No eCommerce store is complete without a payment gateway solution. Here’s a rundown of the top payment gateways for WooCommerce and EDD.
Choosing the right one depends on your store’s needs. So we’ll talk you through their features as well as looking at their pros and cons.
Getting to Know Payment Gateways
WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) are two of the top eCommerce solutions for WordPress. While EDD is primarily for digital download stores, WooCommerce allows you to build any eCommerce store of your choosing. Both need a payment gateway for your customers to make their purchases.
What is a payment gateway?
If you’re new to eCommerce, you might be wondering what a payment gateway is. Here’s your answer.
Online payments involve four players: the merchant (that’s you), the cardholder (your customer), the issuing bank (the customers bank), and the acquiring bank (your bank).
A payment gateway is the technology that transfers payment data from your customer to you, via your respective banks. Your payment gateway of choice validates the customer’s card details, ensures the funds are available in their account, and eventually transfers it to you.
Choosing one of these top payment gateways ensures that this is all done safely and securely. It will encrypt sensitive data (i.e the customer’s card details), ensuring the safe transfer of everybody’s info (and money!).
The Top Payment Gateways
There is no shortage of payment gateways to choose from, but some are better than others. Here we take a look at some of the top payment gateways for use with WooCommerce and EDD, assessing some vital pros and cons.
1. PayPal
Let’s start with a biggie. PayPal is one of the best known payment gateways around the world.
Pros
PayPal’s popularity is one of its biggest plus points. Having a well-known, trusted name as your payment gateway will make customers feel re-assured and confident that their payment is secure.
Its popularity also means that many shoppers already have accounts set up and ready to go.
PayPal accepts all major credit cards from around the world.
Cons
If you’re a low volume seller, you might find PayPal’s fees to be high.
PayPal takes customers off your site to process the payment.
Despite it’s big name, support for PayPal can sometimes to be slow.
2. Stripe
Enter PayPal’s biggest rival. Stripe has been making a name for itself as a top payment gateway.
Pros
Stripe has lower fees than its competitors, including PayPal.
It’s easy to set-up.
Customers are kept on-site throughout the checkout process.
Cons
Using Stripe requires some coding knowledge.
Payments are held for 7 days, which may be an issue for smaller retailers.
While Stripe does have a good FAQ page, there is no instant support service. Support is offered by e-mail only.
3. Braintree
An offshoot of Paypal, Braintree is a specialist in web and mobile payments.
Pros
There are no monthly fees with Braintree.
In addition to all major credit cards, Braintree also accepts Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Braintree is known for its stringent fraud detection and security measures.
Cons
It’s based in the US, so support outside of the States can be slow.
The control panel is less robust than competitors.
Fees per transaction are high in comparison to others.
4. Amazon Pay
Is there anything that Amazon can’t do? Its payment gateway comes in the form of Amazon Pay.
Pros
A recognizable brand means customers will trust this payment gateway with their hard-earned cash.
Customers can easily pay with their existing Amazon account.
Amazon provides strong, robust protection for merchants against scams and fraud.
Cons
Processing and authorization fees may be too experience for low value, low volume sellers.
Payments are held for between three and five days.
5. Square
Square is another great option when you’re looking for a payment gateway.
Pros
Deposits are fast with Square. Payments are only held for one to two days.
Square comes with a friendly user interface, making it straightforward for new users.
There are no monthly or annual fees.
Cons
Square for WooCommerce is currently only available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan.
Add-on services for Square are costly.
Although they offer online payment services, Square is still primarily focused on physical retailers.
6. BlueSnap
BlueSnap is a lesser known payment gateway, but that doesn’t mean you should count it out in your search.
Pros
BlueSnap offers huge flexibility in payment methods. Not only does it accept debit and credit cards, but payments can even be made by e-mail and telephone.
The BlueSnap interface has been translated into 29 languages and counting.
Supports currencies from around the world.
Cons
BlueSnap have a robust issue reporting procedure, but this can become confusing for new users.
BlueSnap is not as well known as others in this list, meaning that customers may be unfamiliar.
Things to Consider
When it comes to picking a payment gateway there are some important factors to consider.
Cost
Does it cost to set up the gateway?
What are the associated fees?
Location
Does the payment gateway offer support in your part of the world?
Security
What security does the gateway offer to merchants?
Are customers directed away from your site when making their purchase?
Support
Does the gateway offer the level of support that you need?
Are they easy to contact if you need help?
So, there you have it. A breakdown of the top payment gateways for WooCommerce and EDD.
Help and Support for WordPress Extensions
We know building and running an eCommerce store is no easy task. You have lots of decisions to make, not least which payment gateway to use. If you need help, advice, and support for your WordPress site, the team at CreativeMinds are always on hand to help.
