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5 Factors to Consider while Selecting a Payment Gateway in UAE

Tag: PCI DSS

5 Factors to Consider while Selecting a Payment Gateway in UAE
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

5 Factors to Consider while Selecting a Payment Gateway in UAE

The success of e-commerce depends on various factors, the choice of payment gateway being one of them. The payment service on your e-commerce portal influences user experience. And if a user finds it convenient to shop on your online store, you can expect recurring sales in the future.

While selecting a payment gateway in the UAE, you must keep certain factors in mind. Although payment gateways function in a similar way, irrespective of the country, there may be slight variances in the selection procedure here. We have outlined five factors that you should consider while selecting a suitable payment gateway for your online store.

Transaction Charges

The cost of installing a payment gateway is the foremost consideration for every online retailer. In addition to the setup fee, the payment gateway provider charges a fee on per transaction basis. Some of the providers in the UAE may not ask for a setup fee. In this case, the transaction fee may be high.

Talking about the transaction fee, it may be a fixed amount or a percentage of the transactional amount or a combination of both. The transaction fee may vary according to the types of products and services, the number of transactions, and other parameters.

Payment Method Options

There was a time when online payments were processed using credit and debit cards. But now there are multiple modes of payment such as digital wallets, internet banking, EMIs, and others. Depending on the acceptable modes of payment in the UAE, the ideal payment gateway should be integrated with all the needed payment options. Some of the online businesses work on the recurring payment model. Discuss the recurring payment feature with the service provider before finalizing the payment gateway.

When you offer diverse payment options to the user, the probability of a conversion increases. If you are into import and export, currency conversion facility is a necessity for you. Before finalizing a payment gateway, ensure it accepts payment modes that provide seamless currency exchange facility.

Security Parameters

Secure online payment systems ensure that customer’s financial information is secured against theft and misuse. Most of the payment gateways adopt the latest security standards, such as 256-bit AES and two-factor authentication (2FA). Also, the payment service providers must work in strict accordance with the regulatory framework issued by the Central Bank of the UAE.

In addition to security, seamless connectivity is necessary to reduce the transaction failure rate. Check out the payment gateway’s transaction success rate to determine its technical prowess and reliability.

Hosted or Shared

The hosted payment gateway redirects your customer to another link for payment. The transaction doesn’t happen on your website, and therefore, you don’t have to obtain a merchant ID. No confidential information is being shared on your website. The hosted payment gateways cost you more as they handle security risks as well.

The shared payment gateway processes payments on your website. The customer shares financial information with the payment gateway integrated into your website. To enable shared payment gateway, you have to integrate an API. For this purpose, the payment service provider must ensure reliable backend support. Also, you must ensure that your online trading platform is PCI-DSS compliant.

Compatibility & Support

It is crucial to determine whether the payment gateway works seamlessly on your website or not. Besides processing payments using different payment methods, test the payment gateway for mobile payments as well. Nowadays, users are biased towards mobile payment as it is convenient and secure. Also, check out the payment gateway’s cross-platform compatibility.

Access to prompt and reliable support system is a mandatory requirement. The technical executives should be capable enough to solve gateway problems pertaining to payment processing.

The Bottom Line

Some of the most prominent payment gateway service providers operate in the UAE. Depending on your online business, whether it is local or global, one-time or recurring; you can select a suitable payment gateway that integrates effortlessly with your online store.

5 years ago
Why is It Important to Be PCI Compliant?
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Why is It Important to Be PCI Compliant?

The e-commerce market continues to grow at an incredible pace across all industries.  More consumers now shop online, and online retail sales keep increasing every year. However, it is not all hunky dory in the online business landscape. One of the biggest concerns online businesses must grapple with is the increase in data breaches.  Now that payments happen online, there is a big risk of data loss without proper data protection mechanisms. The industry has adopted secure online payment systems, but there is still a need for regulation and close monitoring. This is where Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards come in to protect cardholder data. If you are an online business owner, there are various benefits of becoming PCI compliant.

This article examines the risks of insecure payment systems, PCI standards and the importance of PCI compliance. Keep reading.

