8 Must-explore Payment Gateways for Businesses in Australia

Got better products than competitors and a great online storefront?

Well, that’s good as long as you can offer a frictionless payment processing experience to customers. Because, without payment processing, sales will simply walk out the door. You would never want that as a business owner. That’s where payment gateways come in. And in case you didn’t know, payment gateways do more than allowing customers to pay online. They help you to efficiently handle PCI compliance requirements, detect frauds, take care of chargeback processes, and more. Moreover, with the right payment gateway in place, your business gets a competitive edge.

If you are struggling with choosing the best payment gateway provider for your business, this blog is for you. Let’s get started.

What is a Payment Gateway?

Payment gateway to online business is what a cash register is to brick and mortar stores. It is responsible for maintaining a smooth payment ecosystem for both business and customers. In simple words, a payment gateway is a merchant service that relies on technology to capture data and process payment from customers.

Once a customer provides the card details, a payment gateway securely validates it and transfers the payment acceptance to the customer. In case of funds being unavailable, it will decline the transaction. The entire process of accepting payment via a payment gateway takes only a few seconds but here’s how payment gateways work behind the scene:

• Purchase and Card Details: After deciding to purchase a product, a customer enters card details for completing the transaction.
• Client-side Encryption: The payment gateway uses its encryption library to encrypt the sensitive card details which are then securely transmitted.
• Fund Availability: Now the payment gateway verifies card details and checks whether there is a sufficient amount of funds to process the transaction. At this stage, it uses anti-fraud tools to check potential fraudulent activities as well.
• Transaction Initiation: At this stage, the payment gateway requests the customer’s bank for initiating the transaction. The funds are then transferred to and deposited in the merchant bank account.
• Payment Success: The customer receives the payment notification and so does the business owner.

3 Types of Payment Gateways

Now that you know the fundamentals of payment gateways, let’s take a look at the different kinds.

1) Hosted Payment Gateway: Hosted payment gateways are those that direct customers to the Payment Service Provider (PSP) page once they click on the checkout page. The customer is required to provide the payment details here instead of the checkout page. Once the payment is processed, the customer is redirected back to the website.

Pros:

• Security: Because of being PCI compliant, hosted payment gateways are extremely secure and protect customers from fraudulent activities.
• Easy to Set Up: Hosted payment gateways are easy to set up and can be easily customised to some extent as well.

Cons:

• Lack of Control over User Experience: Since this payment gateway is hosted externally, the merchant doesn’t have much control over the user experience.

2) API-hosted Payment Gateways: API-hosted payment gateways allow your customers to enter the payment details on the checkout page of your website. The difference is that these card details are processed with the help of HTTPS queries or APIs (Application Programming Interface).

Pros:

• Easy Customisation: You can easily customise the user interface of the gateway, depending on your requirements.
• Superlative Customer Experience: This kind of payment gateway allows one to complete the entire transaction in one place which leaves your customers satisfied.
• Payment Journey: The merchant has control over the payment journey and can customise the flow as per need.

Cons:

• Increased Complexity and No Support: Since there is no technical support team to rely on, you will be on your own when a system failure occurs. Either you will have to hire a professional to resolve the problem or learn to do it on your own.

3) Local Bank Integration: Integrating with local banks is another option when it comes to deploying a payment gateway. With this, you will be redirecting customers to the bank’s website where they will have to provide the payment details. Customers will be redirected to the merchant website upon payment completion. You should choose this payment gateway only when your business needs limited functionalities and features.

Pros:

• Quick and Easy to Set Up: This kind of payment gateway works for businesses that require a one-time payment structure.

Cons:

• Limited Features: This kind of gateway doesn’t have the capability to offer recurring payments or returns.

How Does Your Business Benefit From an Online Payment Gateway?

Having an online payment gateway is a no-brainer as more and more customers continue to shop online every day. A study by GroupM shows that eCommerce businesses will see a growth of 6.6% in sales in 2021. And, if you want your business to be a part of that growth, you better have a payment gateway integration in place. Let’s take a look at how you can benefit from a payment gateway.

