7 Questions to ask while choosing
Payment gateway Services

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Determining the right payment gateway for website is like selecting your life partner: one should have some special qualities that you find important but in the end it all comes down to the fact how special they make you feel and what your inner voice tells you about your choice! Like in every relationship it takes a while to get things done right.

“Falling in love” and determining the secure payment gateway services for your online business can significantly impact your earnings, transformation and user contentment. It can basically change your life – your business life.

You can either fall in one of two categories: either you do it for the first time in your life, meaning you are a startup, or you already have some experience with online payment gateway services but the experience so far has not been good at all. Hence you decided to shop around.

Both situations give you good reason to start. Being unhappy is a step towards looking for a new payment processor. Flaws of your current provider such as poor customer service can also be enough reason to start your quest for a change. Having a list of things you do not want based on your previous experience can significantly narrow your search down and help eliminate from your list of suppliers that offer similar sloppy service or they lack features you look for.

Here is a small list of things you want:

1. A consistent customer experience : Every customer interaction matters and consistency throughout the customer experience builds brand awareness and trust with your target audience.
2. Currency compatibility : Some gateways charge a fee for converting currencies. This can get very costly in the long run. Make sure that they will accept your home currency without any added costs.
3. Simple technology : If you also have a mortar and brick store, you probably use a POS (point of sales) terminal. Try to keep it to just one company so that you’re not stuck representing two systems with fluctuate requirements and fees. In this day and age many will offer both, so that all your payments are centralized.
4. Solid security : If your data is weakened you look bad and your customers lose trust. Can your online payment gateway provider tell you how they will make your customer’s data safe? They should be able to detail what they do with your customer’s data (i.e., what data they store and how long they hold it for).
5. Excellent support : You’re dealing with your customer’s money, so paying that little extra for more support is definitely worth it. You need to know that you can count on them if things do go wrong.
6. A matching payout policy : The money takes time to reach your account because the funds need to be cleared by the issuing and obtaining bank. To avoid doing a transfer each time a purchase is made; payment gateway for website will have a payout frequency which can be daily or even monthly.
   
   It depends on what you want. If your business is weather dependent and therefore prone to cancellations, then you may want a payment gateway that pays you out weekly. This is because issuing refunds is easier if they haven’t been transferred to your bank account yet.
7. A good reputation : Obviously you’ll want to do research by searching the web for reviews, checking out their support database, and speaking to some of their customers. You don’t want to be stuck with a payment provider that isn’t helpful.