Payment Gateway Comparison

If you want to take payments through your website, you’ll need a payment gateway. Yet with dozens on the market to choose from, how can you make sure you’re using the best option in terms of price and features? Keep reading for a payment gateway comparison to help find the right fit.

What is a payment gateway?

Before we start comparing options, here’s a quick rundown of the payment gateway meaning. This term refers to technology used to accept debit or credit card payments from customers. The payment gateway serves as the customer-facing interface your buyer sees when they go to make a purchase on your website. It’s used to securely collect payment information, which is then passed on to the payment processor to facilitate transfer of funds from the customer’s bank to your merchant account.

While the description above describes an online payment gateway, you’ll also find payment gateways in brick-and-mortar locations. Card readers and POS systems are also payment gateways.

Payment gateway comparison in Australia

Here’s a list of some popular payment gateways, along with their distinguishing fees and features.

1. GoCardless

While traditional payment gateways focus on credit and debit card payments, GoCardless offers a different type of solution for payment collection. It uses Direct Debit to enable recurring payments, making it ideal for invoices and subscriptions. The advantage of pull-based bank payments is that you control when invoices are paid. By comparison, card payments and other types of bank transfers rely on the customer instigating the payment.

Another benefit of GoCardless is its high converting payment pages, optimising the checkout experience with a variety of formats to best suit your payment flow. This includes custom options and hosted pages. Businesses can improve cash flow and reduce stress by eliminating late payments. Finally, GoCardless integrates with over 300 partners including top accounting and invoicing software for a joined-up workflow.

2. PayTo

Another unique type of payment solution is PayTo, which is due to be rolled out over the course of the next year in Australia. The world of Direct Debit payments is evolving to better suit merchants, thanks to Australia’s New Payments Platform.PayTo offers a digital way for merchants to pull real-time payments from customer bank accounts. This speeds up the payment process for greater efficiency, all without the costly transaction fees of credit cards. Customers can link bank accounts to apps, digital wallets, and BNPL services for an array of different payment methods – ensuring you can best cater to customer preferences.

3. PayPal

Newer services like PayTo offer convenience and innovation. Yet familiarity is also a benefit when it comes to the best payment gateways, and no gateway is more familiar to customers worldwide than PayPal. It’s easy to set up and use, with many buyers already having PayPal accounts. Businesses can customise their service with an array of add-ons.

However, the downside of PayPal is that you’re required to open a business account and deal with all associated terms and conditions. Although pricing is competitive, card processing will still cost you 2.9% per transaction in line with standard fees. International customers can expect to pay between 2.1% and 3.6% per transaction plus an additional fixed fee, and currency exchange rates aren’t always the most competitive.

4. Adyen

Adyen is another global payment gateway for businesses that need to process cross-border payments. It supports over 150 currencies, with your choice of hundreds of payment methods and an array of analytical tools to track data. It also assists with risk management by identifying unusual buyer behaviour, so that you can cut down on fraud. Though it offers numerous tools including this data analysis, Adyen isn’t the cheapest payment gateway and has a somewhat complicated pricing structure. Your fees will depend on the method of payment, Interchange pricing, and added transaction fees by region.

How to choose the best payment gateway

Ultimately, the best payment gateway will depend on your business’s transaction volume, your customer payment preferences, and your budget. Those who prefer retaining control over recurring and one-off payments will benefit from PayTo and GoCardless. If your customers prefer paying with credit cards, Adyen and PayPal might be worth a look. Just be sure to compare fees carefully before signing up for a merchant account. You should also make sure that your choice of gateway integrates easily with existing ecommerce platforms and accounting systems for ease of use.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.