• Improved Sales Enablement: Online payment gateways can do wonders when it comes to offering frictionless and convenient purchase experiences. With a robust security framework, they assure shoppers and can store information which facilitates quick online checkout.
• Reduced Fraudulent Activities: As a business owner, you don’t want to lose sales because of stringent fraud prevention regulations. With the right mechanism in place, payment gateways help you protect customers from frauds and therefore boost customer trust.
• Less Hassle With PCI Compliance: Merchants are required to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) which keeps launching new versions frequently. Payment gateways can usually take care of data security compliance requirements and help the merchant save time as well as money. For example, merchants storing credit or debit card data before sending it to the payment processor will have to invest time and money for maintaining PCI DSS compliance and third-party security audits.
• Streamline Reporting: Designed to make it easier for you to fetch settlement and dispute reports, payment gateways help you make data-driven business decisions.
• Easy Chargeback Management: Managing chargeback can be extremely cumbersome without a payment gateway. For example, a merchant not using a gateway may have to fax to the payment processor and follow up in order to facilitate the chargeback. With a payment gateway in place, you can easily take care of data gathering and chargeback as well.
• Recurring Billing and Split Payments: Payment gateways bring in flexibility when it comes to charging customers or distributing sales proceeds. For example, subscription-based businesses can offer recurring billing and you can split payment with sub-merchants as well.
• Multi-currency Payments: Having a multi-currency payment gateway enables you to expand globally and do business across borders. When your business uses a gateway that supports multi-currency transactions, your customers will be able to make payments in their own currencies. This can certainly accelerate your international expansion plans.

How Do Your Customers Benefit From a Payment Gateway?

The millennials today go online for pretty much everything they need. Adding a payment gateway means adding to the shoppers’ convenience. And, happy customers mean more sales. Here are a few ways in which your customer can benefit from an online payment gateway.

• Adds to Convenience: Today’s shoppers want to make purchases while sipping cold soda comfortably from the sofa at home. They can do it during the wee hours or pretty much at any time during the way. Payment gateways can easily facilitate such online transactions and don’t require your monitoring. This is why businesses going online must have an online payment gateway to add to the customers’ convenience and therefore make more sales.
• Facilitates Impulsive Buying: Did you know 40% of the money spent on ecommerce comes from impulsive buying? Customers today don’t want to wait till the physical shop opens tomorrow morning. And they may change their decision if they have to wait till tomorrow. With payment gateways in place, you are able to facilitate such impulsive transactions in a hassle-free manner.
• Improved User Experience: Carefully crafted online payment platforms enable you to offer a superlative user experience to your customers. For example, you can customise the entire flow starting from adding products to shopping cart to saving items for later purchase to instant check out. When you use PCI-DSS compliant payment gateways, your customers don’t have to provide the payment details every time they buy something.
• Faster and Secure Transactions: When your business uses a payment gateway, your customers can enjoy faster payment processing and secure transactions.

Top 8 Payment Gateway Providers to Know More About in 2021

Choosing a payment gateway provider can be a little overwhelming, primarily because of the number of choices you have. Many of these providers function in a way similar to payment gateways but don’t call themselves so. Here are top XX payment gateway providers that you should consider while choosing the best one for your business.

1) DebitSuccess

Working with 3,000+ businesses across industries and $750M+ worth transactions annually, DebitSuccess claims itself to be one of the largest full service direct debit initiators in Australasia. Besides specialising in recurring payment solutions, their platform is designed to handle credit control, provide online payment gateway, offer full service billing including overdue payment notifications and optional debt collection provision, maintain data security, and create comprehensive reports. Let’s take a look at what they can offer for your business:

• Full-Service Billing: The full-service billing system by DebitSuccess allows easy collection of recurring credit/debit card payments. In addition, you can enjoy benefits of integrated transaction processing and credit control as well.
• Cloud Software: DebitSuccess also offers cloud payment gateway software which can be easily integrated with your website for facilitating online transactions.
• Data Security: Because of being Level 1 PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant, DebitSuccess can easily take care of data security measures required for keeping customers transactions safe.
• Reporting & Analytics: DebitSuccess also provides you with automated reports so that you can make data-driven business decisions.
• API Integration: The software can also facilitate a number of integrations essential for smooth functioning of business processes.

