Things Businesses Should Ensure Before Setting up A Payment Gateway Setting up a payment gateway has become an integral part of businesses and they should check some factors before setting them up

E-commerce has branched out to various segments of businesses and payments being one of them. Digitization of payments has been a boon to India's fintech segment. The co-existence of digital payments and online businesses is an overall enhancement of the industry. Every online business big and small is using payment gateways to transact with their customers, who have equally established their inclination towards these payment gateways. Tier 1 cities in India are the ones that avail these payment options the most.

However, the businesses who are availing these payment gateways should ensure a couple of factors before choosing and setting up the gateways.

"The Best Payment Experience is No Experience At All"

India is technologically advanced and has a strong mobile market, yet a good number of people of different age groups are not into digital payments. This section is technologically handicapped, too comfortable with traditional payments modes and/or hasn't earned 100per cent trust in digital payments.

Digital Payments platforms should know what they are trying to resolve through their offerings. Using a payment gateway that is seamless will cater a smooth and enhanced experience. Chaitra Chidanand, Co-founder & COO of Fintech company – Simpl says, "Once you know what you're trying to solve, you'll know what your payment flow should contain, and more importantly, what you can strip out. It's not always about having as many options as possible. There are a lot of interesting developments in the payment space, thanks to innovative technology and initiatives like the regulatory sandbox by the RBI. So there are many ways to reduce friction on the checkout flow. As we keep reminding ourselves - the best payment experience is no experience at all."

So, what all should be done for selecting and finalizing the perfect payment gateway? Here are a few of the first steps that businesses should keep an eye on.

Comparing Payment Gateways

Selecting a payment gateway for business is an important decision and is the first step towards setting up a payment gateway. In order to pick the perfect payment gateway, businesses need to compare the available ones.

Factors like average page load time, payment failures, refunds, multi-platform and multi-framework support, etc. should be considered carefully before making the final decision.

Understanding the Transaction Cycle

Chidanand believes that payments should be hassle-free and transparent. She further elaborates, "Start with the customer and the complete experience you want to give them. People open apps and visit websites to buy things, not to pay for them. So, you want the payment piece of the entire transaction to be as frictionless and intuitive as possible. We work closely with merchants to understand their complete transaction cycle. When you solve in this manner, it's win-win for merchants and users."

Unified Payments Interface

Unified Payments Interface that allows sending or requesting money is supposed to offer a smooth payment experience. Ankur Sharma, VP – Analytcis, Instamojo, mentions, "Mobile wallet space is quickly being taken over by the UPI wave, with several popular UPI apps showing exponential growth in transactions. We expect UPI to grow even more this year, and start being comparable to cards and net banking by next year."

Any UPI client app can be connected with multiple bank accounts and businesses are supposed to access the compatibility between the two. It is very essential for businesses.

24x7 Assistance

Since digital payments involve risks like payment failures and fraud transactions, users of payment gateways refuse to trust them completely. And that impression can be seen in the cash on delivery payment option while checking out orders. In order to build the trust and a stronger customer base, businesses and payment gateways should ensure they assist their users 24x7 and resolve their payment related issues in the shortest timeframes.