5 features of the perfect online gaming payment gateway
Online gaming business requires a reliable payment system. To implement one, a merchant should look for a payment gateway. In this article, we will explain what is a payment gateway, why merchants need it for the online gaming business, and which factors you should rely on when choosing it.
What is a payment gateway?
A payment gateway is a web-based tool that allows any online business or eCommerce platform to collect electronic payments. Payment gateway is implemented into the system of the selling website, and it is activated each time when the customer proceeds to checkout.
An online payment gateway has a quite important function in the whole payment process, as it virtually connects the wallets of customers with gaming merchant accounts to create a transaction space. And during this connection, sensitive data is being secured, encrypted, and transmitted through banking networks. By the way, we have an article that explains step by step how online payment works: “The basics of online payment processing”.
How does a payment gateway work?
A payment gateway for games is one of the main instruments in the electronic transaction flow. To understand how the payment gateway for online gaming does its job, we need to look closer at how the transaction actually happens on the eCommerce platforms.
- The first step is the checkout, where the customer fills in the personal data needed for payment and delivery, such as billing and shipping details. Order confirmation automatically calls for online payment processing.
- Then the sensitive customer’s data is being encrypted and transmitted to the payment gateway.
- The online payment gateway sends the secured data to the payment processor, a mediator between gaming merchant accounts and all the next financial institutions involved in the payment.
- The payment processor transmitters the payment data to an acquiring bank. This is basically the bank that issues gaming merchant accounts.
- The acquiring bank calls for the card association such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or any other of the particular payment.
- The card association through their inner networks connects with the issuing bank of the customer’s card for verifying a customer’s identity, fund availability, purchase limits, and general security and fraud check.
- After the verification, the information about the approval or denial of the transaction is sent back to the payment processor, which transfers it to the online payment gateway.
- The notification of the transaction status is then sent by the online payment gateway both to a merchant and to a customer.
- The merchant receives payment on the gaming merchant account.
Do I have to use an online payment gateway?
Any merchant that aims to collect payments over the internet legally and securely must set up a payment gateway on the website, especially when it comes to the online gaming business.
In 2020 alone, the global online gaming market brought around $21.1 billion in revenues, which set us to a record of almost 22% growth compared to the previous year. Such an increase was caused partly due to the global pandemic that forced a lot of people to isolate themselves at home, choosing digital platforms for entertainment, and finding new online networks to connect with others.
As of now, there are 1 billion online gamers around the world. By 2025, this number is projected to excel at 1.3 billion.
This information shows the significant potential of the market. To turn the online gaming business into revenue, there should be an implemented technique to collect payments from customers within the platform. And here is where the online payment gateway comes in handy.
How to get an online payment gateway?
You can get a payment gateway from a payment gateway service provider, an acquiring bank, or a payment service provider.
Acquiring banks. The main task of any acquiring bank is to provide merchants with merchant accounts. A merchant account is a special account for collecting money from electronic payments. If you’re interested in what the merchant account is and why it is so special, here is an article for you “Why do you need a merchant account and what you need to know”.
An acquiring bank can offer credit card processing for both offline and online businesses. But the merchant must go carefully through an agreement to check if the online payment gateway is included in the offer. Besides that, setting up only the online gaming payment gateway with an acquiring bank can be unnecessary pricey, as it charges high.
Payment service providers. Most of the time, payment service providers are better to partner with, especially for eCommerce and online businesses. Normally PSPs offer a built-in payment processor, payment gateway, and sometimes even the merchant account set up. The fees are acceptable, there are no long-term contracts in the deal, and the whole process is way simpler. The only thing to keep in mind choosing the payment service provider in compliance with international standards such as PCI DSS and GDPR.
Payment gateway service providers. A payment gateway service provider is a perfect option for those merchants that need just the online payment gateway, without opening the merchant account or payment processor. We recently compared some of the most popular payment gateways, you can check it right here “The Top 10 Most Popular Online Payment Gateways for Your Website, Compared”.
How to pick a payment gateway
When you choose an online payment gateway there are five main factors to look at. It is important to remember that a good payment gateway is something that the customer does not notice. But the one which is buggy or uncomfortable ruins the smooth checkout experience. According to the Forrester research, cart abandonment causes an $18 billion loss each year for eCommerce businesses.
- Currency acceptance. Make sure that your customer can pay in the most suitable way for them. This includes not only the multi-currency options, but also mobile payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay, and local payments as well. Besides that, we recommend checking payment location parameters before making a deal with a certain service.
- Security. An online payment gateway is responsible for the encryption of the customer’s shipping and billing details, and transmitting them over the bank networks. Security is extremely important in working with sensitive data.
- Legality. The payment gateway needs to be PCI DSS and GDPR compliant. The first standard is a set of data protection regulations, and the second one is the most powerful data protection law in the world. Compliance with both of them ensures that the payment gateway service is treating the cardholder data responsibly, protecting it from a potential hacker attack, leak, and fraud.
- Customer care services. This might seem not that significant as security or international compliance, but when it comes to the daily use of the payment gateway customer care and service become essential. Look for full support, preferably with the personal manager who would follow your online gaming business-specific from the beginning of the partnership.
- Ease of use. After all, an online payment gateway for the gaming business should be easy to use. This tool is created not for the IT specialists, but the merchants. We advise you to find a service which is comfortable to work with.
Conclusion
Maxpay is a payment gateway service provider that helps with the merchant account opening and offers a secure and reliable payment gateway. On top of it, Maxpay has its own fraud prevention system Covery and provides the chargeback alert service. To find out more about all the benefits, contact the sales department.