Ian
Yay, you are getting a payment gateway. Now, hoping that you have done your initial research on choosing the payment gateway that’s just right for you, let me ask you another question. What else can you look for in the service?
The basic requirements of any entrepreneur who wants to start accepting payments online are security, integration, multi currency capabilities,technical support and such. Apart from these, there are other features you can ask for.
Remittance Time
When a customer purchases from you, his money is accepted from his credit card into an intermediate account. It is processed and is finally deposited in your account. A payment gateway facilitates the transfer of funds from the customer’s bank account to your merchant account. So, it makes sense to ask questions on how long your money will stay in the intermediate account before reaching your account. This is remittance time and it differs between payment gateways. Some payment gateways takes a week to transfer funds to your account, others take almost a month. So, clarify on how long they will take remit money.
Buffer Funds
To protect their interests, payment gateways hold a buffer sum. This is because there is the potential risk of chargebacks. Either party, that is, you and the payment gateway benefit from having reserve funds, to be in a position to handle the potential costs of any chargebacks. A reserve fund is mandatory here. Providers have several ways to estimate how much of a reserve fund you’d need and how long this amount is maintained. Ask the provider if you can opt for a rolling reserve fund instead of a fixed reserve.
Callback Response
Some payment gateways provide a feedback listing what a customer chooses randomly from the virtual shopping cart. This feedback is helpful in validating the product pricing strategies you employ, because this says a lot about how much customers feel about your prices. Ask if your provider can also give you callback response.
Intangibles
A lot of products sold online today are intangible- they are services, downloadable software or media, insurance and such. Not all payment gateways cater to intangible product purchases. So, before you narrow down on a provider, ask if the provider facilitates your product sales.
Images: Internet
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