13 Best Online Store Payment Methods for Selling Online This Year

Many aspects should be considered while operating an e-commerce website.

Other than the right products, it would help if you had a secure way to accept payments.

You will find many payment options available, but you must know the advantages and disadvantages of whatever you choose.

You must offer multiple platforms for your customers. Ensure that you keep customer data safe by installing an SSL certificate on your e-commerce website. We will look at payment methods for selling online. The ones we will explore are secure for both you and your customers. 

Factors to Consider When Choosing A Payment Method for Your E-Commerce Website

Research indicates that 86% of customers make their purchases online using debit or credit cards. There are many other options, including Amazon Payments, PayPal, Google Play, among others.

You can accept electronic payments without having to set up the relevant hardware or software to complete the connection. Consider the following suggestions when choosing payment options.

Ensure that it responds to your business requirements and allows for scalability. It must be secure because you will be collecting a lot of customer data that hackers target. 

Installing an SSL certificate will increase the level of protection on your e-commerce website. It provides secure encryption between the server and browser, making it difficult for cybercriminals to get access. 

Look at the fees and service agreements. It will impact on the overall running cost of your business. It must be efficient so that you reduce the abandoned cart rates.

It should offer you multiple features including the ability to accept different debit cards, credit cards. It should also allow different currencies so that globe trotters can shop from anywhere. 

You should be able to integrate it into your e-commerce website seamlessly. You should have the option of setting up a merchant account which eliminates the higher processing fee that you will pay if the money goes to your account directly

The platform should allow for mobile payments as many customers prefer to shop through their mobile devices.

Different Payment Methods for Your E-Commerce Website

Let us look at some of the payment methods for your e-commerce website below.

Credit Card Payments

Up to 90% of payments on the online platform are through credit cards. It is convenient to use, and you will have higher conversion rates when you set up your e-commerce website to accept such payments. The payment collection and tracking are automated, thus saving you a lot of time from manual processing.  

You will have to become an authorized credit card merchant to accept the payments. You can then choose to work with a direct processor, third-party processor, or broker. They all have different pricing structures, as well as advantages and disadvantages.

You may, for example, find that if you have monthly sales below $1000, paying for a merchant account may not be a good move. You are better off working with a third-party processor.  However, when you sell above that amount, a direct processor will give you a better and faster turnaround for receiving payments.  

Checks

Up to 11% of online shoppers will use checks to make their payments. You must, however, ensure that you secure your e-commerce website with an SSL certificate because you will be collecting a lot of data from your customers.

Debit Card

Debit card payments are more secure because you are sure that your customer has enough funds to make a purchase. Some merchant account providers can set it up so that you can accept debit card payments.

PayPal

PayPal is secure, easy to use, and very reliable and is, therefore, an excellent option for your e-commerce website. It has a solid market reputation if the number of users is anything to go. Reports show that in the third quarter of 2019, it had 295 million active accounts. Some of the features that make it a convenient payment method include: – 

It is a very secure platform. Customers can use their PayPal balance to shop instead of charging it to a debit or credit card. You can access multiple payment options such as credit and debit cards and PayPal credit, among others. 

Sales within the United States will cost 2.9% Plus $0.3 per transaction. International sales are at 4.4% per transaction. Selection of different countries requires a fixed amount, and you must pay according to it.

Venmo

Venmo is a subsidiary of PayPal, but it has a social aspect to it. You can use it to send money to friends and works very well on the mobile platform. As of 2019, it has over 40 million active users and processes up to $161 million in payments. Once you link your debit card account to the app, you can send money for free.

Stripe

Stripe will offer you a lot of versatility and is an excellent choice for online shops, on-demand marketplaces, and subscription services, among others. It is exceptionally efficient for a business that has multiple functions and processes.

Some features you can enjoy with Stripe include:

• Ability to set up recurring payments
• You can accept in-person and online payments, making it a fantastic addition to your POS system if you run a physical store 
• You get access to the Stripe UI system that allows you to customize the Checkout
• You can access a wide range of credit and debit cards from different countries. Such include Visa, American Express, MasterCard, JCB, and Union Pay.
• You can integrate it with alternative gateways, including American Express Checkout, Microsoft Pay, and Google Play. Masterpass, visa checkout, Apple Pay, and ACH Transfers also integrate seamlessly
• It works well on the mobile platform
• You have the option of customized pricing depending on the business model and large body of payments. You enjoy benefits such as discounts, multi-product rates, and country-specific rates among others 
• 24/7 customer support and you can reach them on multiple platforms such as email, phone, or chat.

You will pay 2.5% + $0.30 for every card charge. International cards will attract an additional 1% fee. For ACH transfers, you will pay a maximum fee of $5 and a 0.8% cost per transaction. 

Square

Square is excellent for in-person payments via POS in physical stores. You can also use it for your e-commerce website. Some features include:

Partnerships with other e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce, Ecwid, Wix, Gocentral online store, Magento, and WordPress. You can also use it with 3D cart, Opencart, Unbound Commerce, and Zenkat, among others.

The pricing on Square is competitive and attracts no monthly fee when you use it. You will pay 2.9% + $0.3 for every transaction

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is very active on the mobile platform, accounting for up to 54% of the vendor market in the United States. Anyone operating on the iOS platform can easily set up and use Apple Pay, thus eliminating the need for a lengthy process of filling out credit card information. You also get the advantage that your customer data remains safe because Apple Pay will keep it for you. 

Customers have the option of facial or fingerprint recognition, making it very easy to use. It also works well for use in physical stores.

Masterpass

Masterpass is specifically for MasterCard Customers. It is a secure first payment option and works well on mobile devices. You will also enjoy advanced security features such as tokenization, fraud monitoring, and user verification, among others. If you have set up Masterpass on the site, then there are no fees.

Visa Checkout

Visa Checkout is specifically for visa customers and works well on mobile. Many customers are already using visa to make their online purchases, and more and more businesses are accepting this mode of payment.

Google Pay

Google Pay works well on mobile devices, e-commerce websites, and in-person checkouts.  Integration with the platform is secure and will work well with other payment options such as Square, Stripe, and Shopify payments, among others. 

American Express

American Express ranks highly in customer satisfaction and has excellent fraud protection for merchants. You get 24/7 customer support, and you can process our makes payments in more than 170 countries. 

If you accept via the Amex payment Gateway, the fee will be $20 per month. You get 100 transactions free, but any additional ones will attract a 0.12% fee. You can up for the $25 per month structure that gives you 350 deals and 0.11% for any additional ones. $55 per month will provide you with 1000 contracts and 0.08% for any other sales. 

The setup fee ranges from $99 to $250 and is dependent on the package you opt for it. It will also cost you $20 per month if you go for payment tokenization and $24.95 per month if you include the Accertify Fraud protection.

Payoneer

Payoneer is popular among small businesses and freelancers, but you will also find it with larger Enterprises. You can also partner directly with merchants, making it an efficient payment option. 

Final thoughts

We have looked at 13 of the best payment options for accepting payments on the e-commerce platform. Most payment processes will require that you collect a lot of customer information, and that is why you need to keep your website secure by installing an SSL certificate.