Choosing a Payment Gateway | Business Basics Series

If you have decided to take the plunge, and start your own eCommerce store, you are going to need a payment gateway, also known as a merchant services provider. This is a company that will process credit card transactions for you. The security requirements to process credit card payments live are very high, and thus specialist companies and banks are in a position to provide these services. In Australia, there are also legal obligations around security and privacy that need to be met, protecting the consumer from fraud and identity theft.

For new businesses just getting started, we suggest looking at options such as PayPal or Square, as they have no monthly fees, and processing fees under 2% of the transaction value. PayPal has a lot of trust among consumers, but can put extra barriers in the checkout process, taking the customer off your website to theirs. Where possible, you want to make the checkout process as seamless as possible for your customers.

If you have an existing retail store, and are already getting a good deal from your bank, it can be more cost effective to integrate with you bank’s payment gateway system. A good non-bank option in Australia is eWAY, who are a local provider with competitive rates.

Also keep in mind that Afterpay and Zip also offer options to integrate with online stores.

If you need help integrating your eCommerce website with a payment gateway, or want help getting started, give us a call on 0424 199 919.