A payment gateway is the simplest way for a business to collect digital or online payments from their website or Payment Gateway. Online payments have become a part of our daily lives in no time. We’re transacting online not only through debit or credit cards but through numerous other modes like UPI, netbanking and wallets as well.

Paying online is a fundamental feature that every e-commerce platform in the world offers. And they can provide this facility by integrating with a payment gateway.

Online payments are swift and convenient. They allow you to buy products and services from all over the world. If you are a seller, you can sell to anyone in the world with a decent internet connection. Your customer doesn’t even need to have a computer; a smartphone is enough.

But what exactly is a payment gateway? Is it safe to transact through a payment gateway? Does it make sense for your business to have a payment gateway integration? Let’s find out.

What is a payment gateway

An online payment gateway (PG) is a tunnel that connects your bank account to the platform where you need to transfer your money. A PG is a software that authorizes you to conduct an online transaction through different payment modes like net banking, credit card, debit card, UPI or the many online wallets that are available these days.

A PG plays the role of a third party that securely transfers your money from the bank account to the merchant’s payment portal.

To explain this in simpler terms, at the time of buying a book from a popular digital platform like Flip-kart, when you make the payment for the book, a payment gateway helps you in the process by transferring your money to Flip-kart.

How a payment gateway works

A payment gateway focuses on securing the sensitive information given by the user throughout the process. It ensures security by encrypting data like card and bank details that have been provided by the user. The following are the basic steps showing how a typical payment gateway works.

Step 1: A customer places his or her order and then presses the Submit or Checkout button, or its equivalent button, on the website

Step 2: Once this Payment Gateway user’s, the website or the e-commerce platform takes the customer to a payment gateway where he or she enters all the relevant information about the bank or the card they are using to pay. The PG then takes the user directly to the page of the issuing bank or a 3D secure page, asking for the transaction to be authorized.

Step 3: Once the payment gateway gets the Payment Gatewayroval for the transaction, the bank then checks whether the customer has sufficient balance in the account to make this transaction a success or not

Step 4: The payment gateway sends a message to the merchant accordingly. If the reply from the bank is a “No’”, then the merchant subsequently sends an error message to the customer, telling them about the issue with the card or the bank account. If the response is a “Yes” from the bank portal, then the merchant seeks the transaction from the bank

Step 5: The bank settles the money with the payment gateway, which in turn settles the money with the merchant

Once this process is completed, the customer gets a confirmation message of the order being placed.

As mentioned earlier, the transaction of money involves sensitive information about a person’s bank and card details that are entirely personal to him or her. Therefore, it is imperative to make sure that this information stays safe.

Using an online payment gateway, businesses can accept payments through various payment modes. One of these payment modes is through credit and debit cards. Click here to read about the Life cycle of an online card payment.

How a payment gateway keeps information secure

A payment gateway ensures the security of the information you put in. Here is a list of things that a PG does to keep your data safe:

· First things first, the entire transaction is carried out through an HTTPS web address. This is different from the HTTP as the S in the HTTPS stands for Secure. The transaction takes place through this same tunnel

· As a result of the hash function, the system often uses a signed request from the merchant to validate the request of the transaction. This signed request is a secret word, which only the merchant and the payment gateway know

· To secure the payment page result of the process, the IP of the requesting server is verified to detect any malicious activity

· Virtual Payer Authentication (VPA) is something that the acquirers, issuers and the payment gateways are backing to secure the process even more. VPA, implemented under the 3-D secure protocol, adds an additional layer of security and helps the online buyers and sellers to authenticate each other easily

Benefits of using a payment gateway

Using a payment gateway is not just for transferring money, but it has other benefits as well. A PG can allow a merchant to give the user get a better experience.

· PCI-DSS Wallet – The PCI-DSS compliance makes it secure enough to allow the user to store their personal data in the portal or gateway for recurring payments. For example, if you are a frequent customer on Swiggy, then you can save your bank or card details on their site or Payment Gateway, and the gateway will keep it secure from any cyber security threat

· White-Label Wallet – Some payment gateways allow you to make digital transactions through mobile wallet Payment Gateways. This is the current trend, as it enables the user to make all his transactions by just sitting at one place. You can bring in your money from the account balance to the mobile wallet Payment Gateway and then further use it to make payments on other Payment Gateways or websites

· Fraud Screening Tools – Many payment gateways provide you with fraud screening tools to reduce the risk of losing information. These tools include the Card Code Value (CCV), Card Verification Value (CVV) or even the Address Verification Service (AVS). These tools ensure that there is no fraudulent transaction

A payment gateway focuses on creating a secure pathway between a customer and the merchant to facilitate payments securely. It involves the authentication of both parties from the banks involved.

The most significant advantage of a payment gateway is the fact that it allows millions of users to use it at the same time, making it possible for you to purchase or sell goods and services whenever you want.

How to choose a payment gateway

Many business owners, founders and product managers find it difficult to choose a payment gateway for their business.

A good payment gateway will have the following features:

· Good success rates
· Multiple payment modes
· Easy and quick onboarding
· PCI-DSS compliant security
· Insightful and intuitive dashboard
· Competitive pricing options
· Free setup and zero maintenance charges

Apart from these, you should look for a payment gateway that has a bundle of additional features:

· Host of products and features that allow businesses to accept payments without a website or an Payment Gateway
· Ability accept recurring payments for a business’s subscription products
· Facility to run offers, offer EMIs and discounts to customers