Thanks to the internet and technology, you can now run your business entirely online and receive payments from anywhere in the world. Much of this is made possible by payment gateways.
While payment gateways are becoming increasingly popular, some businesses and buyers are still not clear about payment gateways, how they work and the world of opportunities and convenience they have to offer to the business world.
What is a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway is a technology that facilitates the transfer of payment data between customers. The payment gateway plays various roles, the main one being checking the customer’s card details securely, ensuring funds are available and then making payments to the merchants.
Basically, a payment gateway works as a middleman between the customers and the merchant. It ensures transactions are completed safely and securely.
A payment gateway offers fast payment processing and convenience for merchants and customers. The payment gateway provider can be a bank or a service provider like ourselves at Pay iO, authorised by a bank.
Key Players in UK Online Payment Gateways
Everything that happens in a gateway is swift and fluid. But there are several players that make the process successful.
The merchant
The Merchant is the business offering the products or services to the customers. The merchant, in most cases, contracts the payment gateway provider.
The customer
Customers are also referred to as cardholders in payment gateways. Customers are those accessing products or services that the merchants are selling.
The issuing bank
The issuing bank is the customer’s bank or the bank that issued the credit or debit card of the cardholder. Besides facilitating customer transactions between merchants and customers, payment gateways facilitate money movement between banks.
The acquirer
The acquirer is the financial institution maintaining the merchant’s bank account. It is also called the acquiring bank.
In a payment gateway, all these players work synergistically to deliver smooth and convenient transactions between banks, merchants, and customers.
Best Payment Gateways in the UK
A payment gateway is crucial to the success of your business. It determines the experience of customers during checkout and can increase revenue. It is the lifeline of your business. Although there are different payment gateway service providers, they are not built the same. You should understand each offer and pick one best suited for your business. To help you with this, we selected a few of the best UK payment gateways you can consider.
Pay iO
Pay iO is a robust payment system solution offering various transaction and payment gateway services. Unlike most, Pay iO adopts a simple, transparent user interface and fast onboarding processes that minimise downtime and ensure businesses don’t lose revenue.
The Pay iO payment gateway offers a robust feature set that includes a mobile app and web applications that allow customers to complete transactions wherever they are and on any device, they are using.
Pay iO can help small and large businesses get payments directly from customers and manage their transactions in one place. Large businesses can send and receive global payments and conveniently manage their accounts. With everything neatly organised in one place, you can cut back on administrative time and effort.
Besides being one of the best payment gateways in the UK, Pay iO has other functions and features that global businesses might find helpful, like currency exchange and global payments.
Worldpay
Worldpay is another notable UK payment gateway provider. Its robust platform handles a vast majority of transactions. Worldpay was acquired and merged into Fidelity Information Services in 2019, further growing its market share.
Like Pay iO, Worldpay provides payment solutions for both small and large enterprises. Its feature set includes fraud and risk management, currency conversions and recurring payments.
It also provides a virtual terminal to capture customer payments by phone or laptop. The platform supports all cards and real-time reporting.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most familiar and trusted fintech brands. It’s preferred for online payments. Its presence in the global marketplace and ease of receiving payments in over 100 currencies.
PayPal supports almost every international debit and credit card and works with some of the largest companies globally. It has robust security features that support secure online transactions and continuously monitor transactions to prevent customers from fraud.
PayPal might be an attractive option for most businesses. However, the high fees for low-volume merchants make it unappealing for small businesses. Also, merchants can’t customise the platform to their needs unless they take up the more expensive version, which isn’t practical for small businesses.
Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay is one of the new payment processing services. It was launched in 2007 and is owned by Amazon.
Amazon Pay’s features include seamless integration with Amazon allowing users to make purchases on the website and pay through their Amazon account. It provides a seamless payment process and streamlines the checkout process on the site.
While this is a great option, it only serves customers and merchants on Amazon. It does offer flexibility for customers to pay with a credit card or their Amazon Pay balance, but that is as far as it goes.
Also, Amazon doesn’t support PayPal, and it can take up to five days for settlements, which can affect businesses that depend on timely cash flow. Like PayPal, Amazon Pay also has high fees for low volumes.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a UK payment gateway could be a lifeline for your businesses, especially if you plan on making the bulk of your sales online. That’s why you shouldn’t take the decision lightly. Signing up with the first provider you find is easy, but that could be a huge mistake.
When choosing a payment gateway provider, you should consider the size of your business and select an option that has features that cater to the specific needs of your business. Also, the security features should rank highly among your list of priorities when considering a UK payment gateway.
For large businesses with customers from all over, features like multi-currency accounts might come in handy in helping process payments and maintain convenience. This feature will also help you with currency conversations and ensure liquidity for your business.
