The Top eCommerce Payment Gateways and Processors
2023’s top payment gateways
Learn about the best online payment channels.
The best payment gateways make it simple and quick to accept and process credit and debit card payments online.
You have the choice of accepting card payments in-person or online thanks to online shopping payment gateways. This makes it possible to process credit card payments both online and offline. Systems for payment gateways also offer Point of Sale (POS) purchase processing in-store.
Payment gateways let you charge cards and then bill any fees to the company, or merchant, at rates that usually range from 1.4% to 3.5% and don’t always require a monthly fee.
Additionally, having a merchant account reduces your processing costs to about interchange fees, which typically range from 0.10% to 20% per transaction and are subject to monthly fees.
A simple payment gateway could be a great solution to handle low-volume sales. However, you can find that paying a monthly price for merchant processing with interchange fees becomes more affordable if sales volume reaches a crucial threshold because monthly charges may reduce revenues more than processing prices.
Some of the best payment gateways offer both options or a similar competitive edge. This could take the form of charges for processing particular cards or direct interaction with accounting software. Anyone in the UK who requires specialised accounting software may experience the same.
We evaluated these payment gateways using a range of factors, such as ease of use, global processing, cost alternatives, and support for mobile payments. We also looked at their security features, supported currencies, and types of organisations that would work best for.
Below is a list of the top payment gateways right now.
The entire ranking of the best payment gateways for 2023
Vendreo
Vendreo offers two main ecommerce card processing solutions, Vendreo Pay and Vendreo DirectPay.
Specifications
- Global Processing
- Rates: varying rates, amongst the lowest fees on the market
- POS: Integration with POS is possible through their API.
- Mobile payments are feasible trough their API.
Benefits
- Simple to setup and use.
- A smooth checkout process for customers.
- Optional customisations.
Vendreo Pay is the starting point with fast acceptance and a cultured easy-to-use interface for both merchants and customers. Higher volume merchants can benefit from a seamless upgrade to Vendreo DirectPay.
Paypal
The most popular payment option on websites is PayPal.
Specifications
- Global Processing: This technique is employed.
- Rates: varying rates
- POS: Integration with POS is there, yes.
- Mobile payments are feasible, yes.
Benefits
- Simple to assemble and use
- Several customers use PayPal.
- Optional customizations
Disadvantages
- PayPal account is necessary.
- You might need to get in touch with the sales team.
- One of the most widely used methods of internet payment is PayPal. It was established in 1998 under the name Cofinity and enables international money transfers.
PayPal provides credit card processing services as well as the ability to accept American Express and Visa to e-commerce companies, auction sites, and other commercial entities throughout the world. Additionally, it supports straightforward cart integration, a wide range of customization options, online invoicing, and credit card payments made over the phone.
Although the online marketplace eBay is frequently associated with PayPal, it’s important to note that PayPal hasn’t been eBay’s major payment option since 2020. (Even if the company migrated to Adyen, PayPal is still available as a choice for payment method). Last year, eBay said in a statement that the choice was made to give customers more affordable prices.
Card processing is affordable for new and small businesses because it costs 2.9% per transaction and has no ongoing fees.
Like all of the top companies that take credit cards, PayPal frequently runs specials and incentives. Investigate the most up-to-date methods for taking credit and debit card payments, including point of sale, QR codes, and a host of other small business-friendly options.
Stripe
One of the top platforms for payment technology for developers.
Specifications
- Worldwide Processing: Yes, there is global processing.
- Rates: varying rates
- POS: Integration with POS is present.
- Mobile: Mobile payments are feasible, yes.
Benefits
- APIs and development tools that are integrated
- Cellular payments
Disadvantages
- technical expertise needed
- 3-5 days for settlement
- Another prominent payment platform for online retailers is Stripe, which boasts that it processes billions of dollars’ worth of transactions annually. This service’s main differentiation from many others is that it does not offer a pre-made answer. Instead, a set of flexible tools is provided to you so that you can design your own payment methods.
It offers a plethora of APIs and is designed for bigger enterprises, allowing you to create your own subscription services, on-demand markets, or crowdfunding platforms. Numerous programming languages, including Ruby, Python, PHP, and Java are supported.
Additionally, Stripe offers features like mobile payments, subscription billing, and one-click checkout in addition to supporting over a hundred different currencies. Users can view transactions on a dashboard, which is also available to them. Despite the fact that Stripe requires far more technical knowledge from the consumer than other providers, it is clear that this payment gateway is feature-rich.
