But, with that comes the additional responsibility of protecting sensitive transaction data from hackers. With this approach, you’ll have complete control over the entire customer experience. All the checkout and payment processing happens on your site. Generally reserved for large-scale businesses that can invest in the necessary security and encryption, this method takes care of everything on its servers. You won’t control the user’s experience from start to finish, so you’ll be at the mercy of the off-site gateway. The data is secure elsewhere, and you don’t have to worry about much. There’s no additional step for your customers. With SSL on your site, the connection between your site and the payment gateway is always encrypted.Īs with redirected payment gateways, you do have some advantages. Your site never handles sensitive information. This approach ensures that your customer’s card data is collected on a third-party site. But, the actual payment processing occurs behind the scenes through Stripe’s back end. The front-end checkout (what the customer sees) occurs on your ecommerce site. However, it translates to an additional step for customers and less control over the merchant’s process. Use a redirect payment gateway to get the safety and security of a major platform. It’s a simple way for the retailer to handle accepting online payments. If a gateway takes a customer to a third-party payment page to finish the transaction, it is known as a redirect. Payment gateways generally fall into one of three categories. Use geolocation to handle location-specific actions.Once the gateway gets authorization, the website and interface proceed to the next action.īeyond collecting payments, payment gateways can also: If the request is rejected, the transaction is denied and doesn’t continue. The payment process gets approval from the bank or credit card company to proceed with the transaction. This privatizes the data for exclusive use between the two parties. The encryption process encodes information that’s transmitted between a browser and a server. The entire three-step process takes place in a matter of seconds. The connection occurs either through a phone line or over the internet. In-store gateways use a POS terminal to connect to the payment processing network. Online payment gateways use APIs to communicate between websites and payment processing networks. The architecture of the payment gateway varies depending on whether it is used in-store or online. You no longer have to carry the plastic card as long as the data is stored in your phone or smartwatch. Today’s near-field communication (NFC) technology makes contactless payment possible. Now, customers enter a personal identification number (PIN) in the terminal. Chip technology removed the signature part of the equation. Terminals once accepted cards with magnetic strips then required the purchaser to sign a piece of payment. Technology continues to evolve and improve the way we handle transactions. The front-end technology sends customer information to the merchant’s acquiring bank (business bank account) for processing. The payment gateway is only one piece of the puzzle required to accept payments digitally. Choosing Your Secure Payment Gateway How a Payment Gateway Works

Cardworks gateway