Do I need a payment gateway?

If you want your customers to be able to pay for goods and services with their credit card in your online store, you can:

1. Use a payment service

2. Set up a merchant account and process credit card transactions manually (over the phone or by a service like e-path) or automatically through your site (using a payment gateway).

Your choice will depend on whether you want to accept credit cards or not, the fees of those third party providers and the flexibility you want to provide your customers. You do not have to accept credit cards, the choice is entirely yours.

Payment services

Payment services are popular amongst small retailers and those who operate on auction websites because customers recognise them and they are simple and quick to set up. This means that you can start trading in your online store straight away without the need to set up a merchant account at a bank.

The disadvantages of this are:

• Customers must leave your site to make a payment
• Your customers must provide personal information to a third party organisation
• You do not get the flexibility in presenting the payment to customers (e.g. splitting out shipping charges etc)
• Handling returns and refunds can be a complex process
• Your orders can disappear from your records after a payment is made if the customer clicks away and doesn't return to your site

Payment Gateways

You need two things:

• An Internet merchant account is set up via a bank (you can apply for one once you have a business bank account with them). This is similar to the process for applying to get an Eftpos terminal in a physical store

• A payment gateway is a facility for securely processing credit card transactions on your website. Many payment gateway providers charge on a per-transaction basis. An Internet merchant account and payment gateway combination is like an online version of having an Eftpos terminal. It means customers can stay on your ecommerce website and purchase goods and services in your online shopping cart by using their credit card.

YBA supports manual payment gateways like e-path, as well as real time credit card processing providers like eWay, and DirectOne. We are constantly reviewing and adding to our range of providers so if you are interested in a particular gateway option just ask us.

Help Choosing a Gateway

Here are some suggested steps:

1. You will need to choose a gateway that is supported by our software, so the best place to start is the list of gateways we support . These include (but are not limited to) eWay and DirectOne for real time processing, and e-path for a manual processing gateway. Please note however that we are constantly reviewing and adding to our range of providers so if you are interested in a particular gateway option just ask us.

2. Visit the websites of the gateway providers to determine their fees structure and features. Every provider has different options and structures.

3. Once you have chosen a provider, find out what banks they support - they may support the bank you are currently using. Most of the major banks in Australia and New Zealand are supported via one of the payment gateway providers we support.

4. Once you have chosen a provider and bank, sign up for an Internet Merchant Account with the bank, and a payment gateway account with the provider you chose.

5. Enter the information from the payment gateway provider into your YBA store to enable the gateway and provide this option in checkout for your customers.