Payment gateways, why having one?

Magdalena Ovalle

Líder de Comunicaciones Internas @ Kushki

December 30, 2020

4 min read

They were born as an optional attribute of shops during the 1990s in the United States, but have gradually ceased to be so optional. Payment gateways are platforms that allow merchants to accept online payments easily and safely, the same payments that, with the Covid-19 pandemic, became the only option to purchase goods for supply.

Its qualities go far beyond being safe and practical, in addition to the ease for customers, having a payment gateway to sell online can bring multiple benefits to shops. Here we tell you about some of them.

Support and attention to customers

With the high flow of online transactions managed today, payment gateways must be robust enough to support all that burden. With the pandemic, digital payments have been installed as favorites in almost all countries. According to Visa data, the winning payment method in Latin America was the debit, with 72%.

With money flows moving from one side to another, it is important to have a payment gateway that provides proper support and attention to shops in case of failures or intermittencies.

Security against fraud

Latin America is one of the most fraudulent regions worldwide: On average, 8% of transactions are canceled on suspicion of fraud, which almost doubles the European average, according to Riskified data. For the same reason, it is relevant that a payment gateway has the PCI DSS certification, a regulation that accredits the security standard of major card issuers, such as American Express, Mastercard , and Visa. In Kushki we are aware of this reality and it is for this reason that we have the highest current certification in the industry: PCI DSS Compliance level 1.

A surprising data obtained by Verizon is that, of companies that process information from debit and credit cards, only 36% keeps its PCI DSS program active, according to 2019 figures. A fifth (18%) of the surveyed organizations does not have a compliance program. This can affect the number of customers, since according to figures of the same report, 69% of consumers would be less interested in choosing a company that is a victim of data leaking or that has not safe policies.

Consumer first

It is not new that customers, especially younger generations, are becoming more and more demanding and strict with payment processes. First, they seek that transactions are as frictionless and as fluid as possible. With a payment gateway, it is possible to incorporate more payment methods, such as credit and debit cards, transfers and even cash payments. All that in desktop or mobile payment formats.

Also, with the tokenization of debit, with Kushki, it is possible to create recurring or subscription payments, as it can be done with credit cards. In fact, according to a Gartner study, subscriptions are the future: It is predicted that 75% of organizations will offer services of this type to their customers by 2023. For the same reason, it is not wrong to advance, and choose a gateway that allows making this type of charges.

24/7 availability

It is estimated that 40% of purchases in e-commerce are impulsive. As for the baby boom generation, because if we talk about millennials, the figure rises to 42% of people who have made purchases by impulse in the last month. If we consider the entire life, 83% of people admit having done it once.

A digital payment gateway is available 24/7 to satisfy those needs that exist in the population. This can lead a business to increase its sales, especially in times of pandemic.

Quick and easy integration

Despite being a generation of almost digital natives, few people are those who can really say that they know how to schedule in some code or computer language. For that same reason, the integration of a payment gateway must be as quick and simple as possible.

In Kushki, we have an API and plugins for the main e-commerce systems such as Magento, Woocomerce and PrestaShop. Industry times are quick, and one should not stay behind or miss important events such as Christmas or Cyber Day; the faster the integration speed, the easier it is to go to the market.

Greater control and centralization

With a payment gateway, the business can have all the information of its payments in one place, which helps it with management and money reconciliation issues. On the other hand, having a payment gateway for making digital purchases, allows the business to have full control of the purchase process, minimizing problems and improving customer attention.

According to figures of the National Consumer Service (SERNAC) in Chile, almost 90% of people who have bought on the Internet in that country admit having had some type of problem during the transaction, increasing claims by more than 200% in the pandemic period. For the same reason, it is vital to ensure not to follow the trend, by having a payment gateway that works without interruptions, allowing to monitor the whole process.

Those are only some benefits of having a payment gateway, among many others. In a world as connected and competitive as today, it is important to have one of these platforms and not be left out of the digitization bandwagon.

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