In today’s online environment, merchant onboarding is all about speed and efficiency. There is a huge online retail potential waiting to be grasped worldwide. The market is witnessing a transition from cash to digital payments, while the customer demand for frictionless payment experiences is increasing. All these developments create lots of opportunities for merchants, but also huge pressure.
The merchant onboarding process sits at the core of the payments segment. Its efficiency is the contributing factor to the success or failure of an entire business. However, looking for a simple, rapid and efficient onboarding process can be time-consuming and might become a burden. That being said, let us take a look at the main online payment gateways and the way they address the merchant onboarding process.
A Visa subsidiary, Authorize.Net is a US-based payment gateway service provider allowing merchants to accept credit card and electronic check payments via their website and over an IP connection. It certainly deserves mention as a true veteran of payment services.
Connecting your website to this gateway usually requires coding and development skills. There are three available Authorize.Net integration methods: Advanced Integration Method (AIM), Server Integration Method, or Direct Post Method. To integrate the gateway using the AIM, you need to create an Authorize.Net sandbox account and set a customer form. To manage recurring billing and refunds, you have to implement a Silent Post and activate a live mode to start receiving payments if you use the official SDK.
Authorize.Net charges an additional setup fee of USD 49, and a USD 25 monthly fee. As compared to other competitors, this gateway does not ensure a high-security level.
Stripe is a US technology company operating in over 25 countries that allows both private individuals and businesses to accept online payments. It also supports more than 100 different currencies and has recently given up accepting Bitcoin as a payment method. Stripe can be set up instantly and integrated into any website or mobile app and it is used by thousands of businesses of every size—from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies. It has a secure open API that can be easily connected or even customized by your developers.
To add Stripe online payments to your web application, you’ll need to create an account, fill in several forms that include your bank details and install the Node.js module. Then, enter your API keys and build a payment form using Checkout, an embedded payment instrument provided by the company.
The great thing about Stripe is that you will be able to test out the gateway on your Create website before you activate your Stripe account. As the company defines itself as an all-in-one payment provider, integration of third-party payment gateways to decrease your expenses is not available. Stripe has a similar price as PayPal at 2.9% + USD 0.3 per transaction without any monthly fees.
Xsolla is a service which caters strictly to video game sellers, including developer-ran stores. Depending on your chosen plan, it can provide payment processing and analytics, fraud prevention, even billing services and publishing tools, if required. Xsolla can handle over 700 payment methods and 89 currencies, all available for developers to implement into their store.
Xsolla has little competition as a video game industry-focused payment gateway. Having been established in 2006, it has had more than a decade’s worth of head start over competitors for this niche. Xsolla integration can take from two days to one month and the first step is creating a Publisher account, followed by the technical integration. Other details regarding integration with the gateway are not available.
G2A PAY is a global payment gateway created for online merchants allowing them to accept 200+ global payment methods from customers in over 170 countries. We have recently simplified the gateway integration process and limited the number of steps that you must go through to accept money and manage your online store. Here`s how.
You can now easily set up an account with G2A PAY with only your full name and telephone number. Once you insert these details, the system generates a token which is sent to the phone number you provided. After entering the token, you are logged in to the created account. The next step is to add your online store to the account in G2A PAY. For this purpose, you must enter the store URL and e-mail address. Once you connect your store with your G2A PAY account, you are ready to sell products and services globally and accept payments from almost every country, in each currency. All funds will be added to your G2A Wallet.
You can accept payments of up to EUR 900 and up to 30 days from the account creation date, at no charge. After exceeding these limits, the ability to accept payments is blocked and you must undergo a full KYC/AML verification process, in case you decide that G2A PAY is the right choice for you. The withdrawal of money from the account is possible only after passing the full KYC/AML procedure.
There certainly is a wealth of options available to merchants interested in ecommerce, and while some may seem better than others, this is largely a matter of matching the offer with your requirements and business needs.