One question that often surfaces when creating your first online store or reassessing your existing e-commerce set-up: “Should I set up my payment gateway myself, or should I use a gateway my processor provided for me?”
At Blue Payment Agency, we help new and established high-risk businesses by meeting their payment needs in a simple, elegant way. We believe that assisting in the research stage is an integral part of our work, and we give business owners the insights they need to make beneficial, informed payment decisions. This time around, we’re looking into whether it’s better to find a payment gateway for your site by yourself – or whether you should opt for a gateway that your processor provides.
Of course, without knowing your business type and product lines, we can’t recommend one choice over the other with certainty. What we’ll do instead is provide you with crucial information that will help you see which option might be best for you.
Get in touch with us, and will help you get the best payment gateway and merchant account set up for your business.
The difference between a gateway and a merchant account
The first step in the process is to distinguish the different elements of what e-commerce payment processing actually consists of at its core; merchant accounts and payment gateways.
A merchant account makes it possible to accept credit and debit card payments via the internet. Many different companies issue them, and they are often brokered by payment gateway or processing providers. Merchant account providers are the financial companies or institutions which handle the payments that are channeled by the gateway and funneled to you. They are all “sponsored” by banks that are members of the card associations.
Payment gateways are what connect and manage the communication between the customer entering their payment details and your merchant account provider. In short, a payment gateway is a software facilitator, and a crucial element when it comes to accepting payments on your website.
Now that we have created clear divisions between these often confused terms let’s discuss what options are available.
Combined gateway and merchant account solutions
The reason why the lines separating these terms are becoming blurred is that gateways and merchant accounts often are connected and sold as one solution. Some notable examples are Square e-commerce, Stripe, PayPal, and Shopify Payments.
Standalone gateways or combined solutions
There are gateways, on the other hand, that you can acquire separately or get as a combined solution. NMI, Authorize.Net, ePN, and Braintree are all great examples. These gateways are available individually, or you can often get them from your processor. There are benefits to going with each, of course, which we’ll get into below.
The benefits of choosing your payment gateway
One definite advantage of choosing your own high-risk payment gateway is that you’ll have more control over your data. This way, you can also maintain control over your gateway even if you decide to switch processors. In fact, it is possible for you to choose your own payment gateway regardless of your processor.
An added bonus is that you won’t need to make changes to your cart when you change processors. The obvious drawback is that you will need to update your gateway with the new processor information.
The benefits of going with your processor’s chosen gateway
Going with the payment gateway your processor provides makes the setup process extremely easy and fast. An additional benefit is that you’ll have one single point of contact. As a result, it will be significantly easier to manage the processing side of your business.
The benefits of getting expert help finding a gateway
When you get a high-risk payment gateway from an independent agent, like us at Blue Payment Agency, you’ll get the best of both worlds. When you use our services, you’ll be able to retain full control over your gateway, regardless of whether you need to switch processors or not.
Another benefit of letting us help find you the ideal gateway for your business is that we’ll help you set it all up. As a result, you’ll get the ease and convenience of a quick setup.
The most significant benefit might be our expert insights into the processing world itself. We’ll be able to find the ideal pairing for your business type and product line while ensuring that it works with your processor.
Get the best gateway for your business – with convenience
Are you ready to get the best gateway for you and your business? Or do you need to set up a merchant account and payment gateway? Don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re more than happy to recommend solutions tailored to your unique needs.
We can easily set up an Authorize.Net or NMI gateway and merchant account for you, or a gateway account only. Please contact us here. We look forward to making payment processing simple for your online business.