PCI in Brief 

The advent of internet technology provided an ample opportunity for businesses to expand their reach. As more people went online, trendsetters in all industries moved their operations to this platform to tap into the new opportunities. The early online stores had to accept credit cards to offer a seamless online shopping experience, and this is where security problems started.

With no regulation on data security, data processing, and data storage, it was only a matter of time before credit card fraud started to hamper online shopping. At this point, providers of payment solutions came together to develop the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or PCI DSS compliance standard.

PCI standards define data security requirements for businesses handling online payments. The bottom-line is to protect the online shopper by minimizing risk to cardholders’ data. Today, this is an industry regulatory requirement accepted worldwide. Businesses must undergo rigorous requirements, to become PCI compliant and it is an ongoing process.

Reasons for PCI Compliance

The process of PCI compliance is tough but when your company is compliant, there are multiple benefits you enjoy. These include:

  1. Reducing the Risk of a Data Breach

The last thing you want as an online business owner is for your customers to lose their data while transacting on your website. This can lead to devastating lawsuits, loss of brand trust and ultimate failure of your business.  Information flow online is fast and swift and within no time, your business will hemorrhage customers leading to a slump in sales. By complying with PCI standards, you can rest easy knowing your customers’ card data is safe and secure.

  1. Increase Brand Trust

The PCI badge on your website makes shoppers more comfortable to undertake transactions. It is a badge of honor for any business to attain and it takes a lot of investment in security standards on your website.  It is easy to build customer loyalty when you offer a secure shopping experience.

  1. Boost Sales Conversion and Revenues

When your customers feel secure shopping from your website, they will always come back. If there is no security breach on your e-commerce website, there is a higher chance of retaining existing customers while attracting new ones. All these factors boost sales conversion which in turn improves returns.

  1. Avoid Costly Fines

The issue of data fraud affects all businesses in the online ecosystem. If your business suffers a data breach, there is an immediate impact on all other businesses as customers will fear the same will happen elsewhere. For this reason, your business will suffer hefty fines from PCI in case of failure to comply with the standards. These hefty fines force businesses to observe best practices in data protection while at the same time implementing all guidelines provided by PCI.

  1. Build Your Company’s Image

Internet shoppers can always switch to another online store if they feel uneasy making payments on your website.  For this reason, you need to invest heavily in your image branding and one way of doing this is by becoming PCI compliant. Consumers now appreciate the importance of security when shopping online. If you have met the highest standards, they will comfortably shop from you and recommend you to their friends too.

When thinking about facilitating online payments on your e-commerce website, you should look for a payment solutions company that will boost your efforts to achieve PCI compliance. By becoming PCI compliant, you will easily sustain your business by averting fraud, increasing customer loyalty and building brand trust.

5 years ago
5 Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Payment Gateways
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

5 Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Payment Gateways

If you are a business with an online presence, you surely know how payment gateways can make it easy for you to receive payments from customers based anywhere in the world. This is a merchant service that acts as a virtual equivalent of a Point of Sale in a physical store. In simple words, without a payment gateway, your business wouldn’t run at all as this service allows the payment processing of debit and credit cards in the online world!

Luckily, with a payment gateway like PayTabs which is easy to integrate with your website or mobile app, you can expect fast and secure payments without any glitch. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have questions about payment gateways. So, here are 5 most asked questions with their answers:

1) How does a payment gateway function?

When your customer purchases a product online, a payment gateway like PayTabs contacts your store’s acquiring bank. This bank is the one that will receive payments. The acquiring bank in turn contacts the bank which has issued the customer’s credit card or debit card. If there is enough money on the customer’s card to pay for the purchased item, the issuing bank will allow the transaction. The payment gateway will then be able to gather the money from the issuing bank of the customer, and all of this will happen in seconds!

2) How much does a payment gateway charge?

The kind of fees you have to pay will vary from one payment gateway to another. This will usually cover your setup fees, monthly fees and qualified rate that is charged per transaction. Support and reporting fees might also be included. So, go with a reliable and affordable gateway like PayTabs and avoid hidden charges.

