PAYMENT GATEWAY INTEGRATION IN A MOBILE APPLICATION

When it comes to e-payment systems generally and especially to mobile commerce, processing of electronic transactions is your first and foremost concern of internet merchants. This brings us to another question: How to include payment gateway within an app? Below, we’ll attempt to answer a few clarifying and probing questions to get at the reasons behind the popularity of a payment gateway as the basic principles of its integration in mobile apps.

What is a mobile payment gateway?

A payment gateway is a service which makes purchasing products online safe and secure for consumers. Throughout the process of purchasing things right on their mobile devices or desktop computers, users have their cash wired into a payment gateway-enabled merchant’s account. Among the other things, it may be done via credit cards or demand different kinds of internet transaction processing.

Payment gateways are extremely much like electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS.) Exactly like EFTPOS, an integrated gateway is a system which helps mobile or web app users make electronic fund transfers and purchase items safely and quickly.

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Understanding the way the payment gateway functions

It is hardly thinkable that a mobile application that frequently accepts in-app payments at exactly the exact same time manages to get along without a payment gateway and app payment system integration. Essentially, a gateway is a mediator that authorizes the transaction, helps reestablish the information and fill the order. Additionally it is a connection that connects the merchant’s app, the user’s shopping cart, the acquiring (merchant’s) lender that normally functions as a payment processor, and the issuing (cardholder’s) bank. Below, you’ll discover the proposed sequence of events which form the payment gateway-driven online payment procedure:

• • A user browses a merchant’s store online, selects what he or she wants and adds it to the shopping cart.
  • The selected goods must be paid for today. Yet, so the card could be charged, it needs to be approved first.
  • Credit or debit card information and other transaction details entered on an app go to the payment gateway.
  • It forwards the received data through the payment processor to the cardholder’s bank.
  • If the verification is successful, data is sent back using a payment gateway into the app.
  • Eventually, the gateway initiates a payment settlement and cash shows up in the merchant’s bank account.

Measures of mobile payment gateway integration in Android and iOS applications

There is one thing worth mentioning before we go into detail of how to implement a payment gateway in a mobile app. Now then, you may hear about the Google Play Billing solution and In-App Buy from Apple. These are solutions for selling digital content on mobile devices. As purchasing mechanics, they allow buying content that’s only found within your own Android or iOS app. Interestingly, Google Play Billing and In-App Purchase have a significant bite from the merchant’s profits charging 30 percent transaction fees. Thus, when selling this sort of in-app products, a merchant will get only 70%.

On the other hand, the third party payment gateways don’t have anything to do with the electronic purchases but they open the door for selling physical products and services beyond a Android or iOS app. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no magic button, by pushing which, you can turn in your own payment gateway. Instead, you must make an effort and incorporate it into your application. This integration is made in a number of steps and involves using these components:

• • server and Client SDKs.  Every payment gateway provider offers its own software development kit, or SDK. They can be seen on the suppliers’ official sites and used by the programmers to connect the present app functionality and ease work. The supplier’s server and client SDKs act in concert to enable collecting and managing payment info.
  • APIs.  The gateway API keys help configure SDKs and libraries as an important part of building your payment gateway integration in mobile applications. That is, organized around REST, if sellers are ready to exercise more control over the checkout experience, they must go for APIs.
  • Third-party apps.  By using them, you are able to incorporate with a gateway supplier with nearly no prior programming experience.

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How to select the ideal payment gateway

When dealing with the configuration and execution of a payment gateway, each merchant faces the tough decision of choosing a better choice. For this choice to be educated, you need to be aware of the answers to these questions:

1. Is a gateway internationally approved?

if you’re a local business and there’s a supplier available in your area, then you may go with an equally local solution. However, when you are feeling more enthused about cross-border trade, then international payment gateways will create the international market more accessible for you. Anyway, the latter alternative allows for encouraging more customers.

2. ) Is this gateway flexible enough to grow with your organization?

If you had enlarged to participate in international business activities, it is likely that your customer base will increase faster than the one of a local business. Thus, to prepare for an increase in sales volume, you ought to check how radically the transaction fees may vary influenced by this growth.

3. What payment method your app users prefer?

Not to lose your prospective customers, you need to ensure there are as many payment methods supported on your mobile app as possible, or at least provide the ones that are the most popular among your app users.

4. ) How can this payment gateway influence users’ checkout encounter?

The access to the preferred payment method is a particular instance of the generally superior checkout experience. Still, there are a few other parameters to take into account. It’s crucial to make the supplied checkout experience fast and easy, also. The credit card payment may be incorporated faster with a gateway on your app and users can check out almost in a single click of a button with the support of APIs and other tools aimed at the process optimization.

5. ) How much effort does the mobile payment integration need?

Ideally, payment gateway integration in Android and iOS applications doesn’t require too much time and energy. However, terrific outcomes demand complex solutions, and such a thing as a customized character that some gateways possess may involve additional development effort to be taken full advantage of.

6. Is it cost-effective?

Above, we’ve noted that Google and Apple charge fees for electronic in-app purchases. Likewise, the use of payment gateways indicates that there are transaction fees to be paid. How big these charges will be depends on many variables and generally equals a percentage of the total processed along with a flat fee.

