Firstly, what is a payment gateway?
A payment gateway is a tool provided by businesses that authorizes credit card or direct payments processing for e-businesses , online retailers, or any other street style business.
Payment Gateway approves of the transactions process between a merchant and customer.
In simple terms, it enables the making and receiving payment online through a certain procedure.
Let’s get to discuss the basic features one should look for in an online payment gateway first.
One of the most important features to look for in an online payment gateway in security. It is important for both you and your customer. You must ensure that the platform provides high security.
One should always look for a payment gateway which easily plugs-in with your existing platform. It saves your time and efforts of manually updating records every time there is a sale or purchase done.
A payment gateway captures the transactions done and reports in detail in no time. It helps with reconciliation and helps you to make quick business decisions.
Payment gateway that has an inbuilt invoice invoice option can be a boon for any retailer. This helps in making the payment process quicker and a convenient option of accepting payments as well.
Providing the option of making payments through various models such as Debit/Credit card, Net Banking, UPI/BHIM, etc makes it easy for the customers and hence attract them towards making use of such gateways.
Payment Gateways have become essential in helping the business grow.
Digital payment systems have become so popular that the demand for it has increased rapidly.
Millennials and Gen Z are mostly accountable for increasing the demand for digital payment systems globally.
In this case, let’s have a look at the top Payment Gateways in USA, UK, India.
Authorize.Net is one of the oldest payment gateway providers around. It was established in 1996. It serves more than 43,000 merchants and processes over one billion transactions every year. Authorize.Net is considered one of the best because it is easy to set up and use as well. It accepts transactions from customers all over the world. Since it has been around in the market for so long, Authorize.Net has built partnerships with the majority of the merchant account providers which allows its users to accept payments of any model and foreign payments from almost all countries.
It is one of the very few to accept PayPal.
Authorize.Net has many unique features to offer such as recurring payments, invoicing, fraud prevention, customer information, optional card retailer, etc.
It is considered the best gateway in the USA and even in other leading countries.
Stripe was launched in 2011. It is said that 90% of online shoppers in the USA have bought businesses using Stripe. Stripe offers a fair range of payment solutions.
Stripe fits the companies of all sizes and adapts according to their needs. It offers all the features one would expect from a global payment gateway provider.
It also offers 24/7 email, phone and chat support plus it does not demand a monthly gateway fee which makes Stripe totally deserving to be one of the top payment gateway in the USA.
PayPal is considered the best payment gateway for online businesses. PayPal was created as a digital wallet back in 1999, later on it was acquired by eBay in 2000 and now has become one of the most recognized online payment processors. PayPal has marked themselves worthy in the market. Payment through PayPal is extremely simple and all you need to do is create an account.
PayPal Payment Pro is also an option for those who wish to use their advanced payments and checkout features. It enables users to accept payments from American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Venmo, Discover and PayPal credit. It also offers phone based credit payment, invoicing as well as in person payment.
Launched in 2009, Square is considered the best payment solution that could be used on a smart device which makes it the best option for retailers. It allows in person as well as online payments with zero cost. Square supports all major credit cards except PayPal. Users can download it on any iOS or Android device. Easy setup is one of its best features and therefore it is the best choice for all the small merchants out there.
Launched in 2000, 2checkout allows companies to accept online and mobile payments from buyers around the world hence making it the best for selling internationally. It supports nearly 100 currencies and has customers in 200 countries. It also supports payments in 15 languages.
2checkout accepts all major credit cards and payments including PayPal and JCB. It lets merchants sell the services they wish to offer, digital products, physical products and subscriptions. 2checkout is considered mobile friendly, it also offers localized buying and selling experience to its global customers along with various coupons and discounts.
Some of the other top payment gateways in USA are
Due to its unique features like we discussed earlier such as customization, zero monthly fees, transparent pricing and extensive integration option, Stripe tops the list of best payment gateway in the UK.
