Online payments are a big part of modern commerce today, from buying products via e-commerce websites to setting up direct debits at the click of a button to initiate regular payments.
There are many ways that online payments can be integrated into your website, and in this article we will briefly outline these and state the advantages of each.
Payment button
The simplest way to integrate online payments into your website is through a straightforward payment button. This allows you to attach an item, set a price and initiate a payment. This can be done using a service such as PayPal, where you create a button within your account and set the item description and the amount. When the customer clicks the button, they are immediately directed to PayPal to make the payment.
Payment buttons are limited though. You can’t dynamically set amounts and item information, you need to create a button for every item you wish to.
Payment Gateway Integration
A payment gateway is a service that allows card details to be entered and processed by communicating with a bank or merchant to validate and complete the payment. Payment gateways normally need to be provided with some basic information about the transaction, such as the amount to be paid and an email address where a receipt can be sent.
Integrating a payment gateway would normally involve your web developer creating a page on your website that can communicate with your payment gateway to complete the transaction flow. However, if you use e-commerce platforms such as Woocommerce (via WordPress) or Shopify then payment gateway integrations are usually available out of the box.
Customer Payment Page
A customer payment page is a page that integrates into your website where customers can enter the details of a transaction such as the amount they wish to pay, their account number and an invoice number. This then proceeds to a payment gateway page where the customer enters their card details to complete the payment.
A customer payment page is a useful tool to allow businesses to collect payments from their customers 24/7.
