Your payment gateway sits at one of the most important points in your ecommerce customer journey: the checkout.
Customers have chosen what they want to buy and are ready to pay. At that point, your payment setup needs to make completing the transaction secure, reliable and straightforward.
But choosing a payment gateway isn’t simply about finding the lowest advertised transaction rate.
You need to consider how the gateway works with your ecommerce platform, which payment methods it supports, the checkout experience it creates, how transactions are managed, what security and fraud controls are available, how you’ll receive support and what the complete cost of accepting online payments will be.
This guide explains what ecommerce businesses should look for when comparing payment gateway solutions.
What Is an Ecommerce Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway is technology used to facilitate payments between your ecommerce checkout and the services involved in processing the transaction.
When a customer reaches your checkout and submits their payment information, the gateway helps securely transmit the information required for that payment to be processed.
From the customer’s perspective, the experience should be simple:
- Add products or services to the basket.
- Go to checkout.
- Select a payment method.
- Enter or confirm the required payment information.
- Submit the payment.
- Receive confirmation that the order has been placed.
Behind that apparently simple journey, several systems can be involved in authorising and processing the payment.
That’s why your gateway needs to work reliably without making the payment process unnecessarily difficult for the customer.
How Does an Ecommerce Payment Gateway Work?
Although the exact process depends on the payment setup, a typical ecommerce card transaction follows a journey similar to this:
Customer → Ecommerce checkout → Payment gateway/payment infrastructure → Payment authorisation → Approval or decline → Order confirmation
The process usually happens very quickly.
For the ecommerce business, however, there’s much more to consider than simply whether the payment is accepted.
You also need to think about:
- security
- authentication
- failed payments
- refunds
- reporting
- reconciliation
- fraud management
- payment methods
- settlement
- integration with your website
- customer support
The payment gateway therefore needs to work for both sides of the transaction: the customer trying to buy and your business trying to manage payments efficiently.
Payment Gateway, Payment Processor and Acquirer: What’s the Difference?
Payment terminology can become confusing because terms such as gateway, processor, merchant account, acquirer and payment provider are sometimes used loosely.
They aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Payment gateway
The gateway provides technology that helps securely transmit the payment information required to process an online transaction.
Payment processing
Payment processing refers more broadly to the systems and services involved in handling the transaction and communicating the information required for authorisation and completion.
Acquirer
An acquirer, or acquiring provider, plays a different role within the card-payment process and enables merchants to accept card transactions under the relevant acquiring arrangement.
Depending on the solution you choose, several elements may be provided together, which is why they can appear to the merchant as one service.
You don’t necessarily need to become an expert in payment infrastructure before selling online.
You do need to understand what you’re buying, who provides each part of the service and who you contact if something goes wrong.
Why Your Ecommerce Checkout Experience Matters
Getting someone to your checkout can require considerable work.
You may have invested in:
- search engine optimisation
- paid advertising
- social media
- email marketing
- product photography
- website design
- content
- promotions
Once a customer has decided to buy, your checkout shouldn’t introduce unnecessary obstacles.
Common sources of checkout friction can include:
- confusing forms
- poor mobile usability
- unexpected errors
- limited payment options
- unclear instructions
- unnecessary steps
- slow-loading payment pages
- failed transactions with no useful explanation
Your payment gateway isn’t responsible for every aspect of checkout design, but it is an important part of the overall payment experience.
That’s why gateway selection should consider customer experience as well as processing cost.
What Should You Look for in a Payment Gateway?
There isn’t one payment gateway that’s automatically right for every ecommerce business.
A small online retailer processing a modest number of domestic orders may have very different requirements from a high-volume business selling internationally.
When comparing ecommerce payment solutions, consider these areas.
1. Ecommerce platform compatibility
Start with the basics:
Will the payment solution work properly with the ecommerce platform your website uses?
Depending on your setup, that might involve an existing integration, plugin, API or bespoke development.
Before choosing a provider, establish:
- how the integration works
- who is responsible for installing it
- whether development work is required
- what happens when the ecommerce platform is updated
- where you’ll get technical support
Don’t choose a payment solution purely on price and only afterwards discover that integrating it with your website is difficult or expensive.