SagePay is one of the biggest service providers in Europe and its payment gateway is considered one of the best. It has two kinds of service to offer- one business package for Small to Medium businesses and the corporate one for the large businesses. Both packages enable you to accept all the major credit cards/debit cards and payments including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal. They can process payments in more than 25 currencies. Sagepay is quite user friendly. It also consists of an online transaction reporting tool which helps you keep track of your transaction in real time. Sagepay provides a heavy security which makes it one of the top gateway in the UK.
Amazon Pay has earned a reputation in the market and has got all what it takes to be one of the leading in the industry. Although it’s newer compared to other payment systems in the market it is trusted by people all over the world.
Amazon Pay does not demand for a setup free, no monthly fee and it’s pretty simple to use which makes it best for the small merchants and individuals.
Braintree is owned by PayPal but the company operates independently. It functions differently from PayPal in terms of the payment service it provides. It is not an alternative to PayPal as Braintree offers individual merchants accounts to its users.
Braintree is extremely customizable, is said to be designed for programmers, startups and business owners who are tech savvy.
You can customize it as per your own terms without even paying a fee you’d have to pay to other payment gateways and have your own bank sponsored merchant Account.
Nochex is considered as one of the top payment gateways in the UK due to its different features from its competitors in the market. Nochex is, let’s say more inclined towards customers. Reason- because customers do not need to have an account to make payments through Nochex which is a big plus point. Although it does not provide card machines for face to face payment, it’s always a good idea to have more than one gateway on your side so people can make payments without a PayPal or Amazon Account.
Nochex has a great online reputation and its customer support is highly praised by its users.
Some of the other top payment gateways in UK are
PayU was initially known as PayU Money. It is one of the best payment gateways to accept online payments. PayU offers easy sign-in and minimal effort for the development. Since it’s user friendly you can accept payment securely on your iOS, Android or Windows App in no time. PayU is hassle-free with zero maintenance charge. It conveniently accepts payments from all parts of the world as it supports multi-currencies and obviously supports Credit Card payments.
Razorpay is said to provide the highest level of tech integration at a reasonable price. It is the only payment solution in India that allows businesses to accept and process payments with its product suite. It provides access to all payment modes such as Credit/Debit card, Net Banking, UPI, Mobile wallets such as Jio Money, Mobikwik, Freecharge, Ola money, etc.
The Annual Maintenance Charges are zero which is quite attractive about Razorpay but it does not support Multi-currency so accepting international payments can take longer than usual since the bank’s approval is required.
Nonetheless, it supports eCommerce CMS systems and is quite user friendly too.
PayKun enables a safe and highly secure transaction between buyer and seller. It is considered extremely convenient for startups. So many merchants have developed their business with the help of PayKun. Everybody is welcomed to get themselves registered with PayKun- large, small, NGOs, individual, trust, eCommerce, etc. Everybody can enjoy multiple payment options in zero setup cost and with no hidden Annual Maintenance Charges. It is also user friendly available for all major platforms.
CCAvenue is one of the largest payment gateways in India which offers a wide range of payment options of more than 200 options, such as AmEx, JCB, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa and ezeclick. It supports 27 major currencies such as Indian Rupee, Singapore Dollar, American Dollar, Euro, UAE Dhiram and many more hence it caters to customers in the global market. It also allows payments in more than 18 Indian languages and International language.
The best part is that the setup cost is zero and the Annual Maintenance Charge is minimal and it supports all major platforms making CCRevenue one of the best payment gateway in India.
EBS is considered as one of the highly secured online service providers in the world. It provides various packages which you get to choose from whichever suits your business the best. It charges a one time setup fee and Annual Maintenance Charges.
EBS supports all major International payments/Credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express issued around the world.
It also supports 11 major foreign currencies for the convenience of their customers and it supports all eCommerce CMS systems. It is quite user friendly.
All the features together add up to EBS being one of the best payment gateway in India and as well as in the global markets.
Some of the other top payment gateways in India are
We’ve looked at all the best payment gateway providers for businesses in the USA, UK and India and all of them are a great option to go for. You need to choose the best choice which fits your business requirements like a glove.
Whether you’re a small/new business, large business merchant, individual or an NGO, we’ve got you covered by mentioning and discussing various payment gateways suitable for each in the article.
Hope this was helpful!