2) Stripe

Stripe payment gateway by Stripe is used by millions of businesses for accepting and making payments online. Their full-stack online payment solution is ideal for a wide variety of businesses including retail shops, subscription-based businesses, marketplaces, software platforms, etc. Using Stripe, you can not only accept payments but also tackle fraudulent activities, issue expense cards, and manage spends. It also comes with easy-to-use APIs with which you can easily integrate with popular ecommerce platforms such as WooCommerce, Shopify, etc. Now, let’s take a look at things you can do with Stripe Payments.

• Hosted or API based Payments: Using Stripe Checkout, you can easily integrate your website for accepting payments. The checkout page is designed to support coupons and tax rates based on the device location.
• Customised Flow: Stripe comes with Stripe Elements which let you create a customised payment form with pre-built UI elements. This helps you to create a customised flow ideal for your customers.
• Prevent Fraudulent Activities: Stripe relies on Stripe Radar for detecting and protecting your customers from fraudulent activities. Using machine learning, Stripe Radar trains with the help of data from businesses all over the world.
• Maximised Acceptance: Using adaptive acceptance and automatic card updates, Stripe seeks to minimise declines and maximise acceptance for your business.
• Supports Multiple Currencies: Supporting 135+ currencies, Stripe allows your customers to pay in their preferred currencies. This doesn’t only boost conversion but also improves customer satisfaction. In addition, Stripe offers a unified API for bank debits, cards, and wallets as well.
• AES Encryption: In a bid to offer comprehensive security, Stripe encrypts all card numbers on disk with AES-256 and stores decryption keys on different machines. In addition, it uses isolated infrastructure for the purpose of storing, decrypting, and transmitting card details.

3) IntegraPay

IntegraPay makes it easier for businesses to accept one-off and recurring payments with Visa, BPay, Direct Debit, BPay, and more. With a wide variety of payment solutions, it can actually help you automate time-consuming manual tasks ranging from tracking overdue payments to reconciling payments. Here are the different things that you can do with IntegraPay.

• Accept Credit/Debit Card Payment: With IntegraPay, your business can easily accept payments from major credit cards such as Discover, American Express, Mastercard, ad Visa. Besides deploying the highest level PCI compliance, it uses Card Vault (a proprietary tool) to tokenise, safely store, and process the card details.
• Easy API Integration: With the API (Application Programming Interface) toolkit made available by IntegraPay, you can seamlessly integrate the payment services on your website.
• Direct Debit: Be it automating one-off payments or recurring payments, IntegraPay enables you to direct debit customer accounts via debit/credit card or bank account.
• Robust Security: IntegraPay ensures that all the payment details are stored in, processed and transmitted through their secure network. Like other payment gateway providers, they also maintain the highest compliance level for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
• Automated Payment Recovery: IntegraPay comes with an automated payment recovery module that helps you recover unsuccessful payment and therefore minimise payments declined.
• Tokenisation: IntegraPay uses tokenization for encrypting payment details and securely storing the payment details. All these data are further safely stored in the Card Vault.

4) PayPal

PayPal Commerce by PayPal is another payment gateway provider that allows you to accept payments from your customers using different means. It allows you to offer subscriptions and supports alternative payment options (crypto currency like Bitcoin) as well. Designed to offer flexibility, it helps your business to grow. Here is what you can do with PayPal Commerce.

• On-site Checkout: With a single global payments partner like PayPal by your side, you will be able to facilitate on-site checkouts around the globe. You can simply add PayPal on your website which will help you increase conversion as customers can pay using a wide variety of options.
• Recurring Payments: Be it managing recurring payments or subscriptions, you can manage both with PayPal payment gateway.
• Invoices and Estimates: PayPal also allows you to create and send out invoices and estimates to your customers.
• Contactless Payments: Using PayPal, you can accept both card as well as contactless payment. You can even receive payment on the go with QR codes.
• Virtual Terminal: PayPal also comes with a virtual terminal that allows you to accept payment via credit and debit cards. This means that you can pretty much accept payments anywhere, given you have access to the internet.

5) eWay

Making payments frictionless for ecommerce businesses, eWay is one of the top payment gateway providers in Australia. Besides coming with 250+ shopping cart and software integrations, this platform has secure and reliable fraud protection mechanisms in place as well. Here are some of the things that you can take care of with eWay.