Things to think about before mobile payment gateway services execution

You want to think every detail through before you begin putting your plan into execution. So, we’ve produced a list of issues to take into account during your strategic planning phase, so you could witness its rewarding effects afterward:

1. A merchant account.

Merchants are anticipated and at times needed to have a bank account. These accounts allow accepting payments which go through payment gateways and payment processors settling your transactions.

What you need to be aware of is that there are two chief types of merchant accounts: aggregate and dedicated. The former form provides its owners with the corresponding Merchant ID numbers which produce their businesses easier to spot, more secure and protected from all sorts of fraud. Afterward, account owners get more control over transactions, which also require less time to finish together with the dedicated account. However, these benefits will come after paying additional.

The latter version, then, gives you the privilege of not paying account fees rather than dealing with prolonged contract conditions. The aggregate account, fairly enough, turns out a payment gateway to an aggregator shared by many businesses. Additionally, it’s given to them all by exactly the same payment gateway provider.

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2. ) A hosted or an integrated gateway.

Payment gateways could be hosted off-site or incorporated into your shop. Essentially, hosted gateways redirect clients to online payment service suppliers’ platforms where payment information is collected and processed. This procedure is viable if the supplier is well-known to your clients and they won’t be scared off when directed off your site or app. Integrated payment gateways, in their turn, are attached to a site or mobile app through APIs, which makes a smooth user experience but nevertheless involves more development effort.

3. The Gateway API and Payment Request API.

While on the topic of the integrated gateways, we can’t but mention that the payment request API. It enhances the process of checkout, helps create a purchase in a single API call and demands your mobile app users finish fewer measures. In any case, online payment service providers may provide their own payment APIs (like Square does), which is another terrific option you may benefit from.

4. ) Security certificates.

Payment gateways run with sensitive information, namely debit or credit card numbers and other private information that can’t be disclosed. That’s the reason the term Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) must be no strange to people who wish to implement a payment gateway. Becoming compliant with this particular set of regulations and policies is essential for sellers managing transactions online. Some payment gateways can assist you and make it much easier to find PCI-DSS compliant but others can’t. With or without this service, you must avoid keeping the sensitive information out of your app server and keeping it on your databases after a transaction is completed.

5. ) Ease of maintenance and implementation.

And last but not least, the ease of integration can be an important consideration from the developers’ perspective. How easy-to-use SDKs are, if they are mobile platform-specific or allow implementation in a programming language of your choice — these are a few of the major factors motivating the choice to work with a specific online payment service provider.

Of course, the list can go on and you will find a few more criteria to keep in mind which vary from 1 supplier to another:

• • Cost
  • Location
  • Compatibility
  • Customer service
  • Payment methods accepted by a gateway

Most popular mobile app payment gateways

1. Stripe

In itself, it’s a payment service provider along with a payment processor. The most important thing for us is that Stripe provides its own payment gateway. The gateway takes overseas payments in over 100 different currencies. The fact that Stripe delivers exceptional customer support helps it win mostly positive testimonials from middle-sized and large businesses for which it’s better-equipped.

2. ) Square

Square is a financial services provider and a mobile payment company that among others enables merchants to accept payments on a mobile app by incorporating Square’s payment gateway in it. They provide a comprehensive solution with the built-in secure payment APIs, payment gateway and merchant account.

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3. PayPal

Payflow is your payment gateway from PayPal. Payflow Link and Payflow Pro are the two options provided by PayPal. Every potential Payflow user must have either a traditional merchant account with a bank or a merchant account with PayPal Payments. Payflow permits money conversions and receiving payments from a different country but merchants are billed additionally for these attributes. Besides, users have a range of payment methods to select from and are assisted in significantly establishing PCI compliance.

How much does it cost to receive a payment gateway?

Although Stripe, Square, and PayPal are the largest players that serve most the merchants present on the marketplace, there are additional online payment providers. They may be distinguished by what payment methods their gateways accept, what areas and countries they operate in, what perks they have in store for their customers, and obviously, how much they cost.

• • Stripe: 2.9% + 30cents per each successful card fee. There are general rules like 1% of the transaction charged if money is transferred internationally, but also Stripe provides various customizable packages to satisfy each business’s needs.
  • Square: 2.75percent per transaction, 3.5% + 15cents per in-person payment. Square imposes no monthly or other extra fees. Account signup and payment calculation are free of charge.
  • PayPal: $0.10 per transaction. To begin, businesses or single people who have chosen for Payflow Link don’t pay any entrance fees. Pro users, then, pay $99 for setup and $25 as a monthly fee.
  • SecurePay: 1.75% + $0.30 AUD per domestic transaction
  • Payline: $0.10 per transaction fee or $10 monthly fee
  • Authorize.net: 2.9% + 30cents per transaction
  • Braintree: 2.9% + #0.30 for standard merchants

Conclusion

Locating a payment gateway solution that meets your needs takes time and effort, as does a payment systems integration itself.

However, now you understand how to integrate a payment gateway on your app, where to begin once your needs are clearly stated, and what your essential first step should be towards security and safety, so important when selling products and completing transactions on a mobile app. If you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our expertise in implementing payment gateways will be convenient if you would like to give your customers the choice of integrated payment processing!

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