3) What is a merchant account and why do I need it?

If you wish to receive payments from customer’s debit or credit card for every purchase made, you definitely need a merchant account. It is a specialized bank account that carries the fund you receive from customers for a specific time period, before sending it to your traditional account. You need it because without a merchant account, you cannot process payments. A merchant account will work with the payment gateway to facilitate easy transactions, so that the gateway deposits all payments into this account.

4) How to choose a payment gateway?

Though there are many payment gateways available these days, not all can be trusted equally. But with PayTabs, you will get all that your business needs with ease. This gateway is highly secure, and lets you accept payments in 168 currencies. Plus, merchants can use it even if they don’t have websites. PayTabs also provide regular financial reports and lets you maintain all customers and transactions from a single dashboard. This can help immensely when it comes to keeping a tab on the progress of your business.

5) Is the payment gateway secure enough?

A payment gateway must be very secure since it stores and transfers a lot of customer details and online frauds and identity thefts are very common these days. So, choosing a gateway that complies with PCI DSS requirements is ideal. It should feature advanced tools like intrusion detection, firewalls, and secure credit card data storage to avoid the risk of frauds. PCI DSS is also known as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and it ensures that all businesses store, process and accept card information in a very secure manner. So, choose a gateway like PayTabs, and rest assured that you have minimized the risk of frauds almost completely.

Now that you know what a payment gateway is essentially all about, choose the right one and make your business a huge success!

6 years ago
Top 3 things to consider while choosing a payment gateway for your business
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Top 3 things to consider while choosing a payment gateway for your business

Whether you are selecting a new payment provider or looking to replace your existing one, you would want an efficient, versatile product that fits your budget. You do not want a provider who regularly gives you problems and puts extra workload on your support team. Overall, your choice of an online payment gateway could impact the overall customer experience on the website and also the way you receive money from customers. So lets look at what are the main things to consider while finalizing on a payment gateway.

Things to consider before choosing your payment provider

  • What matches your business needs – classic or modern-

The basic difference between the two types of gateway is the merchant account. While the classic payment gateway requires you to have a merchant account so that it can transmit money into your account, a modern payment gateway does not. The modern ones draw funds directly from the customer’s bank account or credit cards and after validating them, deposits it directly into your account. Even though the modern payment gateways require you to do very less in order to use them and receive money from your customers, they mostly charge a larger transaction fee and also drive customers another website for making the payment, which could lead to lesser conversion. Also classic gateways are considered to be much safer and secure, hence a better choice for bigger businesses. They also charge a lower transaction fees. Find out what aligns with your business first.

  • Which payment modes and currencies do you want your payment provider to support?

You most probably know which countries you are selling to most and the currencies that your customers like to pay in. So the first thing to check is – does your payment gateway support alternative payment methods such as Sadad in the Middle-east. It only makes sense to choose a payment gateway that makes it easier for customers to pay through a mode which they are most comfortable with. Hence check which are the payment methods that the payment gateway of your choice support. A gateway like PayTabs supports multiple currencies and offers several alternative payment options.

  • How secure is the payment gateway?

Every online and ecommerce business that accepts online payments faces the risk of fraud and chargebacks. Both of these can hurt the business and hence it makes sense to go with a payment processor that offers secure transactions. This is probably the most important factor that should make you for or against a payment processor. Fraud is the first thing you will want to fight and want to protect your customers against. Hence make sure your payment gateway is secure, very secure. This means it should at least comply with PCI Data Security Standard and must be integrated with 3D secure. Level 1 PCIDSS compliance means that the gateway has achieved the topmost level of security and deals with more than 6 million transactions every year.

Apart from implementing these market research tips, you should also look at fee structures of major payment gateways. Make sure there are no hidden charges. Check for their transaction failure rates as well.

Conclusion

Your payment provider is the “better half” of your online store. You should use your customer’s needs, your business needs, and general essential security requirements to select a payment services provider for your eCommerce site. It goes without saying that choosing the right payment gateway can go a long way in helping your business. If you have any further questions about which payment gateway is the best for your business, mail us at [email protected]

6 years ago