• Online Payments: The all-in-one payment gateway solution by eWay makes it easier for you to accept payments online. They charge a flat rate transaction fees of 1.5% + 25c per transaction for domestic and international cards.
• Fraud Protection: eWay helps you to protect your business and customers from fraudulent activities, thanks to the combination of machine learning, filtering, and real-time database matching.
• On-site Payment: eWAY’s iFrame solutions enable your business to accept payments without requiring customers to leave the website.
• Accept Credit Card Payments: eway payment solution makes it seamless for your customers to make payments with credit cards, Diners Club, JCB, and so on.
• Reports: With eWay, you have access to settlement reports which help you to ensure accuracy and easily reconcile accounts.

6) GoCardLess

GoCardLess is another payment gateway provider that helps your business collect one-off and recurring payments from customers. With a pull-based Direct Debit approach, this gateway helps you put payment authorisation and collection on automation. In addition, you will be able to reduce costs by automating recurring payment collection. You can reduce failed payments and keep track of payments as well with GoCardLess. Here is what you can do with this payment gateway.

• Invoice Payments: Once the customers provide their payment details, you will be able to collect one-off and recurring payments without any hassle.
• Subscription Payments: GoCardLess allows you to accept recurring payments directly or by sending customers to a secure payment link.
• Simple Management: The user-friendly environment of GoCardLess makes it easier for you to collect and manage payments from customers. The tool comes with a simple dashboard which allows you to renew/amend/pause payment plans and have complete visibility over all transactions.
• International Payments: With GoCardLess, you can easily collect international payments from different countries including Eurozone countries.
• Real-time Alerts: Authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, GoCardLess has stringent measures in place for preventing potential fraudulent activities. In addition, you receive real-time alerts for failed payments or customer cancellations as well.

7) SecurePay

Helping 90,000+ Australian businesses to accept online payments, SecurePay by Australia Post is one of the top payment gateways in Australia that you must know about. The affordable per-transaction pricing model comes with 1.75%+ $0.30 AUD for domestic cards and 2.90%+$0.30 AUD for international cards. Let’s take a look at the features of SecurePay.

• Online Payments: Besides allowing you to accept once-off online payments, SecurePay comes with easy setup and PCI compliant digital security.
• Direct Debit: With SecurePay, you can easily take care of recurring and direct debit card payments. This enables you to provide customers with the much needed payment flexibility.
• Multiple Payment Methods: SecurePay enables your business to accept payments via multiple payment methods including different credit & debit cards, PayPal, POLi, AliPay, WeChat Pay, and Phone Payments as well.
• Security & Fraud Protection: SecurePay comes with FraudGuard which plays a significantly important role in detecting frauds and helping you prevent potential security threats.
• Easy Setup, Customisation, & Integration: SecurePay comes with a sandbox version which helps you to experience the entire system before you go for it. It can be easily customised as per your needs and comes with multiple ecommerce integration options.
• Management & Reporting: Thanks to regular reports, you can always stay on top of transactions and process refunds.

8) 2Checkout

2CheckOut is an all-in-one monetisation platform that makes digital sales easier for your business. With several features like global payments, digital commerce, subscription billing, global taxes, risk management, and partner sales, this platform is the go-to choice for many businesses across the world. Here are some of the things that you can do with 2CheckOut.

• Global Payment Processing: 2CheckOut offers hassle-free global payment processing across 200+ countries and enables your customers to make payments in 100 currencies using 45+ payment methods.
• Digital Commerce: It also enables your ecommerce business to accept payments using hosted cart or integrated API interface.
• Easy SubScription Management: With 2CheckOut, you can easily take care of recurring payments and other elements of subscription-based business such as packaging, onboarding, and acquisition.
• Reporting: 2Checkout also enables you to create custom reports in different arenas of business i.e. finance, marketing, analytics, subscription, etc.
• Global Tax Management: Whether you want to comply with MEA or APAC regulations, manage U.S. sales tax, or track European VAT rates, 2CheckOut can help you do all that and more.
• Payment Fraud Management: With upgraded fraud detection tools or multi-tier defense strategy, you will be able to prevent potential fraudulent activities from taking place.

