How to Choose a Payment Gateway in Africa
How to choose a payment gateway for credit card processing in Africa for credit card merchants looking for a credit card merchant facility.
1. Has the payment gateway embarked on PCI-compliancy?
PCI is an initiative embarked on by the large card associations to ensure that credit card information is properly stored and cared for to minimise the risk of card numbers being compromised online (sparing you the stress), it also means you can sleep better at night, knowing your customers valuable information is safe and sound.
2. Good customer support.
Essential that you can get quick and effective support from the payment gateway - ask around the merchant and developer community who gives the best customer support
3. How long has the company been in business?
Trusting your credit card processing to a payment gateway is a big thing - we are talking about money here! There are more and more payment gateways popping up and they have not been around for long enough to prove their mettle. Choose a payment gateway who accept credit card online that has been around for more than ten years
4. Are client references available for you to call?
Ask for four client references to hear how they feel about the payment gateway for you to accept credit card payment online
5. How easy is it to set up?
Make sure it is easy to get started and link to the payment gateway - an easy process that looks organised and simple integration documentation freely and easily accessible and available
6. How much technical training is needed?
Online payment gateways have been around a long time so make sure you choose one where it is easy enough to do that no technical training is required to get up and running
7. Does the payment gateway help you get a merchant facility?
Dealing with banks can be quite a challenge, so make sure you choose as payment gateway for your credit card processing who will help you deal with the bank to get your merchant facility or merchant account
8. Does the payment gateway support all the big local banks?
You might want to change banks at some stage and you don't want to have to change your payment gateway and start all over again, so make sure they support all the big acquiring banks
9. Does the payment gateway need specific hardware or software?
Make sure that there are no specific hardware or software requirements for processing credit cards on the internet
10. What is the cost of their 'basic' system and what is 'included'?
Cheapest is not always the best. The cost of the payment gateways is minimal compared to the bank commission charges. We are dealing with the internet and financial transactions here, so security, reliability and uptime are critical - one fraudulent transaction or losing a deal because your payment gateway is offline will cost you a lot more. So make sure they have a track record of professionalism and secure and reliable credit card processing.
11. Do they have a good range of useful payment processing products and functionality?
Check what useful and easy to use products the payment gateway has that will save you time, protect you from fraud, convert foreign currencies during ecommerce payment processing
12. Do they support recurring and subscription billing?
If you charge your customers on a periodic basis, you will find the recurring billing feature offered by gateways a big time-saver. Make sure your payment gateway can receive and load recurring billing information automatically via the web or the backoffice telling it how often to charge the customer - the gateway takes care of the rest. No more keying information into a piece of software or credit card terminal every month. This feature is essential for subscription and membership based businesses.subscription billing etc
13. What commission and how long do I have to wait for my money?
Some payment gateways will process the transaction, collect it into their own merchant account take off a nice fat commission for themselves and then pay you the money later. Although it is quicker to get up and running, it is better and cheaper for you to have your own merchant account.
14. Does your payment gateway offer fraud detection and risk mitigation?
Firstly make sure they can do Master Card SecureCode and Verified by Visa Secondly, do they have a simple and effective fraud protection system that stops fraudulent credit card transactions before they are processed ie saving you processing costs, wasted commission, chargeback complications and administration and loss of profits on goods shipped and not paid for
15. Can you accept Master Card, Visa, Diners and American Express?
Make sure you can accept all of these card types including Master Card, Visa, Diners and American Express
16. Can I customise the look and feel of my checkout page with my own branding?
Make sure you can easily customise your payment page so it looks like the rest of your website
17. Can I authorise now and settle later?
If you are a mail order company and want to make sure your buyer has money, make sure you can authorise the transaction now and then when you have made sure you have stock and ship the goods, settle the transaction. So make sure your credit card payment gateway can do this
18. Can I have control over my refunds?
Make sure that your payment gateway's credit card payment system allows you to refund transactions yourself using a backoffice
19. Can I have different levels of access for each of my staff?
The better credit card payment processors offer a facility for you to add and delete users by using your secure login to a backoffice section. To prevent fraud, you can give different staff members different levels of access
20. Is there a comprehensive reporting system with good search functionality?
Make sure that your card payment solution has an easy to use, easy to search backoffice where you can see all of your transactions, do refunds, bank recons, support queries etc Otherwise you are flying blind!
21. Are there any hidden costs?
Make sure that the payment gateway sends you the complete pricelist so you know what you are in for up front
22. How soon can I get access to my money?
Make sure that your money goes straight into your bank account and that the payment gateway who accept credit cards online doesn't get involved with your money and hold onto it when it could be in your bank account or used to pay for goods shipped or services provided
23. Do they make it easy for me to quote in foreign currencies so I can be a global player?
Make sure your payment gateway to accept credit card payment processing has a built-in currency management system so you can quote in foreign currencies and settle in rands. Essential functionality for handling the unique nature of South African legislation so you can capitalise on the power of global demand.
24. Does the payment gateway automatically email payment confirmation to the cardholder?
It will save you time and hassle if the payment gateway or card payment processor for accepting credit card payments has functionality whereby you can enter your address details, VAT no and contact details on a template and it automatically emails this payment confirmation to the cardholder - then they know it was received and have your contact details if there is a hassle
25. Does the payment gateway work with my shopping cart?
If you have chosen for example Zen Cart, osCommerce and Virtuemart, the shopping carts I have found most useful, then does the payment gateway for card payment processing have a compatible plug-in for it?
Every online merchant knows that if they can't process a transaction when their customer's ready to buy, the sale is lost. Why would customers wait around for a problem to be resolved when they can go to a competitor's site and make their purchases right now? The last thing you want is a third party service failing when you need it most, so, in my opinion, the most important requirement is reliability - Choose a payment gateway for card payment services who is up and running 24-7.
Choose The Best Payment Gateway
Date Created: 2009-06-27 | Last Update : 2009-06-27 |
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