2. The Checkout Experience
Look at the payment journey from your customer’s perspective.
Ask:
- Is checkout straightforward on mobile?
- Does the payment page feel consistent with the rest of the website?
- Are payment instructions clear?
- What happens when a transaction fails?
- Can customers easily correct mistakes?
- Are unnecessary steps being introduced?
- Does the solution support the payment methods your customers expect?
Test the checkout yourself rather than judging it from a provider’s feature list.
Complete transactions on both desktop and mobile and see what your customer actually experiences.
3. Payment Methods
Card payments may be central to your ecommerce checkout, but they aren’t necessarily the only way customers may want to pay.
Depending on your business, customer base and provider, relevant payment methods could include supported digital wallets and other payment options.
Don’t add payment methods simply because they’re available.
Consider:
What do our customers actually want to use?
Your payment setup should support the buying behaviour of your audience rather than creating a cluttered checkout containing options nobody needs.
Digi Checkout expert insight opportunity:
[Add genuine data or experience here if Digi Checkout can identify the payment methods its ecommerce clients most frequently ask for.]
4. Security and Authentication
Payment security isn’t an optional feature.
Your payment setup needs to support the security requirements relevant to the way you accept online payments.
Depending on your setup, areas to understand can include:
- secure transmission of payment information
- customer authentication
- fraud controls
- PCI DSS responsibilities
- access to transaction data
- account security
The exact responsibilities of the merchant can depend on how the payment system has been implemented.
Don’t simply ask a provider whether its solution is “secure”.
Ask what security features are provided, what responsibilities remain with your business and what you need to do to maintain the appropriate payment-security requirements.
5. Fraud Management
Not every attempted ecommerce transaction is genuine.
A payment solution may therefore include tools designed to help businesses identify or manage potentially fraudulent transactions.
The appropriate setup depends on your business.
For example, an ecommerce retailer selling relatively low-value products domestically can have a different risk profile from a business selling high-value goods internationally.
Ask prospective providers:
- What fraud-management tools are available?
- Can settings be configured?
- How are suspicious transactions handled?
- What information can we see?
- What support is available if fraud becomes a problem?
The aim is to manage risk without introducing unnecessary friction for genuine customers.
6. Refunds and Transaction Management
The payment journey doesn’t finish when a customer clicks “Pay”.
Your team may subsequently need to:
- find a transaction
- issue a refund
- investigate a failed payment
- identify an order
- reconcile payments
- respond to a customer query
- review a disputed payment
Ask to see the provider’s transaction-management system before committing where possible.
A straightforward back-office experience can be just as important to your staff as a straightforward checkout is to your customers.
7. Reporting and Reconciliation
As transaction volumes grow, payment administration becomes increasingly important.
Consider how easily the payment solution allows you to understand:
- transactions processed
- successful and unsuccessful payments
- refunds
- applicable charges
- settlements
- payment dates
- transaction references
Think about who inside your business will use this information.
The person responsible for ecommerce may have different requirements from the person responsible for finance or bookkeeping.
8. Settlement
Making a sale and receiving the money into your bank account aren’t necessarily the same event.
Before choosing an ecommerce payment provider, understand the settlement arrangement.
Ask:
- When are transactions normally settled?
- Are settlement timings different in particular circumstances?
- How can settlements be reconciled against individual transactions?
- What information appears in reporting?
- Are there any relevant conditions you need to understand?
Cash flow matters, so don’t leave settlement questions until after you’ve signed the agreement.
9. Customer and Technical Support
Payment problems can directly affect your ability to make sales.
Find out what support is available before you need it.
Ask:
- What are the support hours?
- How do I contact support?
- Is technical integration support available?
- Who do I contact about transaction problems?
- Who helps with account or settlement questions?
- What happens if checkout stops accepting payments?
“Support included” isn’t particularly useful unless you know what that support actually consists of.
10. Total Cost
Transaction fees matter, but don’t compare payment gateways using one percentage alone.
Depending on the provider and payment arrangement, your costs may involve more than the advertised transaction rate.
