For eCommerce merchants and online shoppers alike, payment gateways are an important piece of the payment processing puzzle.

As a merchant, you need a fast, reliable way to process online payments for your store—and your customers trust you to keep their payment information safe and secure.

Thankfully, the right Magento payment gateway serves both of those roles.

If you’re researching your options for collecting payments for your Magento website, this article will provide you with the information you need. We’ll cover how Magento payment gateways work, how to choose one, and compare some of the top options for your store.

How Do Magento Payment Gateways Work?

To gain a better understanding of how Magento payment gateways work, let’s start with a quick refresher on the role of payment gateways in the eCommerce world.

From the customer’s perspective, all that’s happening is they add to cart, enter their payment information, and checkout. But behind the scenes, there’s a much more intricate process taking place.

To process online sales, you need a payment gateway to securely communicate with all parties necessary to process eCommerce payments.

The gateway sends encrypted payment information from your website to the customer’s credit card network for authorization. When a transaction is approved, the payment gateway establishes a connection between the relevant banks to ensure the funds are securely released to your merchant account.

How to Choose Which Magento Payment Gateway to Use

Here are some of the most important things to consider when choosing which Magento payment gateway to use for your store.

1. Where are your customers located?

If you want to sell your products to customers around the world, you’ll need a payment gateway (or several) that can process payments in a range of currencies and support international sales.

2. What type of payments do you want to accept?

Are all of your sales made through your online store—or do you also have a brick-and-mortar location? If so, you should consider partnering with a full-service MSP that can process sales through your Magento website and provide POS equipment for in-store purchases.

3. Is the interface user-friendly?

A confusing checkout page (or one that looks untrustworthy) can scare away customers at what should be the moment of conversion. To minimize cart abandonment, you need a mobile-friendly Magento payment gateway that allows you to create simple, convenient checkout experiences for screens of all sizes.

4. Should you use more than one Magento payment gateway?

In addition to deciding which Magento payment gateway to use in the first place, you may want to consider the benefits of using more than one payment gateway for your store. Here are a few reasons merchants use multiple payment gateways:

• More Reliable Service: One of the biggest reasons eCommerce business owners use multiple gateways is to maintain a functioning checkout page, even in the event of unexpected downtime from one processor.
• Broader Reach: Want to reach international levels of success? Sometimes, a single Magento payment gateway isn’t enough to serve your various markets. To capture sales from international markets, you may need to use multiple gateways that cater to different countries, currencies, or regions.
• More Choices for Shoppers: The more payment methods you accept, the more convenient the shopping experience is for your customers. For instance, certain gateways might not accept international currencies or can’t process mobile payments. By providing your customer with more options for how to pay, you can increase your overall sales.

8 Magento Payment Gateways to Consider

Now that you have a better idea of what to look for in a Magento payment gateway, let’s talk about some of the different options available to you. Here’s an overview of several popular payment gateways, including the pros and cons to help you determine the best fit for your business.

2Checkout

2Checkout is available in 196 different countries and supports 45 different payment types, making it one of the top choices for eCommerce business owners around the world. Additionally, 2Checkout accepts payments in 87 currencies and supports 33 different languages to create a truly personalized, local experience for your online shoppers.

As you probably suspected, all this flexibility comes with a high price tag. In fact, 2Checkout is the most expensive option on our list, charging merchants 3.5% + $0.35 per transaction.

Pros:

• Flexible payment options.
• Good for international sales.

Cons:

• High costs per transaction.
• 2Checkout’s high processing fees make it the priciest Magento payment gateway on our list.

Amazon Pay

Amazon is arguably the best-known brand in eCommerce, which presents both benefits and drawbacks. In terms of brand recognition, you really can’t beat Amazon Pay. However, as one of the biggest names in online sales, Amazon is unable to provide the personalized support high-growth merchants need to manage their store with confidence.

Furthermore, their rules for acceptable use are somewhat stringent. Merchants must adhere to Amazon’s strict Acceptable Use Policy—or risk having their gateway (and therefore, their business!) shut down unexpectedly.

