It's one of those hard decisions that every business owner has to make from a very early stage: how do you choose a secure payment gateway? Any business without the ability to send and receive payments online is severely limiting their capacity for growth, but the choice of payment gateway for your website can have just as big of an impact on your bottom line.
There are two major things to consider when choosing a secure payment:
Customer Choice
According to a study from Quality Research Associates, the top-performing online merchants in customer conversion are those that offer the most payment options. By offering at least four choices, you can increase your conversion by 20%.
This shows that shoppers all have their own personal favorite way to pay. The alternative payment market is fragmented differently all around the world, so there's no one best solution to choose. When choosing a secure gateway to accept online payments, if you pick one that offers only one method of payment, no matter how effective or convenient, will alienate many potential customers.
Security
This brings us to the matter of security, both for your customers and for yourself. Many consumers still prefer to use credit cards online and so you should always provide it as an option, but credit cards also come with increased security risks, so it's important to do your research when choosing a credit card payment gateway.
In fact, any type of payment card comes with its own risks, but you can kill all those birds with one stone by making sure to go with a PCI compliant payment gateway. PCI compliance is designed to prevent payment card fraud through a set of data controls and best practices. PCI compliant companies are those proven to fulfill a set of annual security requirements.
But it's also important to offer alternatives to payment cards. Due to increased security concerns, more and more consumers prefer alternative payment options. Credit cards, once the be-all and end-all of online payments, have been watching their e-commerce market share disappear to more secure, versatile and money-saving alternatives in the form of e-wallets.
When choosing a secure payment gateway, you need to consider what your customers want, and what they want is both security and choice. It's an important decision, so do your research and find a secure payment gateway that best suits both your needs and those of your customers. It's a choice that can help to shape the future of your business, for better or for worse.
There are two major things to consider when choosing a secure payment:
Customer Choice
According to a study from Quality Research Associates, the top-performing online merchants in customer conversion are those that offer the most payment options. By offering at least four choices, you can increase your conversion by 20%.
This shows that shoppers all have their own personal favorite way to pay. The alternative payment market is fragmented differently all around the world, so there's no one best solution to choose. When choosing a secure gateway to accept online payments, if you pick one that offers only one method of payment, no matter how effective or convenient, will alienate many potential customers.
Security
This brings us to the matter of security, both for your customers and for yourself. Many consumers still prefer to use credit cards online and so you should always provide it as an option, but credit cards also come with increased security risks, so it's important to do your research when choosing a credit card payment gateway.
In fact, any type of payment card comes with its own risks, but you can kill all those birds with one stone by making sure to go with a PCI compliant payment gateway. PCI compliance is designed to prevent payment card fraud through a set of data controls and best practices. PCI compliant companies are those proven to fulfill a set of annual security requirements.
But it's also important to offer alternatives to payment cards. Due to increased security concerns, more and more consumers prefer alternative payment options. Credit cards, once the be-all and end-all of online payments, have been watching their e-commerce market share disappear to more secure, versatile and money-saving alternatives in the form of e-wallets.
When choosing a secure payment gateway, you need to consider what your customers want, and what they want is both security and choice. It's an important decision, so do your research and find a secure payment gateway that best suits both your needs and those of your customers. It's a choice that can help to shape the future of your business, for better or for worse.
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