What to Consider when Integrating Multiple Payment Gateways?

It's no secret – eCommerce has evolved, and it continues to do so every moment. Shopping online is just as commonplace today as heading to the mall was just a few years ago.

Whether you're an established brand or just starting out, if you offer online shopping to your customers, you've got to stay ahead of the curve. Providing your clients and customers with a no-nonsense experience each time they shop with you is paramount. Buying products or services from you should be easy and convenient. One of the ways you can enhance your shoppers' experiences is by offering multiple payment gateways. This allows the customer to pay in whatever fashion they choose. It also boosts consumer confidence in your brand.

But is having multiple payment gateways beneficial for you and your company?

Payment Gateway & Payment Processor – It's the same thing, right?

First, it's important to understand differences in terminology. The terms payment gateway and payment processor are often used interchangeably – but there is quite a difference in the roles these two services play.

A payment gateway acts as the connection between your online store and the payment processor by sending a transaction request to the processor.

A payment processor receives, processes, and executes the request by accepting the money from your customer and depositing it in your merchant or bank account.

Advantages of Multiple Payment Gateway Integration

Sometimes, it can be advantageous to integrate multiple payment gateways on your site. Let's take a look at the pros.

Multiple payment gateways:

• Offer more secure online transactions – for you and for your customers
• Are easy to set up and offer benefits from the very beginning of use
• Are customizable – choose the security features you want and what payment options to offer your customers, just to name a couple
• Offer a better overall online experience for your customers
• Boost confidence in your brand
• Minimize delayed or declined transactions by allowing customers to pay in their own currency
• Minimize downtime – if one gateway is down, customers can pay through another

Disadvantages of Multiple Payment Gateways

While there are a lot of reasons multiple payment gateway integration is a good thing, there are also a few aspects you should carefully consider.

For instance:

• Payment gateways each have a different integration process – You'll need a team that can integrate the gateways and make sure they're successfully coded in your systems
• It's not over once the gateway's integrated – You'll still need to manage the gateway and be able to handle any issues that occur
• Account reconciliation can be difficult – If you don't know which gateway handled the transaction, reconciling your bank account can be time-consuming and prone to errors

So, yes, there are both pros and cons to integrating multiple payment gateways – but there's also a solution: implementing a single platform that manages all payment gateways and processors. This type of platform can manage several gateways at once and quickly, as well as track your transactions, and handle any issues as they occur. This type of organization is a huge benefit overall.

Closing Thoughts

Whether you simply sell products or services one at a time or if you have monthly subscribers, using multiple payment gateways is not only possible, but optimal. Your customers are your lifeblood – it's in your brand's best interests to offer as many options for payment as possible. However the biggest challenge will be in managing all the different technologies within your payment stack. Best way to handle this is with a system that can seamlessly integrate all the different providers under a single platform like GBL Pay.