Finding the right eCommerce or on-line payment solution provider is a vital ingredient for any successful on-line business.
What should eCommerce merchants look for in their payment provider? From our experience there are a wide range of factors which can be categorised as either hard or soft factors. Hard factors largely relate to the features and functionality of a payment gateway and the soft factors largely relate to service and support.
Hard factors. As mentioned, these largely relate to the payment gateway used by a payment provider. Key factors include:
- Level 1 PCI DSS certification in order to ensure that your customers sensitive credit card information is safely guarded
- A diversity of acquiring solutions, for example, China UnionPay and American Express are critical for many merchants in addition to Visa and MasterCard
- Local alternative payment methods (APMs) that let allow a merchant to process using preferred payment methods in the countries in which the merchant operates
- Transaction currencies that enable customers to transaction in their currency of choice
- Uptime and reliability are fundamental
- Overall functionality that meets the needs of the merchant, for example, does your payment provider offer recurrent or subscription billing?
- Customisable payment pages that let you deliver a seamless brand experience
- Ease of integration including the quality of APIs and documentation
- A choice of integration options including direct integration for PCI DSS certified merchants
Soft factors:
- Timely and efficient customer service
- Skilled technical support not only during the integration process but also on an ongoing basis
- A commitment to continuous improvement
The above are just a few of the factors merchants should consider. Our skilled sales team would be happy to discuss your needs as a merchant, contact us at: www.ipgpay.com/signup/#form