With card processing rates for European cards of 1.4% plus a little fee per transaction, Stripe offers a clear advantage to European retailers. Non-European credit and debit card processing fees average 2.9% plus a small transaction fee. For higher volume requirements, it also offers a bespoke plan with bulk pricing.
If you want to start accepting credit card payments quickly and efficiently, Stripe offers several options. It offers a complete payment platform with simple pay-as-you-go pricing, which is currently fixed at 2.9% + 30 cents for each successful card transaction.
Google Pay
Innovative e-commerce payment gateway Vendreo Pay from Vendreo.com is built around Open Banking. Payments are made directly into your bank account using the customer’s online banking app.
Specifications
- Instant settlement
- Zero commission fees
- Low cost
- Supports subscription and recurring payments
- The finest payment gateways for flexible payments
Benefits
- Provider of merchant accounts
- Support for digital providers and payment cards
- Supported wide currency range
- Designed for all business types
Disadvantages
- cost-prohibitive for micro businesses
These solutions’ main objective is to make the Authorize.net (from Visa) payment procedure simpler. You have the ability to sell items and receive payments online or in person at a store thanks to the platform’s flexibility and consideration for businesses of all sizes.
The service enables you to quickly transfer money from online payments into a merchant bank account. The following credit cards are accepted: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diner’s Club, and JCB. The site also accepts electronic payments using PayPal, Apple Pay, and Visa Checkout.
The programme can accept payments from customers anywhere in the world, but in order to use this service, your business must be registered in one of the following countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, or Australia.
Additional payment gateways to consider
Although we’ve listed a few of the best merchant gateways, there are still a few more to take into account. This is especially true considering that many may be used to connect with modern e-commerce systems by installing a single plugin. Based on the diverse needs of online firms, we’ll now highlight a few more merchant gateways that are definitely worth looking into.
Another payment option that is frequently used by online retailers is 2Checkout, not the least of which is how simple it is to set up subscriptions in addition to one-time payments. This makes it especially appropriate for online businesses that offer digital services, like web hosting companies or web design firms. Additionally readily available, it supports a variety of foreign currencies and may be added as a plugin for popular e-commerce platforms.
In addition to offering a merchant gateway, Opayo also enables you to directly record all sales and transactions into your Sage accounting programme. This makes it very useful for efficiency, not the least because it enables you to see your expenses and earnings in real-time. Even if there are numerous Opayo choices, it’s best to have a merchant account to get the most out of the programme, not the least because it lowers transaction costs right from the start.
For the top e-commerce platforms, FIS Global (previously Worldpay) offers a choice of interfaces. If you want to take advantage of interchange fees on all transactions, you may either put it up as a monthly subscription service or use a merchant account. However, after being controlled by at least two different companies, Worldpay has undergone significant changes recently, so it’s important to assess what services are being provided and at what cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a payment gateway actually do?
Businesses utilise payment gateway technologies to obtain payments from clients.
A payment gateway at a brick-and-mortar retail store is a point-of-sale (POS) system or a card reader, whereas an online payment gateway is cloud-based and helps businesses receive online payments from customers.
How do you decide which payment processors are best for your requirements?
The size of your business has a significant impact on your decision regarding the best payment gateway for your purposes. A reliable payment gateway might not be necessary if you run a small firm or are an independent business owner. This is especially true when you take into account the simplicity and adaptability that PayPal offers.
For the majority of businesses, being able to accept card payments is a daily requirement, and customers expect to have options. So look for ones that offer affordability, value, connectivity to POS systems, and the ability to integrate with your accounting software.
Watch out for the terms and conditions listed in our introduction at the same time. Keep in mind that fees can differ significantly from one payment gateway to the next when estimating your charges. Make careful to take processing and interchange fees into consideration because they can add up rapidly.
Even though they are more expensive, you should choose one of the more advanced systems if your business plans to process larger volumes of sales.
How do we assess the top payment processors?
When testing payment gateways, we are always on the lookout for ways to make things easier for businesses. Each product should therefore be customised for the type and size of business it is intended for. As a result, several of the above-mentioned payment gateway solutions work better for smaller, low-volume retail businesses.
However, if you process a lot of credit card payments, you’ll need one of the more robust options advised in this guide. We make an effort to balance the effectiveness of the systems in the target business market with the costs and fees involved.
We strive to ensure that every system we evaluate has all of the features and functions necessary, without charging extra for things that may never be used, because businesses are continuously looking for exceptional value. By outlining the advantages and drawbacks of each key player, our buying suggestions help you focus your search.
