Seamless payments are vital to the success of your dropshipping business, which is why choosing the best payment gateway is crucial to the success of your venture. With hundreds of payment gateways available worldwide, it can be difficult to choose the most suitable one for your business.
To help you decide, this article will discuss the pros and cons of using the top online payment gateways.
Let’s start by defining what a payment gateway is.
A payment gateway is a system that authorizes and processes payments in online and brick-and-mortar stores. The information is encrypted, enabling your customers to make secure transactions. This also reduces your risk of exposure to fraud and cybercrime.
Since you’ll want your customers to perceive you as a legitimate business, you should only partner with widely used payment gateway providers.
The right payment solution for your dropshipping store is one that is popular with your target audience and is widely trusted by them. It is also wise to choose payment gateways that can handle currency conversions and multiple currencies if you have an international customer base.
When you’re able to accept payments in your customers’ local currency, you can explore foreign markets where your products might have less competition.
Listed below are the payment gateways that are most widely recognized and trusted by consumers and businesses alike:
With nearly 300 million customers and over 20 million active merchant accounts, PayPal is one of the most widely used payment platforms. It can be integrated with numerous shopping cart systems and offers plenty of customization options, including online invoicing and credit card payments over the phone.
Take note that you will need to create a business PayPal account before you can start using Paypal for dropshipping. On the plus side, PayPal supports all major credit cards as well as PayPal credit, Venmo, and debit cards.
One disadvantage of using the Paypal payment gateway is that there is a chance your funds might get frozen if there is suspicious activity. Paypal can freeze your funds for 21 days if it detects potentially fraudulent activity. The terms also give Paypal the right to extend the freeze for up to 180 days.
You can choose from the following tiers:
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Stripe is a payment solution that is suited for companies with in-house programmers since it provides customizable development tools. It allows subscription billing, which means you can charge customers on a recurring basis. Customers can settle payments easily using Stripe’s one-click checkout and mobile payments.
One of the biggest advantages of Stripe is that it allows users to make payments using AliPay, the most popular payment platform in China. Stripe is also suitable for online stores and brick-and-mortar stores. The virtual POS of Stripe allows storeowners to unify their offline and online channels.
The company provides 24/7 phone, email, and chat support, which is perfect for newbie dropshippers. You can also troubleshoot problems on your own by accessing its extensive online support center. Aside from English, email support is available in the following languages: French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
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Shopify Payments is Shopify’s built-in payment processor. Since it is already integrated with your Shopify store, there’s no long application process required in order to use this payment gateway.
During checkout, customers won’t be redirected to another website, which helps streamline the purchase journey and could potentially improve your conversion rate. Shopify also assists you when handling chargeback recoveries, and you can even respond to chargebacks directly from your Shopify dashboard.
You can save money since Shopify waives its shopping cart transaction fees when you choose to activate this dropshipping payment gateway.
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Formerly known as Amazon Payments, Amazon Pay lets customers use the payment methods already associated with their Amazon accounts to settle payments. It’s available on all devices, giving your customers the flexibility to manage payments using devices that are convenient for them.
In order to use Amazon Pay, you will need an Amazon Seller account, as well as an established physical location and phone number based in your country of operation. Amazon protects accounts from fraudulent transactions, helping you safeguard your profits. Its Payment Protection Policy allows merchants to waive chargeback fees for transactions that have been identified as fraudulent.
There are two packages:
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prohibited from selling products that are considered to be high-risk, such as dietary supplements, alcohol, and smoking/tobacco products |
ApplePay is a digital mobile wallet designed for Apple devices. It allows merchants to accept payments using Face ID and Touch ID. It is a secure gateway as it does not save the card numbers or transaction information on its servers.
By displaying the ApplePay button in virtual shopping carts, dropshippers can offer express checkout and allow customers to complete the purchasing process with a single tap.
Your customers can easily make payments by adding their credit card details to Apple Pay and using the Touch ID. The fingerprint of the customer or a secure code can be used to verify each purchase made online. The payment is then processed within a few seconds.
One disadvantage of using ApplePay is its limited use. Shoppers need to have one of the following:
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Google Pay is a contactless payment platform and digital wallet for Android users.
In February 2018, Google reorganized its different payment methods into one unified brand called Google Pay. What was previously known as Android Pay is now called Google Pay, and the Google Wallet app is now rebranded as Google Pay Send.
Dropshippers using Google Pay as a payment gateway will be able to see important information, such as sales figures, immediately on their account page. One disadvantage of using Google Pay is its dependence on smartphones. Since the payment is directly tied to the customer’s smartphone, it will be a problem if the device is lost. In case a person loses a password for just one Google service, this might pave the way for the user to lose control on all of their accounts.
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A dropshipper can verify a Skrill account within minutes by submitting these requirements: the government-issued ID of the Skrill account creator and proof of registered company address.
Your customers need to sign up using their email addresses and can start using the platform to make payments, send and receive money, link their bank accounts, and store credit card details for quicker purchasing.
Users are also provided a MasterCard prepaid debit card that can be used internationally. International payments are made easier since the money can be sent and transferred immediately to the prepaid debit card sent to you by Skrill. You can then use the debit card to withdraw the money using an ATM.
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2Checkout can be combined with online invoicing systems and shopping carts to help business owners streamline the eCommerce process and facilitate faster and easier payments.
You can target international markets more efficiently since 2Checkout allows you to customize the payment process to match the currency and language of your site visitor.
Before you can use 2Checkout, you need to pass through an authorization process that could take some time. If you are selling products that are deemed too high-risk, you might not be approved at all. Read 2Checkout’s extensive list of prohibited products (which range from wigs to tobacco products) to see if you will be approved to use this payment gateway.
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WePay has a simple installation process that allows dropshippers to use it within minutes. It also allows sellers to create customized sign-up and checkout pages to keep them aligned with the store’s branding.
WePay claims to provide 100% payment coverage to your exposure to risks. This means the company will cover chargebacks and losses due to fraud and scams, which can provide peace of mind to business owners.
Only those with “a physical presence in the United States and [are] authorized to conduct business by the state in which it operates” are allowed to use WePay.
One major disadvantage of using WePay is the fact that you can only use their email ticketing system to ask for help, unlike other companies that provide support through live chat and phone.
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Established in 1996, Authorize.net is one of the oldest payment gateway providers still in operation. As a subsidiary of Visa, Authorize.net is a highly trusted service because it uses the same secure mechanisms used by Visa in payment processing. The company has its own Fraud Management Department and dropshippers can set up 13 fraud filters to help identify and prevent potentially fraudulent transactions.
It allows users to accept payments from major debit cards, credit cards, and digital payments. You also have the option to accept e-checks, mobile payments, and foreign payments from most countries.
Before using Authorize.net, it is important to note that although it can accept transactions made by customers globally, your dropshipping business must be registered in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, or the United Kingdom if you want to use this service.
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