Pros:

• No transaction fees, except for foreign currencies.
• Flexible and secure.
• Integrates with your website.

Cons:

• Requires an Amazon account for customers to checkout.
• Risky option for high-growth and high-risk merchants.

Authorize.Net

Owned by Visa, Authorize.net serves SMB eCommerce merchants located in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, and Australia. Authorize.net can process international payments from major credit cards as well as Apple Pay, PayPal, e-check, and Visa checkout.

Their fees skew towards the high end, with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction—and that’s on top of their standard $25/month fee for the gateway.

Pros:

• Secure payment processing with CVV verification.
• Supports recurring billing.

Cons:

• High processing fees per transaction.
• Additional monthly fee of $25.

Braintree

Braintree can support over 130 currencies in 44 different countries, including Bitcoin, Apple Pay, and Android Pay. Braintree was acquired by PayPal in 2013 but remains a standalone solution and alternative to PayPal’s main payment gateway. As with PayPal and many other big-name payment processors, Braintree charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

Pros:

• Built-in protection against fraud.
• Accepts a range of different payment methods.

Cons:

• High processing fees.
• Owned by PayPal (see below).

PayPal

Although there are no monthly fees for running a Magento payment gateway through PayPal, there is a steep rather rate per transaction. Local US-based purchases are charged at 2.9% + $0.30 and international transactions are hit with a 3.9% processing rate—plus additional fees depending on the customer’s currency.

PayPal is also notorious for its poor treatment of merchants. In fact, PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy is to blame for many of the horror stories you hear about merchants waking up to frozen accounts with no warning.

Pros:

• Securely encrypted checkout page.
• Fraud monitoring.
• Supports international transactions

Cons:

• High fees per transaction.
• Even higher fees for international payments based outside the US.
• Notorious “Acceptable Use Policy” leaves merchants vulnerable to freezes and lost funds.

Square

Square’s API integrates easily into Magento-based websites as well as POS equipment, which makes them a viable choice for merchants that sell online as well as in-store. Square also supports recurring payments and allows for multi-party transactions. Their costs are in line with most major payment processors—2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.

Pros:

• POS integrations.
• Supports digital wallets and multi-party transactions.

Cons:

• High processing fees.

Stripe

One of the most widely known names in payment processing, Stripe is another popular option for international merchants. Stripe supports over 135 currencies, offers secure payment processing, and accepts all major credit cards.

Like many of the other major players in the payment space, Stripe’s processing fees are a hefty 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Furthermore, any changes to your gateway setup or functionality come with an additional price tag.

Perhaps the biggest drawback, however, is the lack of support for high-risk merchants. Stripe has a long list of prohibited businesses and can ban or freeze your account with little to no warning.

Pros:

• Supports over 135 currencies.
• Secure processing of all major credit cards.

Cons:

• High processing fees.
• Additional fees for updates to functionality.
• Lack of support for high-risk merchants.
• Risk of freezing or banning your account.

GetPayment

As a full-service merchant services provider, GetPayment offer secure, reliable payment processing services that help you get paid faster. Our Magento payment gateway integrates seamlessly with your store to process all major debit and credit cards and mobile payments.

We’ll help you create an application for a dedicated merchant account, so your funds are never at risk of being seized or frozen. We also offer next-day funding merchant accounts so you can get paid even faster and reinvest in your growing business.

Pros:

• Transparent pricing.
• Flexible contracts.
• Dedicated merchant accounts.
• Local US-based support.
• Optional chargeback alerts.

Cons:

• Though we serve all industries and business types, our specialties make us better suited for new and emerging high-growth companies than more established businesses.
• If you’re not using us yet, you’re missing out!

Meet Your New Payment Processing Partner

GetPayment is the reliable partner you need for your Magento website. We’ll be by your side every step of the way—from creating an application for a merchant account to optimizing your payment processing solutions. Our local support professionals are at your service 24/7.

Want to keep your website growing and your payments flowing? Contact GetPayment today for your free consultation!