There are 10 factors to consider when selecting an ecommerce payment gateway for your business: payment methods, security, integration, checkout experience, international payments, fees, reliability, reporting, scalability and customer support. This article will delve into what each of these factors entails.
The payment provider you choose should support both local and international payment methods. Locally, the provider must accept mobile-money wallets (such as M-PESA, Airtel Money and MTN MoMo), as well as cards. Internationally, Visa, Mastercard and American Express should be accepted.
Network International prides itself on supporting a range of both local and international payment methods, catering to multiple African markets.
Payment security is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a payment provider.
Ask the provider whether they are PCI DSS compliant and what type of fraud monitoring they offer. Do they use encryption? 3D Secure authentication (3DS) is another leading security measure to look for.
Network International’s ecommerce solution includes real-time fraud monitoring and provides 3DS for all card-not-present transactions.
Managing a business is complicated enough without having to rebuild your existing platform to accommodate new payment infrastructure. The right payment provider fits with your current technology. Ask them whether they offer APIs, ecommerce plugins, SDKs or integrations.
Network International fits in with multiple checkout systems through ready-made integrations for a variety of platforms. These platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix and Magento. They also offer API-based integrations.
Creating a hassle-free checkout experience is vital to reduce drop-off. Ask yourself the following questions:
Network International offers a hosted checkout solution and handles the payment page itself, reducing the technical burden on a business’s development team.
Does your ecommerce business sell internationally? If so, then it is imperative that the payment provider you choose supports this type of sale. Ask the following questions:
Network International offers many payment features. It supports cross-border payments and enables customers to pay in their preferred currency. It also offers dynamic currency conversion so that prices can be displayed in the currency the customer is most familiar with.
Fee transparency is critical. When analysing cost, it’s important to realise that the lowest advertised transaction rate is not necessarily the full picture. What matters is overall cost. Compare the following elements when choosing a provider:
A failed payment increases the risk of customer drop-off. This is why it is vital to choose a reliable payment provider. When comparing providers, ask the following questions:
Look for payment infrastructure that can support everyday volumes as well as periods of higher demand.
Your finance and operations teams should be supported by a dashboard that enables them to monitor all transactions and reconcile payments. The infrastructure should also allow them to generate reports.
Network International offers a merchant dashboard that enables businesses to manage transactions and generate reports. It also offers tools that support manual payments and payment requests. This makes payment data more useful and accessible to everyone.
As your business expands, will the payment provider be able to support extra sales? It’s important to find out if the provider can deal with additional:
Network International offers business flexibility through both ready-made and custom API payment integrations. A business can start with a simple shopping-cart integration and build a more customised experience as they grow.
If a transaction fails or there is an issue with integration, what level of business support does the provider offer your team? Before choosing, determine how these support structures work and what technical-assistance channels are available.
Consider whether the provider supports your customers’ payment methods, how straightforward integration is, whether the checkout solution is smooth and how tight the security measures are. Does the provider support both domestic and international transactions? Also check fees, reliability, customer support and reporting.
This varies according to provider, market, transaction type and payment method. Look at the complete fee structure instead of just the headline rate. Consider transaction fees, international processing, refunds, currency conversion and other additional costs.
Security is vital. Check whether the payment provider has PCI DSS compliance, 3D Secure authentication and fraud monitoring. Network International offers all of this.