9 Things To Consider Before Choosing a Payment Gateway Provider

Now that you know more about some of the top payment gateway providers, you must be thinking which payment gateway is the best or which is the cheapest payment gateway. Well, it doesn’t work like that. You must consider a number of factors while choosing a payment gateway provider.

1) Want to go for a modern or classic payment gateway?
This is the first question you should be asking yourself. A classic payment gateway requires you to create a merchant account for the purpose of transmitting money. On the other hand, modern payment gateways send your customers off-site for making payments. And, they come with higher fees but are extremely easy to set up. Classic payment gateways charge less transaction fees and have the ability to improve conversions. PayPal and Stripe are best examples of modern gateways whereas 2CheckOut is a classic payment gateway.

2) Pay attention to the encryption standards
Once you decide whether to go for a classic or modern payment gateway, you need to dig deep into the encryption standards. Given that your payment gateway will be handling all the sensitive payment information, your reputation will be on line in the unlikely case of a security breach. While most of the payment gateway providers are PCI compliant, some of them use additional tokenisation which entirely removes the card data. Secure gateways reduce chances of human error, offer reporting visibility, and come with a lower processing cost as well.

3) Is it compatible?
Most of the payment platforms come with payment gateway API required for easy integration. Depending on the nature of your business, you may have unique requirements such as integration with your financial data management platform or invoicing software. Your payment gateway provider should be compatible for such potential integrations.

4) Keep the speed in mind
It may not come to your mind in the first instance but speed is a crucial factor when it comes to processing payments. If you don’t have a processor that can secure and authorise credit card details in seconds, chances are high that you will lose customers. The payment gateway provider you choose must be able to secure the money for your account as quickly as possible.

5) Does it meet your reporting needs?
Most of the payment gateway providers come with different reporting features. But does it meet your needs? You may want to have a detailed visibility over all the transactions or specifics like chargebacks. Your payment gateway must offer different reports you need in the preferred format of yours.

6) Does it come with fraud detection and other security measures?
Your payment gateway provider should have necessary security measures in place in order to be able to detect potential fraudulent activities. With the right mechanism, you should be able to stop any suspicious activities before they affect the payment process. This is especially important for you when you are handling a large volume of payments every day.

7) Do you need built-in invoicing capabilities?
When you want to streamline the payment process, it’s better to have a payment gateway that comes with built-in invoicing capability. It can help you stop your reliance on other platforms and have all the necessary invoicing processes in one place.

8) Is it customisable?
As your finance team reviews transactions and analyses data, you would want to make the process seamless for them. That’s why your payment gateway should come with an enhanced user interface that can be easily customised or it can be easily integrated with your ERP platform. It’s best to try the platform and see if it meets your expectations.

9) Does it cost you a fortune?
Once you have all the answers, you need to consider the fees associated with a payment gateway. While some platforms come with flat fees for every transaction, others charge nothing for setup and a high commission for premium features like chargebacks. Depending on your budget, you need to decide what’s best for your company.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers About Payment Gateways

Now that you know more about choosing payment gateways and top payment gateway providers in Australia, let’s take a closer look at frequently asked questions that you must have answers to.

1) What is payment processor?
A payment processor works as the middleman between payment gateway and bank. It relays the payment details to the bank, checks for valid details, and the availability of funds as well. The transaction goes through once all the checkpoints are met.

2) Can payment gateways automate business processes?
Certain financial processes such as recurring billing, reporting, and subscriptions can be easily automated with the right payment gateway.

3) Do you really need to worry about PCI compliance?
It is compulsory for businesses processing credit card information to comply with PCI regulations. Using PCI certified payment gateways enables you to protect your business and customers from potential frauds.

4) How much does payment gateway cost?
The payment gateway fees depend on several factors including initial setup fees, membership fees, batch fees, chargeback fees, PCI-compliance fees, monthly account fees, and so on.

NeeVista specialises in helping businesses of all sizes with setting up payment gateways and automating different financial processes that your business needs for smooth functioning. If you find yourself struggling with finding the best payment gateways in Australia and need help with integrations, don’t hesitate to get in touch!