Choose the best payment provider for your ecommerce store with this comprehensive guide. This article includes information on the features, pricing, and benefits of each payment provider.
A Payment Service Provider (PSP) is one of the most crucial parts of your e-commerce infrastructure. It enables any company to receive payments in a hassle-free manner. Thus, it becomes essential to choose the right PSP. If you’re looking to start an eCommerce business and are wondering what PSP to go for, you’ve arrived at the right place. In this article, we look at some of the best PSPs in the market, the factors you must consider before choosing a PSP, a few common questions about PSPs, and more.
Factors to Determine a Good Payment Service Provider
The quality of any good payment service provider depends on several factors. These also help business owners such as yourself determine which PSP to opt for.
Pricing
Pricing is one of the key defining factors in a PSP. While most of these charge a fee of 2.59% + 49c, it is important you look at the payment structure of the PSP and ensure it aligns with your budget.
Recurring Bill
A recurring bill is associated with an online business that offers subscriptions. The customer needs to make the payment multiple times at regular intervals. If your eCommerce business will have any such subscription-based products/services, choose a PSP that possesses the Recurring Bill feature.
Currency Support
For businesses that transcend geographical boundaries, multi-currency support is imperative. Find out which currencies are supported by the platforms. If the desired currency isn’t there, choose a different PSP. For instance, countries like Germany do not use the PSP Stripe. As a result, if your major customer base is in the said country, you can opt for another platform specific to the region.
Customer Support
Any platform you choose must have good customer support. This ensures that if and when there’s an issue with the PSP, the support team will quickly address and solve the challenges. One of the ways to know about a platform’s customer support is to check user reviews. However, you can also test the team’s acumen by contacting the support staff with queries as a mock customer.
Security
The cybersecurity around PSPs must be of the highest level. Since people use the service to pay money, the PSPs handle their most confidential details. As a result, it is imperative to have a cybersecurity infrastructure and multiple contingency plans to prevent and mitigate external threats.
Overall, these are a few factors you must consider as an eCommerce store owner while choosing a PSP that aligns with your needs and goals.
Best Payment Service Providers in 2023 (Comparison)
Name/Factor
Setup Fees
Monthly Fees
Transaction Fees
No. of Countries
No. of Currencies
PayPal
$0
$0
2.9% + 30c
All
25
Braintree
$0
$0
2.9% + 30c
8
130+
Stripe
$0
$0
2.9% + 30c
46
135+
Square
$0
$0
2.75%
6
6
WorldPay
$0
$0
3.25% + $0.40
146
120
Adyen
$0
$0
3.3% + 22c
60
30+
Authorize.Net
$49
$25
2.9% + 30c
5
6
PayPal Payflow
$0
$25
0.10c
4
24
FAQs
Difference between a payment facilitator and a payment processor?
A payment processor can be considered a subset of a payment facilitator. While the payment processor helps merchants accept payments from users, a payment facilitator helps merchants group all payment-related services, such as invoicing, payment processing, and more, under one platform.
Difference between a payment aggregator and a payment processor?
A payment aggregator is a third-party app that connects multiple merchants to their respective payment processors. On the other hand, a payment processor is simply a tool that enables any business to send and receive payments to and from its users.
Difference between a merchant acquirer and a payment processor?
A merchant acquirer is an intermediary between a merchant and a payment facilitator. While the latter deals with payment-related services, the former deals with all services a merchant would require while conducting any transaction. These include managing merchant accounts, authorization of transactions, settling funds, and more.
Do I need a merchant account to receive payment?
While the traditional approach requires business owners to have a merchant account, it is possible to accept user payments without having one. You can instead use payment service providers and cut down a large chunk of intermediary cost that comes with owning and managing a merchant account.
Written by:
James Mew
Selljam Founder | Head of eCommerce
With over 20 years of experience in the eCommerce world, I’m a 7-figure business expert, having launched and scaled multiple successful online businesses. In 2022, I took on the role of Head of E-commerce for a European food tech company, managing 14 e-shops across Europe and South Africa. Today, through Selljam, I share AI-driven strategies and eCommerce hacks to help business professionals like you achieve success. Over 750+ students to date have already enrolled in my online courses, and I’m excited to help you take the next step toward building the online business of your dreams!
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