A payment gateway is a digital cashier for online or in-app payments. After a customer hits ‘pay’, the gateway sends their payment information to their bank for approval. It keeps sensitive data, like card numbers, safe by encrypting it. If it all checks out, the gateway sends confirmation and the payment goes through.
Behind the scenes, the payment gateway does a lot of heavy lifting. But for the customer, it's all seamless and immediate. This means less friction, less cart abandonment and more sales conversions as checkout is fast, secure and user-friendly. You can also use a gateway to take payments over the phone – no need for a card reader.
Security should be at the top of your list. With sensitive customer data flying around, you want encryption and fraud detection as standard. Make sure the gateway complies with PCI DSS, so you know your transactions are protected.
Security should be at the top of your list. With sensitive customer data flying around, you want encryption and fraud detection as standard. Make sure the gateway complies with PCI DSS, so you know your transactions are protected.
Good payment gateway providers make sure you get your money fast and without fuss. Some take a sales percentage, others charge annually or have periodical processing fees, while others take fees per transaction on top. You need to assess exactly what you’re getting for your money. It could be worth paying a little more for a system with excellent customer service or a wider card network, so you get bang for your buck.
Good payment gateway providers make sure you get your money fast and without fuss. Some take a sales percentage, others charge annually or have periodical processing fees, while others take fees per transaction on top. You need to assess exactly what you’re getting for your money. It could be worth paying a little more for a system with excellent customer service or a wider card network, so you get bang for your buck.
If you have an online shop or ecommerce platform, make sure your gateway is easy to integrate and install, and ideally has nifty features that make it extra compatible with what you already use. A combined gateway and acquirer is good for small businesses that don’t want to run multiple accounts, and helps streamline accounting systems.
If you have an online shop or ecommerce platform, make sure your gateway is easy to integrate and install, and ideally has nifty features that make it extra compatible with what you already use. A combined gateway and acquirer is good for small businesses that don’t want to run multiple accounts, and helps streamline accounting systems.
Make sure your payment gateway provider offers online currency conversion to display prices in the local currency where a browser is located, based on its IP address. MCC offers more than 100 currencies, opening up markets you might not have had access to before. It’s also good to offer flexibility in the payment methods customers can use, so you never miss a sale.
Make sure your payment gateway provider offers online currency conversion to display prices in the local currency where a browser is located, based on its IP address. MCC offers more than 100 currencies, opening up markets you might not have had access to before. It’s also good to offer flexibility in the payment methods customers can use, so you never miss a sale.
Bamboozled when it comes to the best payment gateway? Ask the experts at Elavon. For over 30 years, we’ve been helping businesses find the the right payment systems to meet their industry needs – as well as customer expectations, wherever they are and however they want to pay.
Bamboozled when it comes to the best payment gateway? Ask the experts at Elavon. For over 30 years, we’ve been helping businesses find the the right payment systems to meet their industry needs – as well as customer expectations, wherever they are and however they want to pay.
We’re a one-stop-shop for your business: from flexible finance options to all the services and technology you need to take fast, safe payments, online and in-store.
We can help you work smarter and safely, with expert advice and point of sale (POS) software to suit your business – all backed with the latest security technology.
Cashflow is critical to cover everyday operations but also those unexpected expenses. We help drive cashflow into businesses with next-day funding into your account.
You have one contract and one contact. It streamlines reporting systems for better data insights. It also simplifies security – all Elavon platforms are PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant.
There’s no need to manage multiple contracts, platforms or customer service teams. It can even mean lower costs, since you’re not paying for services you don’t use and you don’t have to manage fees across multiple providers.
When your gateway and acquiring services work hand in hand, there’s less chance of technical issues, downtime or communication errors. This helps with smoother transactions and fewer abandoned carts.
Anthony Perkins, head of operations, Washstation
Take online payments without the need for your own website, so customers can pay how they like. With Pay By Link, you generate secure URL links to our payment pages and send them to your customers by email, text or social media. For mail or telephone order (MOTO) customers, Virtual Terminal works on any device with an internet browser – take secure payments even if you're away from your physical or online payment system.
Make online payments easier for your regular customers with customisable payment options. Store card details in a secure online wallet, so your returning customers can enjoy fast-tracked purchases.
For customers who subscribe to communications from your business, offer promotional rates and even ongoing payment plans, with options to customise how often they’re billed.
Easily add a hosted online payment page that works with your website’s style and functionality, or build a tailored, end-to-end online payments process with our flexible application programming interface (API).
Let international customers pay in their own currency, using Multi-Currency Conversion. We’ll also help you offer a range of alternative payment methods to let your customers pay how they want.
