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Success of your e-business depends a great deal on payment gateway
service. Apart from quality and cost of service - defective payment
gateway may cost you customer, order, loss due to fraud etc.
Here's a quick guide on how to select a payment gateway service
that suits your purpose
Security
Safety and security of transaction is one of the most important
factors in the selection of on-line payment gateway service. Most
basic requirement of any payment gateway is Verisign 128 bit Digital
Certificate. Apart from that, physical and datcenter security, OS
and Application security, Firewall and Intrusion Detection Systems
at the OS and Application layer, Database security are some of the
security aspects one should check before selecting a payment gateway.
A secure system will not only ensure safety of your transaction
but financial information of your customer also. Any weakness on
this aspect may adversely affect customer's confidence, leading
to loss of order.
Fraud Detection
The Payment Gateway should have advanced fraud detection system
that not only does basic security checks like AVS or CVV (Verified
by VISA) - but also scans for various transaction discrepancy like
billing address mismatch, suspect IP, using multiple cards from
same computer etc. Loss due to fraudulent credit card in on-line
business could be very significant and the only person who bears
the cost is Merchant (i.e. you).
Transaction Features
Credit card transactions are handled in a variety of ways - e.g.
Authorize and Capture, Partial Capture, Sale Mode, Transaction Reversal,
Partial Reversal etc. Flexibility in transaction handling helps
the Merchant to be selective while accepting orders and consequently
manage transaction risk in a better way.
Easy Integration
Whatever Payment Gateway system you choose, it needs to be integrated
with your web-site. A difficult and time-consuming integration process
could be a drag on your resources and future maintenance headache.
Prefer an easy and fast process that should not demand periodic
upgradation/maintenance.
Coverage
There are many on-line payment options available today. Some of
these are:
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International Credit Cards from VISA, Master Card,
Amex etc
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Credit Cards valid in India and Nepal only (thankfully,
this hybrid species is getting extinct !)
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Debit Cards
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Cash Cards
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Netbanking (direct payment from your bank account) etc.
Ideally, a payment gateway system should be able
to accept as many on-line payment options as possible.
Hidden Costs
I have already discussed this aspect in previous article, here are
some examples of hidden costs in payment gateway system. Many of
these may not find a mention in website of the payment gateway service
provider. However, its very important that you take into account
these factors while calculating selling price of your product/service:
Technical Support
Quality technical support is important as most Merchants may not
possess in-house technical expertise or skill necessary to troubleshoot
as sophisticated a system as payment gateway or answer technical
queries from customers. Check the level of support service, get
feedback from existing customers.
Happy and Safe Surfing
Dr. Amit K Chatterjee
Related Links:
Source:
FAIDA
- Newsletter on Business Opportunties from India and Abroad
Vol: 5, Issue 2
; April 21' 2004
Author :
Dr. Amit K. Chatterjee
(Amit worked in blue-chip Indian and MNCs for 15 years in various
capacities like Research and Information Analysis, Market Development,
MIS, R&D Information Systems etc. before starting his e-commerce
venture in 1997. The views expressed in this columns are of
his own. He may be reached at amit@infobanc.com
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