, a gateway does not come with a user-interface. A gateway is operated by a computer program and it is designed for receiving transaction messages.
In short, the payment gateway securely takes money from the customers and transfers to the bank account of the merchant. It is a virtual form of a point-of-sale payment terminal and it must be integrated with your online store.
How A Payment Gateway Works
A payment gateway plays the most important role when it comes to online bill payments. Here, we have elaborated how a gateway actually works, so have a look at the following points:
A customer places an order on the merchant’s website. After placing the order, the customer is redirected to the payment page.
On this page, the customer pays with their preferred payment method. After that, the transaction details are routed to a 3D secure page or the issuing bank in order to authenticate the transaction.
After that, the issuing bank or the card-issuing network either accepts or declines the transaction. The entire thing depends upon the fund available in the account of the customer.
The payment gateway sends the transaction message to the merchant.
The issuing bank settles the transaction amount with the payment gateway and then the transaction amount is settled with the merchant.
In addition to this. We must tell you that customers mostly use debit cards, credit cards, and online banking while purchasing online. Well, the fact is that authorizing the transaction, settlement, and reporting are the three important steps inextricably associated with these payment methods.
Advantages of Using Online Payment Gateway
An online payment gateway comes with endless benefits. Have a look at the following points to know more about it:
Accept ACH Payments: Banks have Automated Clearing House otherwise known as the AHC system that allows the users to send money forth and back electronically. Merchants can accept ACH payments with the help of this system. But, it requires an online payment gateway. Merchants can accept different types of transactions such as business to business transactions, e-commerce processing, and bill payments through this system.
Secure processing: Online gateways are reliable and secured as these are equipped with PCI DSS. Payment gateways keep the sensitive data secured and process the payments safely.
Recurring Billing Options: Convenience and flexibility are the main aspects of online payment. Online payment gateways support recurring billing options and therefore, customers can purchase goods and services on the basis of monthly or weekly payment. The receipts of monthly or weekly payments are sent directly to the mailboxes of the consumers.
Accept Credit Cards: People are now giving more preference to credit cards and fortunately, payment gateway is the most efficient way to make credit card payments online.
Not An International Payment Solution’s Merchant?
If you are into an online business, you are quite acquainted with the fact that you must pair your business with any credit card processors. But, most merchant processors do not offer gateway and merchant account together as they do not have their own payment solutions. A merchant account without a payment gateway is useless as it does not allow the merchants to accept payments. Therefore, in such a case, you should consider International Payment Solutions as your merchant processor solutions.
International Payment Solutions otherwise known as IPS is one of the most efficient payment processors that offer gateway and merchant account service together. IPS offers an advanced payment gateway that comes with advanced fraud protection and card-tokenization. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with International Payment Solutions and accept payments flawlessly.