Emma Glen, director of Clayhall Financial Services
Add Multi-Currency Conversion to display online prices in shoppers’ local currencies and reduce shopping-cart abandonment. With MCC, you can display your prices in over 100 currencies – there’s no interruption to payment flow and you’ve complete control of product pricing.
Secured by Elavon is range of three products, designed to protect customer card details, your reputation and your bottom line: the flexible, scalable security solution for a safer payments system. All three include PCI DSS certification, risk assessment and access to ongoing data-security consultancy.
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) helps protect cardholders from online fraud, but inevitably brings friction into the checkout process. If you take lots of low risk, small-amount* payments, TRA helps you get SCA exemptions to find the sweet spot between reducing fraud risk and improving sales.
*Value is up-to-date converted amount equivalent to €500 at time of transaction
When launching online into multiple markets, Skin Diligent chose Elavon for its payment gateway, integrating with all major website partners.
The destination garden centre has met changes in buyer behaviour and customer expectations by selling online as well as in-store.
When providing laundry services to students, Washstation needs to take 3-D Secure payments using Gen Z’s preferred ways to pay.
Ecommerce is simply buying or selling online on your website.
A payment gateway is the technology that, after your customer has initiated a card transaction, securely captures their payment details and transmits them to the relevant parties for authorisation. Essentially, it's the online bridge between your bank and your customer’s bank.
The benefits of selling online can far outweigh the challenges: cross-border selling, access to new customers, greater flexibility and scalability – the opportunities are endless. Before you begin setting up an online store, be sure to have these steps completed.
1. Market research
2. Choose what product(s) to sell
3. Identify your target audience
4. Decide on your ecommerce platform
5. Create your product content (images and copy)
6. Build your online store (shopping carts)
7. Promote and market your online store, e.g. via social media, Google advertising, influencer marketing, email marketing, discounts.
Any business that wants to sell online will need a payment gateway as well as a merchant account – a payment gateway so your business can collect card data, and a merchant account to receive the funds.
Keeping up with security requirements can be tough – and so are the penalties after a data breach. But rest easy. Trust Elavon to protect your customers’ data, as well as your own reputation. We’ll take care of security, so you can concentrate on sales.
Compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) can help companies protect cardholder payment account data. PCI DSS compliance is an industry mandate. For that reason, you should consider PCI compliance one of your critical payment system features. The easiest course of action is to find a partner that handles this for you.
There are four levels of business classification that the PCI assigns, based on the number of transactions a business makes.
Level 4: Fewer than 20,000 card transactions per year
Level 3: 20,000-1 million card transactions per year
Level 2: 1-6 million card transactions per year
Level 1: More than 6 million card transactions per year
Generally, it takes two to four business days for payments to be processed from the customer’s card, through the bank and to your account. Some payment processors, like Elavon, fund you within 48 hours – or you can pay a bit extra to upgrade to same or next-day payments.
Faster Payments is a fast, secure system for transferring sums of money between bank accounts: you'll pay a bit more for this extra-speedy service. Unlike a regular payment, which can take up to three days, Faster Payments sees money paid into your account the next day. With next-day funding, you’ll have cashflow you can depend upon. And with our customer portal Elavon Connect, you can monitor funds anywhere, any time.
Online payment security is all about guarding your business and protecting your customers’ personal details. With state-of-the-art security tools like tokenisation and 3-D Secure, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be securely selling your wares.
When paying online, sometimes customers get redirected to their bank for extra checks. Those are 3-D Secure checks.
If your business website doesn’t have a conventional way to buy online, we can provide a web link that sends your customer to a payment page instead.
Click below to contact an Elavon payments expert.
Helping thousands of customers around the world grow their business through payments
We’re here to help!
Customer service: 0345 850 0195
8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday
Opayo product support: 0191 313 0299
24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Copyright© | U.S. Bank Europe DAC. Registered in Ireland with Companies Registration Office. The liability of the member is limited. United Kingdom branch registered in England and Wales under the number BR022122.
U.S. Bank Europe DAC, trading as Elavon Merchant Services, is a credit institution authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority are available from us on request.
Helping thousands of customers around the world grow their business through payments
We’re here to help!
Customer service: 0345 850 0195
8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday
Opayo product support: 0191 313 0299
24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Copyright© | U.S. Bank Europe DAC. Registered in Ireland with Companies Registration Office. The liability of the member is limited. United Kingdom branch registered in England and Wales under the number BR022122.
U.S. Bank Europe DAC, trading as Elavon Merchant Services, is a credit institution authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority are available from us on request.
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