Top 5 payment gateways comparison 2022
The world of online shopping requires merchants to provide an excellent customer experience, with up-to-date website design, smooth checkout, and lots of payment options. While some of these things depend on the business, others are for a payment gateway to provide. This Maxpay article aims to guide merchants to selecting a better gateway service, comparing the most popular choices on the market.
What is a payment gateway and what is it for
A payment gateway is an online tool that facilitates payment acceptance on web platforms. Basically, it is an online alternative to a point-of-sale terminal. A payment gateway can be offered to a merchant by an acquiring bank, payment service provider, or payment gateway service provider.
How does a payment gateway work?
It all starts when a customer clicks a payment button on the website checkout page. At this moment, a payment gateway generates a temporary link in-between a seller’s website and a payment processor to facilitate the technical aspect of the transaction.
Along with the beginning of the payment, a gateway is also responsible for the closing of the transaction cycle, and the final transferring of funds to a merchant account. We already have written an article that explains how online payments work. Check it out before installing a gateway service: “The basics of online payment processing”.
What matters when comparing payment gateways
When it comes to comparing payment gateways, it is important to find out the business needs. When you’re done with that, start searching for a suitable provider with useful services. We would divide all the factors into three blocks. The first one is the provider type and merchant services. It refers to one of the three providers to deal with and services that they can propose to a business owner besides the gateway service alone.
The second block is payment features. Here we describe payment gateway-related characteristics, together with possible payment options that might be necessary or interesting for a business owner to apply on the website. At last, we mention customer support in the third section as the key point of communication.
Provider type and merchant services
Provider. There are three types of merchant service providers: acquiring banks, payment service providers, and payment gateway service providers. All of them can establish a payment gateway, but with different conditions such as fees and contract terms. Also, a provider is sometimes responsible for inputting other merchant services, for example, merchant accounts, chargeback alerts, fraud prevention, and many more.
Merchant account. A merchant account is one of the merchant services. It is essential for accepting any electronic transactions through online platforms and in the retail points. To find out more, we advise you to read the following page: “Why do you need a merchant account and what you need to know”.
Chargeback alerts. Chargeback alerts notify a business each time when a customer is initiating a chargeback. It allows the business owner to solve the problem personally, by offering a refund, for example. By the way, here we’ve explained why a refund is better for the business than a chargeback: “Chargeback vs refund: what is the crucial difference for your business”.
Fraud prevention. Similar to chargeback alerts, fraud prevention is the supplementary tool that detects fraud attempts, resolves them, and informs a merchant. In the following article, you can read more about these last two services: “Prevent chargebacks and fraud with Maxpay’s merchant account services”.
Payment gateway features
- Payment methods. Pay attention to payment methods that are available with a certain gateway service. It would include credit and debit cards, but in addition can have mobile wallets, local wallets, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and others.
- Currencies. Same with currencies. Select a gateway service that offers payment in those currencies where the business operates.
- Countries. Countries refer to the physical location where a business can be registered, not where it can operate.
- Transaction fee and charges. You need to understand how charges work, what they are composed of, and what the transaction fee is.
- Transaction location. It refers to no physical space, but virtual. Simply put, if a transaction is processed on the website of a merchant, or if a payment gateway redirects a customer to another web page.
- Recurring billing. Quite a significant feature for businesses that need to take automated payments on a recurrent basis. An example of such a business can be any movie streaming company.
- Compliances. Three large international compliances regulate how businesses should operate, transmit and store private customers’ data such as payment information, identification data, and others. These requirements are Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, General Data Protection Regulation, and Second Payment Services Directive.
Customer support
The last point might seem like a not remarkable detail, but it is only until you actually begin to use a gateway service. On all the stages, starting from the setting up, testing, and afterward the daily maintenance, customer support is a point when a merchant and a service provider communicate. Weak customer assistance pretty quickly drains away businesses. But personal, attentive, and clever aid by top payment gateways keeps business owners satisfied for years.
PayPal
- Countries → 203
- Currencies → 26
- Alternative payment methods → yes
- Transaction fee → 2.9% + $0.30
- Recurring payments → no
- Transaction location → redirection
- Compliances → yes
PayPal is for sure one of the most popular international payment gateways. The service is available in more than 200 countries and operates in 26 currencies. Besides that, it offers alternative payment methods and mobile payments for merchants. The gateway is PCI DSS compliant, it offers fraud prevention and chargeback alerts. Regarding recurring billing, the feature is not offered by the service, and PayPal is famous for redirecting customers to its payment page.
Stripe
- Countries → 40
- Currencies → 135
- Alternative payment methods → yes
- Transaction fee → 2.9% + $0.30
- Recurring payments → yes
- Transaction location → on-site
- Compliances → yes
Stripe is another well-known payment gateway that proposes its services in 40 countries, including 135 currencies, together with alternative payments, mobile payments, and local wallets. Recurrent billing is present, same as full customization and on-site payments during the seamless checkout. Stripe is as well compliant with main regulations such as PCI DSS. The only thing that is missing is detailed and personalized customer support due to the huge popularity of the gateway service, and a large number of merchants connected.
Adyen
- Countries → 27
- Currencies → 150
- Alternative payment methods → yes
- Transaction fee → 2.9% + $0.30
- Recurring payments → yes
- Transaction location → on-site
- Compliances → yes
Ayden supplies merchants with a payment gateway that enables accepting traditional electronic payments via credit and debit cards, along with various alternative payment methods. The service supports recurrent transactions, allows to modify the design, and provides an integrated payment experience on the website. This payment gateway is working in 27 countries and proposes 150 currencies to trade-in. At the same time, Ayden does not have personal customer support in the form of a connection manager to a business owner.
Authorize.net
- Countries → USA, UK, Canada, EU, Australia
- Currencies → USD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, NOK, PLN, SEK, USD, AUD, NZD, USD
- Alternative payment methods → yes
- Transaction fee → 2.9% + $0.30
- Recurring payments → yes
- Transaction location → on-site
- Compliances → yes
Authorize.net provides merchant solutions for both online and offline sales. The service includes a recurrent payment system, allows acceptance of alternative payment methods, and provides an on-site checkout experience. Besides that, it is fully customizable and compliant with international data regulations. Authorize.net payment gateway welcomes business owners to register themselves in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, European Union, and Australia. The operated currencies are limited to the following countries, excluding some of the EU states.
Maxpay
Countries → EU, UK, USA
Currencies → 130+
Alternative payment methods → yes
Transaction fee → 2.9% + $0.30
Recurring payments → yes
Transaction location → on-site
Compliances → yes
Maxpay’s payment gateways service provider allows merchants to accept payments in all currencies, along with alternative payment methods. It enables recurring payments, and on-site customized checkout. Maxpay also offers other merchant services such as fraud prevention, chargeback alerts, merchant accounts, and others. The service is fully compliant with the main requirements. And on top of that, Maxpay provides each merchant with personalized customer support, a personal manager that leads the projects during the setup and maintenance.
Comparison table
| Payment Gateway | Currencies | Alternative payment methods | Countries | Transaction location | Recurring billing |
| PayPal | 26 | + | 203 | redirect | – |
| Stripe | 135 | + | 40 | on-site | + |
| Ayden | 150 | + | 27 | on-site | + |
| Autorize.net | USD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, NOK, PLN, SEK, USD, AUD, NZD, USD | + | USA, UK, Canada, EU, Australia | on-site | + |
| Maxpay | 130+ | + | EU, UK, USA | on-site | + |