Potential costs can include:
| Potential cost | What to establish |
| Transaction charges | How transactions are priced |
| Gateway/service charges | Whether a separate gateway cost applies |
| Authorisation charges | Whether transactions incur an additional charge |
| Monthly charges | Any recurring service/account costs |
| Setup/integration | Whether implementation carries a cost |
| Refund-related costs | How refunds affect charges |
| Chargeback-related costs | Applicable fees/process |
| International transactions | How applicable cards/transactions are priced |
| Additional services | Costs for optional functionality |
Not every provider uses every type of charge.
The objective is to establish your expected complete cost, rather than compare one provider’s headline rate with another provider’s all-inclusive bill.
Hosted vs Integrated Checkout: What’s the Difference?
Another consideration is where and how the customer completes the payment.
Hosted payment pages
With a hosted approach, part of the payment experience is provided on infrastructure hosted by the payment provider.
This can simplify certain aspects of implementation and payment-data handling, depending on the solution.
Integrated or embedded checkout
Other solutions allow the payment experience to be more closely integrated into the ecommerce website.
This can provide greater control over the customer journey but may involve different technical and compliance considerations.
Neither option is automatically better.
The right approach depends on factors such as your ecommerce platform, technical resources, desired customer experience and payment-security responsibilities.
Ask your provider or developer to explain exactly how the proposed integration works before making a decision.
How Much Does an Ecommerce Payment Gateway Cost?
There isn’t one standard price.
The amount your business pays can depend on factors such as:
- transaction volume
- average order value
- customer card mix
- domestic versus international transactions
- payment methods
- provider
- pricing model
- additional functionality
That’s why advertised transaction rates should be treated as only one part of the comparison.
A useful quote should reflect how your ecommerce business actually trades.
If you’re already processing payments, historical transaction information can make that conversation much more meaningful.
12 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Payment Gateway
Before making a decision, ask potential providers:
- Does the solution integrate with our ecommerce platform?
- What will the complete cost be based on our transaction profile?
- Which payment methods are supported?
- How does checkout work on mobile?
- What security and authentication features are included?
- What fraud-management tools are available?
- How are refunds handled?
- How are failed payments reported?
- What reporting and reconciliation tools do we receive?
- When are payments normally settled?
- What technical and customer support is available?
- Can the solution support us if transaction volume increases significantly?
If a provider can’t clearly answer these questions, investigate further before committing.
Already Have an Ecommerce Payment Gateway?
You don’t have to be launching a new ecommerce website to review your payment setup.
Your business may look very different now from when you selected your current provider.
Perhaps you’ve:
- significantly increased transaction volume
- increased average order value
- expanded your product range
- started selling internationally
- changed ecommerce platforms
- added new sales channels
- increased your reliance on ecommerce
- opened physical premises
That doesn’t automatically mean you should change gateway.
Start by reviewing your existing setup.
Ask:
Does it still provide the functionality we need?
Are we happy with the checkout experience?
Do we understand the complete costs?
Does it integrate properly with the rest of the business?
Are we satisfied with the support?
Will it support where the business is heading next?
Your existing solution may still be appropriate.
The purpose of the review is to find out.
Can You Change Your Ecommerce Payment Gateway?
Yes, although the work involved depends on your existing ecommerce platform, payment setup and contractual arrangements.
Before changing provider, establish:
- how the new gateway will integrate
- what technical work is required
- who will carry out the integration
- how the new checkout will be tested
- what happens to the existing agreement
- whether notice or termination conditions apply
- whether existing recurring-payment arrangements are affected, where relevant
- how you’ll minimise disruption during the change
Don’t cancel your existing payment service before understanding how and when the replacement will become operational.
A planned migration is preferable to discovering during launch that customers can no longer pay.
How Should You Test a New Payment Gateway?
Don’t assume that a technically successful integration means the customer experience is ready.
Before launch, test relevant scenarios such as:
Successful payment
Can the customer complete the purchase and receive the correct confirmation?
Declined or failed payment
What does the customer see and what can they do next?
Mobile checkout
Complete transactions on actual mobile devices rather than relying solely on desktop testing.
Refund
Make sure your team knows how the refund process works.
Order records
Check that transaction information is correctly associated with the ecommerce order.
Notifications
Confirm that the customer and relevant staff receive the expected communications.
Reporting
Make sure the information your finance and ecommerce teams need is available.
The exact testing required will depend on your implementation, but the principle is straightforward:
Test the complete customer and operational journey, not merely the payment button.
What If You Need to Take Payments Outside Your Ecommerce Checkout?
Not every remote payment needs to originate from an online shopping basket.
There may be situations where you need to request payment directly from a customer.
Depending on your provider and requirements, payment links can offer another way to accept remote payments.
A business might use a payment link for situations such as:
- deposits
- bookings
- additional purchases
- outstanding balances
- bespoke orders
- remote transactions that don’t fit the normal ecommerce checkout
The customer receives a link to a payment page where they can complete the transaction.
What If You Also Accept Face-to-Face Payments?
Many ecommerce businesses eventually operate across more than one sales channel.
You might have:
- an ecommerce website
- a physical shop
- a showroom
- pop-up locations
- exhibitions or events
- telephone or remote-payment requirements
If that’s the case, consider your payment requirements as a whole.
Managing completely disconnected payment systems may create unnecessary administration and make reporting harder.
Ask whether your provider can support the channels you use today and those you’re realistically likely to need as the business develops.
Choosing a Payment Gateway That Can Grow With Your Business
The payment requirements of an ecommerce startup can be very different from an established retailer processing thousands of orders.
Think beyond launch day.
As the business develops, you might:
- process considerably more transactions
- sell higher-value products
- expand internationally
- add payment methods
- introduce subscriptions or recurring payments
- change ecommerce platforms
- open physical locations
- require more sophisticated reporting
- need additional fraud controls
You don’t need to buy functionality you’ll never use.
But you should understand whether the solution can support the realistic direction of the business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best payment gateway for ecommerce?
There isn’t one gateway that’s automatically best for every ecommerce business.
The appropriate solution depends on your ecommerce platform, transaction profile, customer requirements, payment methods, functionality, support requirements and overall cost.
Compare providers against your specific requirements rather than choosing solely on brand recognition or headline price.
Do I need a payment gateway to accept payments online?
The exact infrastructure depends on how your online payment solution is provided. Many ecommerce payment services package multiple elements together, so the gateway may not always appear to the merchant as a separate product.
Your provider or web developer should be able to explain how payments will be accepted and processed through your particular website.
How much does a payment gateway cost?
Costs vary between providers and arrangements.
Rather than looking only at an advertised transaction rate, ask for the expected complete cost based on your transaction volumes, average order values, customer/card profile and required functionality.
Can I change the payment gateway on an existing ecommerce website?
Usually, but the work required depends on your ecommerce platform, current integration and contractual arrangements.
Check compatibility and migration requirements before cancelling the existing service.
Can a payment gateway accept Apple Pay or Google Pay?
Support for digital wallets depends on the provider, integration and setup. If these payment methods matter to your customers, confirm compatibility before selecting the solution.
Are payment gateways secure?
Payment gateways are designed to facilitate secure online payment processing, but security responsibilities depend on the particular solution and implementation.
Ask your provider what security features and standards apply and what responsibilities remain with your business.
Choosing the Right Ecommerce Payment Setup
A payment gateway shouldn’t be selected on transaction rate alone.
It needs to work with your ecommerce website, provide an appropriate checkout experience, support the payment methods your customers need and give your business the security, transaction management, reporting and support required to operate effectively.
The right question isn’t simply:
“Which payment gateway is cheapest?”
It’s:
“Which payment setup best fits the way our customers buy and the way our business operates?”
Answer that first and comparing providers becomes much easier.
Need Help Reviewing Your Ecommerce Payment Setup?
If you’re launching an ecommerce website or reviewing an existing payment provider, Digi Checkout can help you explore the payment options available.
We’ll start by understanding how your business operates, how your customers pay and what you need from your ecommerce payment setup.
That may include online payments alongside payment links, card machines, Tap to Pay or other payment requirements, depending on how your business takes payments.
If you already have a provider, reviewing your setup doesn’t automatically mean you need to change it.
The objective is to understand what you currently have, what you need and which available payment setup is appropriate for your business.
Speak to Digi Checkout about your ecommerce payment requirements.
